I stopped feeding them when the water turned below 50 degrees ... now we had a warm spell and the temperature is back up above that (54 this morning)...should I resume? I expect that the temperature will start dropping again in the coming weeks
Feeding koi question
Giorio, What were you feeding to the point of quitting? I was told not to feed normal food below a water temp of 60*. So in the fall I start to slowly switch my fish over to an all veggie food called "Spring and Autumn Pond Food" by Pond Care. When the water hits 60* I stop the normal food completely and just feed this veggie food. You can feed that until the water gets down to 42* ! But I usually stop feeding before it reaches that low because the fish just aren't interested much below 45*.
In the spring I start them back up on this food too, until it reaches 60* where I start to gradually add in the normal food until I'm switched over completely.
Another good thing about this veggie food is it's high in stabilized vitamin C, vitamins A, D, and E. It's high in carbohydrates and low in protein which reduces fish waste and ammonia (very helpful in spring start-up). It also contains spirulina algea to enhance color. And they love it.
I've noticed that the Koi don't like to come to the surface once the water starts to get cold so I always soak the food in water first and when I feed it I squeeze it in my hands so it drops down to the Koi.......that way they don't have to miss out on a floating food.
What DiOhio said. I feed the same spring/autumn food when the water pretty consistently measures between 55 and 50 degrees, and then stop feeding altogether at 50 degrees. The fish are fine; there's algea in there to eat, and I figure better they go a little hungry than turn cold with food in their gut which can remain there undigested until it poisons them. Their systems slow down so much at those cooler temps that they don't want much to eat, and what they do eat takes longer to process.
I worry so much over them during the winter that hubby has threatened to develop and install a FretCam (tm) so I can watch them underwater from inside the house.