Feeding your Goldfish

Occasionally, feeding of pond goldfish becomes a topic of extreme concern to the keepers of ponds.  Do not feed goldfish. This does not apply to koi. If you have koi, you have an outdoor aquarium and must deal with it accordingly. But not goldfish.


Here's why:


If you have a balanced pond, with underwater vegetation, your fish will be happy without unnecessary and artificial food introduced into the pond. 


If you feed them, they will grow bigger than the pond can handle, they will eat all the vegetation, so you will feed them more and more...and soon the bioload will be too big for the pond and all the fish will die.

If you have sufficient filtration, you can feed fish, but not without it. And overfeeding leads to foul and green water.


You must have enough submerged vegetation for the goldfish to eat and the submerged vegetation grows faster than the fish can eat it. 


Do not introduce more fish to your pond than 1 linear foot of fish per 25 square feet of pond surface.  


If you feed fish, they will be easily attacked by predators because they do not know the difference between you and a raccoon or a heron, so will come to the surface thinking they are going to get dinner and end up being dinner.


If you have grandchildren and they MUST feed the fish when they visit, make some chopped, cooked carrots and feed them sparingly, perhaps once weekly, no more.


And for all the science behind a balanced pond and to make your eyes glaze over:

Plants and fish benefit each other in two ways. First, fish and plants contribute to the successful functioning of the nitrogen cycle. As the waste products excreted by fish are released into the water, they are converted to ammonia and then to nitrites and nitrates by 

nitrifying bacteria. Nitrates are a food or fertilizer for plants and algae. As they are absorbed, plants and algae become a valuable food resource for fish, thus completing the nitrogen cycle. 

This ongoing biological cycle ensures healthy pond life. It is important to realize that if plants are not thriving, algae will take over and the water will become murky. 

A second important way fish and plants complement one other is through the process of photosynthesis. Fish require oxygen for their existence and they release carbon dioxide. Plants in turn require carbon dioxide for their successful existence and emit oxygen. 

During sunlight, plants will consume the carbon dioxide released by fish and in turn emit oxygen required by fish. 

A constantly functioning nitrogen cycle and photosynthesis are the key components to a successful and beautiful garden pond. 

Plants to use for best results:

The most beautiful type of pond plants are lilies. Water lettuce and water hyacinths are also excellent additions to the pond and submerged plants such as Hornwort, Vallisneria, Sagitarria, Cabomba and Anacharis are also excellent. 

The ideal pond fish are common or hardy goldfish. 

Now you can refocus your eyes.  Do not feed your goldfish. It's only common sense. 

In my book, I advocate not feeding fish, just as I do here.

You can buy my book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping.  Yippee.

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

And no, I don't know why the font keeps changing in this blog lately. Gremlins, maybe?

Submersible Vegatation

Question:

What is the best type of plant to fully submerge in a pond?
I am not going to keep fish in it, hoping for some frogs and newts to arrive and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on the best type of pond plant? I want 1 either full or partially in the water for creatures to hide in. Thank you.


Answer:
Depending on where you live, a hardy water lily or a tropical water lily would be perfect. You can also use floating plants like parrots feather or even water hyacinth.


Oxygenating grasses

Question:
Can you plant just regular grass seed in a fish pond? Will it grow? Will it take oxygen from the fish?
I own some land in which I have started building a fish pond. If the grass doesn't grow, is there a special type of underwater grass to use?


Answer:
Regular grass will not grow in water. Use anacharis, hornwort or cabomba and your fish will love you. All three give O2 to the fish and they, in turn, fertilize them.

To find more pond information, go to pondlady.com

And to meet a great community of gardeners, join us at Gardeners Gumbo

Fish feeding

You are always telling us not to feed our fish. But the fish store tells me I must feed them, Who is right?


Pondlady sez:
If you have a balanced pond, with underwater vegetation, your fish will be happy without unnecessary and artificial food introduced into the pond. If you feed them, they will grow bigger than the pond can handle, they will eat all the vegetation, so you will feed them more and more...and soon the bioload will be too big for the pond and all the fish will die.
If you have sufficient filtration, you can feed fish, but not without it. And overfeeding leads to foul and green water.

A New Pond

Question:
I am a new pond owner and it has been established for about a month, I have added a few fish. At first they were very active now I feel they are lying on the bottom more and not swimming around as much. My pond has a little green on the bottom and sides but is basically clear. Am I jumping the gun or do you think I may have a problem with the fish? They are eating but not as much. I have several plants in the pond and seem to be doing o.k. my water lily has finally formed a pad but it is small, how often should I fertilize it? I also have a pond smell it that normal?


Pondlady sez;:
You are feeding your fish. Unless they are koi, do not feed them. Make sure you have 1/2 of the surface of the water covered with floating plants and have plenty of places for the fish to hide.

Put at least one bunch of submerged vegetation in your pond for every square foot of pond surface. Feed the water lily at least once monthly, but they would prefer to be fed twice or even every 10 days in the growing season. Use Pondtabbs or other aquatic fertilizer. If you can't find it, use Job's Tree Spikes cut up in 4 pieces or Job's Tomato Spikes. And as a last resort, just dig a hole in the soil of the water lily, put a powdered fertilizer in there and cover it back up. 
You probably have too many fish as well. Here's the rule: 1 linear foot of fish per 25 square feet of water surface.

Spring is coming fast. Check your filters. If they have been out of the pond all winter, put them back in the water and use some Microbe Lift Gel to give the pond biosystem a jump start for spring.

Algae

Green water is often a problem in full sun and well fertilized plants. Do not use chemicals to control the algae--it will kill your lilies. Instead, encourage a healthy growth of submerged plants like anacharis one bunch per square foot of surface area, which will help starve out the algae. Some floating hyacinths or water lettuce will also help, but watch they do not get out of control.

My pond looks like pea soup

Questions for the pondlady: I followed all the rules, did everything you said to do, Jan, but my pond is completely green. I couldn't buy all the submerged vegetation at once, so am buying it a little every week. Oh, and my grandkids feed the fish, but only when they come over.

PL answers: Add more underwater vegetation. Without enough the pond will turn green. The fish love to eat it and, the fish will eat it faster than it grows if you don't have enough. Without extra filtration, you must have 1 bunch of submerged vegetation per square foot of surface. If not, the fish will eat it all and you will be buying it every week forever. And it's a very expensive fish food.

And how often do your grandchildren come over?? And are they feeding those fish Poptarts? If those grandkids must feed the fish, chop up some cooked carrots, or green beans. And then feed them less than a teaspoon. This assumes the feeders visit only once weekly, not daily.

Excess fertilizer will turn the pond green. Stagger your fertilization schedule if necessary. Change 25% of your water weekly until pond clears. (Don't forget the dechlor.) Changing the water is important for the pond. And the veggie beds love it.