Do you stop feeding goldfish in the winter or is it a mith?

Question

I have 4 gold fish that live in my pond Ive herd that you should stop feeding them in the winter, it this true and if it is when do start feeding them again.

Answer 1

Once the temp falls below 50-55 degrees you are supposed to stop feeding. But while the temp is in the 60s you are supposed to feed them wheat germ and not their normal food. Their metabolism slows and they don't digest the food like in warmer weather so you have to stop feeding otherwise the food can rot in their stomachs.

Answer 2

Venice girl and Poopy (?) are both pretty much covering everything, but I also want to suggest something. As regards to where you are, If you are North, then stop feeding when the water gets below 10*C, if you are south, near Florida or something then don't worry. In Britain we feed our fish til about this time then stop and allow the fish to hibernate through winter. All these answers about keep feeding, or they will starve is nonsense and ignore it as fish can go months in winter without feeding at all. Due to their metabolism slowing right down, feeding can actually kill the fish as like previously mentioned the food is not digested due to lack of heat and so sslowly rots in the belly, becomes infected and kills the fish from the inside out, while its too dormant to do much about it. Literally the fish dies in its dormant state. If this happens under ice, then you may not know and the fish causes the death of all his buds by fouling the whole pond. If you do decide to feed your fish during winter, buy a tub of NishiKoi, with wheatgerm, which is easily digested at lower temps and can be fed down to 8*C without putting the fish at risk, but even then only every couple of weeks when warm days warm the water and the fish rise. Don't throw some in in the hope the fish may rise when your not there. Also when you say water Feature, do you mean pond, or raised sort of barrel type fountainy thing? If your water is likely to freeze in winter, can your fish survive it, especially as small goldfish. The water has to be at least 2.5 - 3.0 feet deep to avoid the pond freezing solid. Even thick ice with a couple of inches depth of water beneath will kill the fish as gaseous exchange cannot take place and the fish suffocate in their own carbon dioxide, as they keep breathing even in the dormant stage. If the body of water is not big enough, then take your fish inside for the winter, even a plastic bin in the garage or green house with a pump running will be better than a small pond. Finally if you intend to leave them outside, then float a smallish plastic or rubber ball on the pond. When ice covers the pond, you can pull this out leaving a hole for air exchange. Always use rubber or plastic, as it can expand or be crushed by ice without shattering.

Answer 3

Yes my dad has a 2,000 gallon gold fish pond and once it starts to get cold out he will feed them less and less until they start to move around slowly this means they are hibernating. start to feed them when you see that they are getting more active. also make shore that you buy a heater and an air pump with air stone.

Answer 4

It depends on where you live and how cold it gets.

Fish are cold blooded. When their temperature drops they cannot metabolize food. If your pond freezes over then you need to monitor your temp in the spring and you feed them according to the temp.

Answer 5

Depends on where you live.....I had a Koi pond in Mich....and Would stop feeding the first of October....no matter what....even if it was 60 it would be to risky once they start hibernation there shouldn't be fresh food in there systems....I would restart in May

Answer 6

stop feeding your fish when the water temp reaches 50 and do not feed again till spring and you see them up and searching for food

Answer 7

If the temperature goes below 10 degrees celsius, you'll have to also make sure they're inside- not just in a pond outside.

And no- you have to feed them all the time!!! Fish need food too!

Answer 8

if u live somewhere you shouldnt feed them till the ice melts, like if the weather is like in the 50s and no lower(high enough for the pond not to freeze) then u can feed them

Answer 9

Depends where you live/how cold it gets. Here's a good article on exactly what temps to stop feeding and what to do. You've got a lot of ignorant answers here lol please don't listen to those people.

http://dragonflylanding.ca/WinterFeeding.htm

Answer 10

You have to do it very carefully. I had a fish that I was training not to eat over the winter. I cut his daily food in half for a week and then by another half the next week. The third week I fed him the first three days, and, just as I had him trained to not eat, he up and died.