Ok to feed outdoor fish in the winter?

[mogsie]

i plan to leave the pond circulating for a few weeks before i introduce fish, so the chlorine should have dissipated before then, and gives me time to get the ph levels settled,

 

[shakaho]

Why do you want to add fish to a pond in winter? It will be extremely stressful at best for a fish to move from a warm aquarium to to a cold pond. Stressed fish are susceptible to disease and parasites. While chlorine will dissipate quickly, and the pH may be easy enough to stabilize, the nitrogen cycle won't be established during cold weather because the relevant bacteria grow very slowly, if at all, in cold water. If your fish survive, the ammonia they produce will accumulate.

If you wait, and just run your filter and grow some plants in the pond until water temperatures are above 60, your fish will thrive.

 

[mogsie]

@shakaho, as i said above i will be leaving it a few weeks, perhaps until end march before i put any fish into the pond, the temperature will be picking up by then, the pond is well stocked with plants already, i am not relying on a bio filter for the nitrogen i am also using common reed in my filter to take up nitrogen, these are growing fast now as our winters are getting shorter, my water temp is around 44 fahrenheit now, i understand what you are saying tho,