Winter feeding

[Pond skipper]

Hi guys, I’m going to try keeping my goldfish in the pond again this year I lost them all last year when the pond froze over. I have a bubbler in the pond this year as well as the heat ring that froze over last year. My question is should I feed the fish since the pond is still open?

 

[Mgessert]

No, not until spring when the water warms up. I’m in zone 9a and my water temp is hovering right around 60 F., so I feed once in the afternoon. When the water temp drops below 60 F. I don’t feed at all. The Goldie’s do nibble on the algae on a nice day though.

 

[Pond skipper]

Thank you, that’s kind of what I thought but I didn’t want to starve the little guys. I can’t see them but I’m guessing they’re staying far away from the bubbler since it’s a bit over powered for my pond and is acting more like a geyser than a bubbler. thanks again

 

[poconojoe]

When my pond water temperature dips down to 50F, I switch to wheat germ only food. When it dips down to 39F, I stop feeding until Spring.

 

[Pond skipper]

Thank you for the reply, I didn’t get fancy, I just reduced the feeding amount over the last 3 weeks and then stopped feeding as the temps really started to deep. Perhaps I will try a wheat germ food next year should my fish survive this winter.

 

[addy1]

Our water temp is down to 46 no feeding now till spring.

 

[poconojoe]

Thank you for the reply, I didn’t get fancy, I just reduced the feeding amount over the last 3 weeks and then stopped feeding as the temps really started to deep. Perhaps I will try a wheat germ food next year should my fish survive this winter.

I use wheat germ fish food in the Spring once the water temperature reaches 39F-40F.
When it gets up to 50F I switch to growth/color food.

 

[Pond skipper]

Is there a special place to find wheat germ food? I didn’t know there was such a thing

 

[poconojoe]

Is there a special place to find wheat germ food? I didn’t know there was such a thing

Nothing special. All the manufacturers make at least wheat germ, growth and/or color foods. Some have even more choices, but those are the basic ones. The ingredients are usually listed so you can see the percentages. Some even sell different size pellets, small, medium, large and mixtures too depending on the size of your fish.

All fish food can get expensive, so you'll have to shop around.

 

[Pond skipper]

Thank you for all the feed back guys . I have another question..
We have had a few days of warmer weather and rain and my pond has thawed out. What are you thoughts on is I should turn the bubbler off until there’s ice again and and also could I have it programmed to run for a couple of hours Amd shut off for a couple of hours all the time once the ice comes again. It is, I think, a bit over powered for my pond depth. My friend that I got the bubbler from said he usually used that size pump/air stone for ponds that are 8 - 20’ deep.. mine is about 2 feet at the deep end so I’m worried it’s too much. The good news is that so far after about 3 weeks of it being frozen (other than where the bubbler is , my fish are still alive!
I (hopefully) have attached a5 second video so you can see the bubbler in action.. more of a geyser I’d say. Thanks for your thoughts…
Update, apparently it doesn’t accept videos so I took a photo, just pretend you see it moving

 

[poconojoe]

You have some great surface agitation going on there.
It not only helps keep a hole in the ice for gas exchange, but also helps with oxygenation. Oxygenation is best when you have surface agitation.
I would continue with that. It looks like it's doing a great job.

What exactly do you mean by bubbler? An air stone?
I have two large air stones fed off of my aerator. I run them all year, 24/7.

I raise them up close to the surface for the cold months. You don't want to pump cold air down at the bottom where the water is naturally warmer, especially if the fish are hibernating down there. I have a string tied to them to keep them from falling to the bottom.

I have a tee fitting off of the aerator and a little valve on each air line so I can fine tune the volume to each air stone. I bought a small inexpensive package with little chrome valves and tees on Amazon.

I built a little wooden house to protect my aerator from the weather.

 

[Pond skipper]

Thanks for the reply, I was just worried it was too much agitation.. It was funny when I first put it in the surface was already frozen, I ended up taking the heating ring out and dropping the air stone through the hole.. with in 10 seconds the ice started blowing up like a balloon and then broke apart. I was worried the fish would come gushing up on the water spout . I never thought about the cold air getting pumped to the bottom that’s a good point,but being that my pond is only about 2 - 2.5 feet deep I don’t know if I can raise it much. I know you said you run yours 24/7 but I was just wondering in order to conserve electricity a bit if it would be feasible to run it on two hours off two hours. I think if the opening froze over in that two hours it would be thin enough The the balloon effect from the first time would brake it up. Any thoughts?

 

[poconojoe]

Tie a string to it and raise it up to maybe a foot or less from the surface. Don't pump that cold air down to the bottom.

Is it an air stone? Or just a hose shooting out air or something else?
I think an air stone puts out lots of bubbles which is a plus.

Run it 24/7. Dont wait until ice forms.
Don't forget, the air bubbles are not just for keeping an opening in the ice, it's also needed for oxygenation. Surface agitation, breaking of the surface is needed for good oxygenation.

And in case you are not aware, never bang on the ice to break it up. That will cause shock waves which is very bad for the fish. If it's just a very thin layer of ice, no big deal in chipping it out, but no severe banging.

 

[Pond skipper]

Thanks, ya I know not to bang the ice. It does have a 6 or 8 “ air stone but I think the pump overpowered it because it just comes out as a big geyser not like the little bubbles I was expecting like in a fish tank

 

[GBBUDD]

Is there a special place to find wheat germ food? I didn’t know there was such a thing

cheerios