Winterizing for gold fish

[BarbAZCA]

I see a lot of posts about koi. My question relates to feeder gold fish, some of them have been in my pond for two summers, their babies that I found this year when winter was over. Do I stop feeding them the same as koi? Currently I feed them every morning. In looking at posts it appears that when the water temp is betwen 50° - 60° they should be fed wheat germ. Once it's at 50° stop feeding. I'm in Zone 7. A note: this batch of fish didn't hibernate over last winter when they were less than six months old, they were active the entire time. A previous batch (became raccoon food before I started using a cover at night) hibernated all winter - I never saw them. Thanks for your experiences.

 

[SarahT]

I had gold fish when I lived in Chicago. I fed them less when the water was about 60, and stopped completely when it was in the 50s, and never lost a fish over the winter there. I've found more fish die from over feeding than under feeding, mostly because the uneaten food fouls the water. Let some of the algae grow on your pond sides and bottom and they'll snack there if they get the munchies.
In the spring, when the water starts warming up over 55 degrees, feed them sparingly at first. I started spring off feeding them Cheerios moistened with orange juice. (It's still a treat for them now we're in Florida.)
Good luck.

 

[BarbAZCA]

I had gold fish when I lived in Chicago. I fed them less when the water was about 60, and stopped completely when it was in the 50s, and never lost a fish over the winter there. I've found more fish die from over feeding than under feeding, mostly because the uneaten food fouls the water. Let some of the algae grow on your pond sides and bottom and they'll snack there if they get the munchies.
In the spring, when the water starts warming up over 55 degrees, feed them sparingly at first. I started spring off feeding them Cheerios moistened with orange juice. (It's still a treat for them now we're in Florida.)
Good luck.

Thank you. I will probably start with organic wheat germ since I have that - they went for it at the beginning of last winter and the 'babies' are now big enough to eat it.