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Feeding Fish Feeding Goldfish Garden Ponds Goldfish Goldfish Care

Feeding Pond Fish – When Should I Start Feeding Fish In Spring?

Spring has arrived and when should you start feeding pond fish in spring in your garden pond? What people should do is only start feeding their pond fish when the water warms up past 55 degrees farenheit. People need to remember that your fish need to come out of hibernation over winter. Their immune system is still low and vulnerable to diseases and parasites. As the water warms your fish metabolism will increase.

 People should start feeding their goldfish a wheat germ based food that is easy to digest in spring and low in protein. When the water is below 55 degrees farenheit the metablism of the fish slows down that is why you should only start feeding fish once water warms up past that.

Koi Fish Pond

People should also have a thermometer on hand so they can check the temperature of the water in their pond come spring. I know after a long winter people are very eager to start feeding their goldfish and getting their pond operational again. I know because I am one of those people. It’s exciting to know your pond is open and you see your fish swimming around but this is also the most crucial time that pond fish are vulnerable to many things as well.

Feeding Goldfish and Koi In Fish Pond

Spring Fish Food For Pond FishIf people are eager to start feeding their pond fish such as goldfish and koi you can buy Autumn and Spring Fish Food that you can feed your fish down to 42 degreees farenheit. You can go this route but I would suggest just letting your pond fish be until the water temperature warms up to 55 degrees. If your pond fish are hungry their is plenty of food for them to pick at in a pond. Just let nature feed them until your water temperature in your pond is safe to start feeding them regular fish food. Remember always start feeding pond fish a wheat germ based food until water warms up then you can switch over and start feeding your fish a higher protein food. Feeding pond fish is one of the most exciting parts of owning a pond so lets feed them the appropriate food at the time of year to ensure they maintain healthy and disease free.

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Garden Ponds Goldfish Goldfish Care How To Pond Filtration

Goldfish Pond- Cleaning and Pond Spring Start Up Tips

Now that spring has arrived your going to need to clean your goldfish pond and get it already for the pond season. Pond maintenance is needed and you will need to clean your goldfish pond of any debris and organic matter that has decomposed over winter. If you did not cover your goldfish pond last year with a pond netting you will need to scoop up all the leaves that are decaying. This decaying matter is prime areas for when goldfish diseases and parasites occur. Remove all the sludge at the bottom of your goldfish pond to prevent diseases and parasite outbreaks.

For small ponds you can completely clean your pond rinse it out and refill it. If you have goldfish in your pond simply remove them and place them in an indoor aquarium until you finish cleaning your pond. It would be best to keep them in a fish tank for about 3-4 days before you re-introduce them to your pond. This would be a great time for you to observe your fish and look for any signs or symptoms of diseases and parasites. If you notice any sick fish treat them as needed.

goldfish pond

For any pond plants that you have in your pond such as water lilies and other marginals, this is a great time to divide them. Simply divide and re-pot your pond plants and fertilize them as well. When you clean your pond for spring this is the ideal time for dividing your pond plants and water lilies and you can place them where you want in your garden pond.

For larger ponds which you may not be able to drain your pond and clean it completely make sure you remove as much as the sludge as possible. Do a partial water change and remove about 25% of the water.

Now that your pond is cleaned out your going to need to start up your pond for the season. Now you can hook up your pond pump and filter and get the water circulating. Be sure to add beneficial bacteria to get your biological filter working properly. Also add water conditioner to remove chlorine from the water to make it safe for your goldfish.

In spring is when people tend to have problems with algae blooms with their goldfish pond. After you have finished cleaning your pond and hooking up your pond pump and filter add a bag of barley to your pond. A bag of barley right by the pond pump will help reduce the the chance of algae. Barley works great for algae control in ponds. Simply add barley straw, barley extract or pellets in your pond at the beginning of spring and this will help your pond stay clear.

After you have cleaned your pond and started it up for spring most people want to start feeding their fish. Remember you can only start feeding your fish when it warms up to about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Some fish foods on the market today you can feed your fish at 45 degrees but general rule is about 55 degrees you can start feeding your goldfish. When you do start feeding your goldfish in your pond start feeding them a wheat germ food that fish can easily digest. Feed them once a day and then as summer approaches you can switch fish foods later. Remember goldfish in a pond don’t really need to be fed, their is plenty of food in the pond for them.

Now that your goldfish pond is all cleaned out and ready for the season you can start to enjoy it. To fully enjoy your water garden make sure you have enough pond plants, water lilies and floating aquatic plants. Having your pond about 70% full of plants will help keep your water crystal clear all summer long. Make sure you have great pond filter as well as consider buying a UV sterilizer for your pond will help keep your water quality perfect all summer. Enjoy your goldfish pond and get your pond started up for spring for another pond season

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Goldfish Goldfish Care

Goldfish Care Information Blog Hits 100,000 Visitors

By Jamie Boyle

Wow, what a last year and a half! My Goldfish Care Information Blog hit 100,000 visitors here today on March 31, 2009. This goldfish blog has come a long way as it first began September 15th, 2007. I would like to thank everyone for visiting my goldfish blog for all their questions they have concerning goldfish care and how to treat against various goldfish diseases and parasites.

 I consider this a goldfish milestone! My goldfish blog started off with mimimum traffic and now has become one of the sites to go to for questions concerning goldfish care and how to treat them. Now I get about 500 hits a day with up to 1000 page views. If this traffic keeps up I will double the traffic and get close to 200,000 visitors in one year. It’s crazy as I remember when I first started there was minimum traffic but now lots of people have visited this goldfish blog and there are many websites and blogs linking back to it.

Goldfish Care Information Blog Hits 100,000th Visitor

I would like to thank everyone for coming and visiting my goldfish blog over the last year and a half. I am just glad that I am able to help you with your questions and hope that you all have learned a thing or two about goldfish. This goldfish blog wouldn’t have grown like it did without all of you asking questions, so thanks and I look forward to helping many more people here in 2009. I am very happy with the results I’ve had with this blog and the feedback I get as I truly enjoy helping you with all your questions. As you can tell, this hobby is a real passion of mine and a hobby that I really enjoy. I’m just happy that this blog has been able to help so many people with their goldfish.

For everyone else who doesn’t know already I have also set up a goldfish forum where you can go and upload your goldfish pictures, koi pictures, pond photos and talk and communicate with others in the hobby. Feel free to check it out over at Pet Goldfish Forum.

Thanks again for visiting my goldfish care information blog and I’ll talk to you all soon!

Sincerely,

Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy