Koi and Goldfish are cold weather fish, their
metabolism will slow down as the water gets colder, making them inactive. With air and
water temperatures dropping day by day it is time to greatly reduce the amount of food you
are feeding your fish.
When the water temperature falls below 65
degrees, you should consider switching your fish food to a more digestible wheat germ food. It contains vegetable protein
matter which breaks down and is easily digested. At lower temperatures, the good bacteria
in your fish's digestive tract become less active, and have a harder time digesting their
normal high-protein diet.
As the water temperature dips below 50 degrees,
you should stop feeding your fish altogether. Don't let those cute little faces
tempt you to feed them again as the temperature fluctuates, even though they may eat, and
seem hungry, you can actually harm them by feeding them their regular diet.
Undigested food can cause health problems in
fish. When fed high-protein diets in cool water, the excess protein is excreted as
ammonia, and the fish can get sick and die from the high levels of ammonia.
Don't worry! fish naturally rely on stored energy reserves for
sustenance.
