What should I be feeding my pond fish? Fish are cold-blooded, as the water temperature drops so does their metabolism. They swim around less, breathe less and eat less. Pretty much like the ever-ready bunny slowly running out of juice.
As this is happening you need to feed them a food that gives them easily available energy, fat basically. It is much easier to digest than protein and can help to build a layer of insulation for the winter months…something very familiar there!!
Autumn is the time to switch from a high protein summer food like growth or colour, to a Wheatgerm based food. Wheatgerm food is available from all of your favourite manufacturers and can come in either pellet or stick form. Potentially you could feed it all year round but your fish would just get fat!
Click here to take a look at the wheatgerm foods on offer
It is best to start mixing wheatgerm in with your regular food from mid September onwards, gradually increasing the ratio of wheatgerm over a few weeks until you are feeding 100% wheatgerm. Once the water temperature drops below six degrees then you should stop feeding altogether. Fish simply can’t digest food below six degrees and it just sits in their stomach and rots.
Come springtime you should follow the same process in reverse, starting by feeding pond fish wheatgerm when the water temp rises to 6 degrees.
One simpler alternative is to use a probiotic food. These types of food help your fish to digest more of the food and produce less waste. Because they are much easier to digest you can use them right through the year (above 6 degrees C) without having to chop and change foods. They do tend to be a little bit pricier but comparing it to having to buy and keep two or even three type of food,
probiotic foods can work out the cheaper and easier option
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