When to stop feeding fish for winter
Stop Feeding Koi
hello again pond lovers one of the
questions I get asked quite often is
when is the correct time to stop feeding
your fish as we go into the fall season
and the temperatures start getting
colder and colder it's really an
important topic because unlike humans
fish your koi and goldfish in your
backyard ponds are cold blooded animals
and as such their metabolism slows down
and they have less of a need for food
for energy and their metabolism since
the fish are cold blooded their internal
temperatures basically drop or fluctuate
with the external air and water
temperatures it's important to
understand that their energy systems
slow down as the temperature declines
therefore they do not need as much food
for energy and growth as they basically
shut down into a hibernation state clay
and goldfish do not have stomachs where
the food can sit and digest instead it
basically goes through their intestines
and breaks down there however once the
temperature starts to drop if they
continue eating they run a higher chance
of the food not properly digesting and
passing through their systems so as the
weather gets cooler it's important to
stop feeding them entirely feeding your
fish are at the summer with a good
quality warm weather food typically two
to three times a day
you really shouldn't feed your fish any
more than they can eat in about three to
five minutes in fact if you still see
food floating around after six minutes
or so I'd recommend scooping it out
otherwise it's just going to add to the
waste product at the bottom of your pond
temperatures should be consistently
between say 64 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit
that's 18 to 31 degrees Celsius for
those of us north of the border in
Canada once the temperatures
consistently drop between 48 and 63
degrees Fahrenheit that's 9 to 17
degrees Celsius you should stop using
your warm weather summer food completely
and switch to a more easily digestible
wheat germ food this is made more for
spring and fall temperatures
it's very important to switch to this
wheat germ diet because the fish that
the regular fish food will become
undigestible as I said by the fish and
it'll actually do more harm than good to
them so the cooler temperature is it's
probably only necessary to feed your koi
once or just twice a day if they're not
really showing an interest in the food
don't feel the need to have to feed them
when temperatures consistently drop
below 48 degrees Fahrenheit or single
digits in Celsius it's time to
completely cut off the food supply to
your fish their metabolism slows down as
their body temperature is reduced in
preparation for possible freezing
temperatures it's advisable to get a
bubbler or a heater to ensure an opening
in the ice surface is always available
for the exchange of gases I hope this
video gives you a better understanding
of what your fish need is the
temperatures start to cool down
generally the fish throughout the winter
will will just be fine under freezing
temperatures as long as you do things
like allow the gas to exchange clean the
water out properly I'll give you a link
down below and up above here to tell you
where I've got one specifically talking
about how to prepare your pond for the
winter cold temperatures as far as
cleaning goes but anyway I hope this
video helps you out guys
fish do provide a great deal of pleasure
and fun to watch and you know one thing
you want to make sure is that they make
it through the winter if you like this
video please by all means give me a give
me a like and I look forward to hearing
any comments from you below thanks for
watching guys and don't forget to click
on one of the other links you see here
to some of my other videos to help you
with your ponds
