To feed or not to feed (during low temperatures))

mtwalsh · 04-12-2010, 09:20 AM

Hi,

I'm a brand new Koi keeper, we have moved into a house that has a pond stocked with Koi and a Sturgeon. I have a lot to learn so apologise in advance if my questions seem rather amateur!

I have read various advice that says Koi should not be fed at temperatures below 10 degress C but other advice seems to be contradictory and says they should be fed every other day. I understand feeding them can be dangerous as they are unable to digest the food (especially high protein foods). But what are your thoughts on this, we have been in the house for 1 week and I have not fed the Koi at all. I'm just a bit worried that they might be getting hungry! I have purchased some Wheatgerm based Koi food but the advice on that does have a temperature cut off too.

Adding to the confusion, the Sturgeon is apparently quite active during lower temperatures and should be fed more protein rich food that the Koi. I have dropped in what amounted to a couple of table spoons of Sturgeon food but I have no idea if he ate it or the Koi beat him to it.

I'm hoping someone can put me straight on this and any general tips for a newbie would be most appreciated.

markf1fan · 04-12-2010, 09:41 AM

hi ya and welcome to the site.
right first of all if the water temp is lower then 10 do not feed at all, they can go months with no food and will be ok. they will prob be sitting on the bottom of the pond now so dont worry at all. when the temp starts coming up next spring then start to feed wheatgerm untill its at a temp you can feed high protein food. as for the sturgeon i have one myself and was told they need feeding all year round but the prob with this is it high protein food. so what i was told was to get a long pipe and put the food inside the pipe and drop it onti the sturgeon head lol. doing it this way the sturgeon will get most of the food and the koi will not but only put alittle bit of food in. with my small koi and sturgeon i have taken them out of the pond and put them in a quarantine tank in my shed. hope this has helped you out abit with advise.
mark

mtwalsh · 04-12-2010, 11:57 AM

Thanks for the prompt reply Mark.

I've just done the first flush of the filter and that went smoothly.

Sadly I found a small Koi floating on the surface of the pond this morning, it was only about 5-6 inches long but still a shame. I assume it was a casualty of the weather.

I have dropped some of the Sturgeon food in and I spotted him hoovering it up. It was very difficult to try to drop it on him even with a tube as he's very hard to spot.

As advised I will hold off feeding the Koi until the temperature starts to come up, so 10 degrees C and above.

markf1fan · 04-12-2010, 12:02 PM

hi ya yes about 10 is a good starting point,they may start to swim about before this but if we are still getting such bad weather then do not feed. just try and not let the koi eat the sturgeon food at all if poss as this is high protein.

mark

mtwalsh · 04-12-2010, 12:21 PM

They do seem to be swimming around the pond quite a bit today, I noticed one come to the surface twice but I'm guessing the temperature is still below 10 degrees as it's only 4 here and the pond is probably lower.

cdhsoftware · 04-12-2010, 12:29 PM

As it says here in the Koi Keeper Unleashed Feed Plan screen.

When you do start to feed your koi in the spring start with a wheatgerm/low protein food until their digestive system can cope.

mtwalsh · 04-12-2010, 12:36 PM

Thanks, I'm feeling more on the ball with this now. I'll take a look at that software package, could be a sensible investment.

markf1fan · 04-12-2010, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtwalsh

Thanks, I'm feeling more on the ball with this now. I'll take a look at that software package, could be a sensible investment.

its well worth the money mate, just think of all the money we all pay on building ponds and then all the money we spend on fish. so buying a great bit of software is nothing at all and is a value piece of kit to have when keeping koi.

mtwalsh · 07-12-2010, 01:27 PM

I'll download the evaluation version and see how I get on with it, shame it's not an iPhone/iPad app!

brockp · 07-12-2010, 02:32 PM

It's a big bit of software for an AP !....but I also think it is excellent. It has lot of useful articles and info as well as being an excllent database for your pond and fish.
Pete