I've been feeding my goldfish flake food, and I've trained them to
look for it beneath the surface. I did this to try to orient them
away from the surface, so that they would be better protected from
predators. I put some flake food between my fingers and hold it
beneath the surface so it doesn't float.

Now that they have thrived and reproduced, I have too many goldfish
for my small pond, so I have to take some to a pond store nearby,
where they will probably be sold. Fortunately, they charge enough per
fish there that people won't likely buy them for feeders.

Since I know a lot of folks feed with pellet food that floats on the
surface, I thought I'd better train my fish to look to the surface for
food so they will be prepared for their new home. I've tried to feed
them floating pellet food, but the fish just swim frantically around
looking like their starving until I give them their flake food
underwater.

How can I teach them to eat floating food on the surface so that they
don't starve in their new home?

Joan
___________________

they will retrain themselves. when the food comes in they'll be there to eat
it. one suggestion: only feed a little until they learn that the floating
stuff actually is edible. as i say, it won't take long.
what happens is that the fish train us! :-D
mad
--
I wished the buck stopped here, as I could use a few.
Andy Rooney

From: JGW
Organization: SCN Research Inc. of Portland, Oregon, USA.
Reply-To:
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:56:33 -0700
Subject: Feeding fish: surface vs. deep

I've been feeding my goldfish flake food, and I've trained them to
look for it beneath the surface. I did this to try to orient them
away from the surface, so that they would be better protected from
predators. I put some flake food between my fingers and hold it
beneath the surface so it doesn't float.

Now that they have thrived and reproduced, I have too many goldfish
for my small pond, so I have to take some to a pond store nearby,
where they will probably be sold. Fortunately, they charge enough per
fish there that people won't likely buy them for feeders.

Since I know a lot of folks feed with pellet food that floats on the
surface, I thought I'd better train my fish to look to the surface for
food so they will be prepared for their new home. I've tried to feed
them floating pellet food, but the fish just swim frantically around
looking like their starving until I give them their flake food
underwater.

How can I teach them to eat floating food on the surface so that they
don't starve in their new home?

Joan
___________________




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they will retrain themselves. when the food comes in they'll be there to eat
it. one suggestion: only feed a little until they learn that the floating
stuff actually is edible. as i say, it won't take long.
what happens is that the fish train us! :-D
mad
--
I wished the buck stopped here, as I could use a few.
Andy Rooney

From: JGW
Organization: SCN Research Inc. of Portland, Oregon, USA.
Reply-To:
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:56:33 -0700
Subject: Feeding fish: surface vs. deep

I've been feeding my goldfish flake food, and I've trained them to
look for it beneath the surface. I did this to try to orient them
away from the surface, so that they would be better protected from
predators. I put some flake food between my fingers and hold it
beneath the surface so it doesn't float.

Now that they have thrived and reproduced, I have too many goldfish
for my small pond, so I have to take some to a pond store nearby,
where they will probably be sold. Fortunately, they charge enough per
fish there that people won't likely buy them for feeders.

Since I know a lot of folks feed with pellet food that floats on the
surface, I thought I'd better train my fish to look to the surface for
food so they will be prepared for their new home. I've tried to feed
them floating pellet food, but the fish just swim frantically around
looking like their starving until I give them their flake food
underwater.

How can I teach them to eat floating food on the surface so that they
don't starve in their new home?

Joan
___________________




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

"JGW" wrote in message
...
snip
Since I know a lot of folks feed with pellet food that floats on the
surface, I thought I'd better train my fish to look to the surface for
food so they will be prepared for their new home. I've tried to feed
them floating pellet food, but the fish just swim frantically around
looking like their starving until I give them their flake food
underwater.

How can I teach them to eat floating food on the surface so that they
don't starve in their new home?

Joan
___________________


Just a thought...do you soak the pellet food a few min. first? If they
nibble the hard pellet they may think its not edible. It's a good idea to
soak it in any case with goldfish as the stuff swells in them and can
actually explode the little ones. Mine will eat either but prefer flakes.
sandra

i throw mine in and they eat it. have from day one.
mad

-- |
|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\ |____
| Love and Happiness ||"|""\__,
|_____________________||_|__|_)|
(@) (@) ** (@) (@)**(@) (@) Heavy Hauler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


From: "sandra"
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 18:15:17 -0700
Subject: Feeding fish: surface vs. deep


"JGW" wrote in message
...
snip
Since I know a lot of folks feed with pellet food that floats on the
surface, I thought I'd better train my fish to look to the surface for
food so they will be prepared for their new home. I've tried to feed
them floating pellet food, but the fish just swim frantically around
looking like their starving until I give them their flake food
underwater.

How can I teach them to eat floating food on the surface so that they
don't starve in their new home?

Joan
___________________


Just a thought...do you soak the pellet food a few min. first? If they
nibble the hard pellet they may think its not edible. It's a good idea to
soak it in any case with goldfish as the stuff swells in them and can
actually explode the little ones. Mine will eat either but prefer flakes.
sandra





-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

+++
When they see the other fish eating, they will figure it out.


On Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:56:33 -0700, JGW wrote:

I've been feeding my goldfish flake food, and I've trained them to
look for it beneath the surface. I did this to try to orient them
away from the surface, so that they would be better protected from
predators. I put some flake food between my fingers and hold it
beneath the surface so it doesn't float.

Now that they have thrived and reproduced, I have too many goldfish
for my small pond, so I have to take some to a pond store nearby,
where they will probably be sold. Fortunately, they charge enough per
fish there that people won't likely buy them for feeders.

Since I know a lot of folks feed with pellet food that floats on the
surface, I thought I'd better train my fish to look to the surface for
food so they will be prepared for their new home. I've tried to feed
them floating pellet food, but the fish just swim frantically around
looking like their starving until I give them their flake food
underwater.

How can I teach them to eat floating food on the surface so that they
don't starve in their new home?

Joan
___________________

Thanks to all who replied to my question about feeding goldfish on the
surface.

So far, I've not had too much luck. I made a little floating ring and
tethered it to the edge of my pond. I put the floating pellets in
there so I can keep track of how much get eaten (so they don't go
floating off to all corners of the pond). I put my hand down in the
ring to get the fishes' attention. And I put a few flake pellets in
the neighborhood too, close to the surface.

The pellets stay there most of the day. Odd thing is that, by the
next morning, the floating pellets are gone. I don't know if they get
saturated and start to sink and the fish get them then, or whether the
raccoons are showing up at night and eating the pellets (oh gosh I
hope not! That's the reason why I started feeding the fish deep in
the first place).

Anyway, thanks again to all who replied and for your suggestions.

Joan
__________________________________________