Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?

"D. T. Green" wrote ..

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish
can retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?
If the pond has a bottom of soft mud then they are already getting a varied
diet eating a lot of wildlife etc. If you want to give them a varied diet
then use Tetra Flakes for Tropical Fish (not goldfish) but it's not needed
especially in an established mud bottomed pond. If you have a water but that
grows midge larvae then net those out and feed them to the fish.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"D. T. Green" wrote ..

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish
can retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?
If the pond has a bottom of soft mud then they are already getting a
varied diet eating a lot of wildlife etc. If you want to give them a
varied diet then use Tetra Flakes for Tropical Fish (not goldfish) but
it's not needed especially in an established mud bottomed pond. If you
have a water but that grows midge larvae then net those out and feed them
to the fish.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK
__________________________________________________ ______________________________

Thanks. What kind of wildlife would that be, that relates to the muddy
bottom ?

On 07/07/2012 13:45, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 12:37:02 +0100, "D. T. Green"
wrote:

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?

Why feed them at all? We have about a dozen adult goldfish in our pond
and a similar number of fry. They never get fed, and they're thriving
and breeding. Goldfish don't need feeding if they're in a reasonable
sized pond in the open.


I think the OP is trying for fish and chips with built in mushy peas.

In article , lid says...

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"D. T. Green" wrote ..

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot.

Also because peas are no part of the natural diet of fish. Petsmart will
provide ample stocks of commercial products that are.


Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?
If the pond has a bottom of soft mud then they are already getting a
varied diet eating a lot of wildlife etc. If you want to give them a
varied diet then use Tetra Flakes for Tropical Fish (not goldfish) but
it's not needed especially in an established mud bottomed pond. If you
have a water but that grows midge larvae then net those out and feed them
to the fish.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK
__________________________________________________ ______________________________

Thanks. What kind of wildlife would that be, that relates to the muddy
bottom ?

Scoop out some of that mud onto a plastic sheet, or into a clear
plasrtic bucket of water, and you'll be amazed what comes wriggling out
of it.

Janet

On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 12:37:02 +0100, "D. T. Green"
wrote:

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?


Fish never know when to stop eating so you have to assess how much to
give them. They will eat everything they find even if it's in mud.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software. http://www.npsl1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 15:48:07 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article , lid says...

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"D. T. Green" wrote ..

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot.

Also because peas are no part of the natural diet of fish. Petsmart will
provide ample stocks of commercial products that are.

Do peas give goldfish wind?


Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?
If the pond has a bottom of soft mud then they are already getting a
varied diet eating a lot of wildlife etc. If you want to give them a
varied diet then use Tetra Flakes for Tropical Fish (not goldfish) but
it's not needed especially in an established mud bottomed pond. If you
have a water but that grows midge larvae then net those out and feed them
to the fish.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK
__________________________________________________ ______________________________

Thanks. What kind of wildlife would that be, that relates to the muddy
bottom ?

Scoop out some of that mud onto a plastic sheet, or into a clear
plasrtic bucket of water, and you'll be amazed what comes wriggling out
of it.

And children love it.

--
Mike.

On Jul 7, 1:45*pm, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 12:37:02 +0100, "D. T. Green"

wrote:
Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. *The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?

Why feed them at all? We have about a dozen adult goldfish in our pond
and a similar number of fry. They never get fed, and they're thriving
and breeding. Goldfish don't need feeding if they're in a reasonable
sized pond in the open.

How big is your pond? Mine is 2M x 1.5M and about 0.5M deep.

So howcome my four small fish eat loads of pellets every day and often
seem hungry for more? Also the newts seem to eat some too.

I was worried about the fish eating tadpoles and baby newts and that
is why I fed them a lot instead, which seems to have worked with the
newts but not the tadpoles. The latter have disappeared completely and
here is not even any young frogs, though several adults.

Doug.

On Sun, 8 Jul 2012 00:13:22 -0700 (PDT), Doug
wrote:

On Jul 7, 1:45*pm, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 12:37:02 +0100, "D. T. Green"

wrote:
Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. *The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?

Why feed them at all? We have about a dozen adult goldfish in our pond
and a similar number of fry. They never get fed, and they're thriving
and breeding. Goldfish don't need feeding if they're in a reasonable
sized pond in the open.

How big is your pond? Mine is 2M x 1.5M and about 0.5M deep.

So howcome my four small fish eat loads of pellets every day and often
seem hungry for more? Also the newts seem to eat some too.


Fish don't know when they are full. When fish are full to bursting
they will still eat. Fish that don't eat are ill.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software. http://www.npsl1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

On 07/07/2012 12:37, D. T. Green wrote:
Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?



I believe fish are partial to lettuce leaves. Try floating a lettuce
leaf and see if they come up to nibble at it. It is relatively
inexpensive, healthy, and will float. Otherwise, try some of the
floating pond plants. Fish will generally nibble at plants in the pond
anyway, so are probably already getting enough 'greens' if you've got
plants in the pond. Do bear in mind that if you over-feed, the water
will become fouled with fishy waste matter.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

The newts will be eating the frog tadpoles. I have to move my frogspawn to a different pond which doesn't have newts, otherwise I don't get any young frogs.

On Jul 8, 9:52*am, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sun, 8 Jul 2012 00:13:22 -0700 (PDT), Doug
wrote:









On Jul 7, 1:45*pm, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 12:37:02 +0100, "D. T. Green"

wrote:
Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. *The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?

Why feed them at all? We have about a dozen adult goldfish in our pond
and a similar number of fry. They never get fed, and they're thriving
and breeding. Goldfish don't need feeding if they're in a reasonable
sized pond in the open.

How big is your pond? Mine is 2M x 1.5M and about 0.5M deep.

Ovalish, about 3m x 4m x 0.9m deep in the centre, volume about 7.5
cu.m. (say 1650 gallons).

Hmm! Much bigger than mine.

So howcome my four small fish eat loads of pellets every day and often
seem hungry for more? Also the newts seem to eat some too.

They eat it because you feed it to them. I'm saying it's not necessary
to feed them for them to thrive. I also have a newt or two, and a few
toads that come and go (don't think they're frogs; the spawn is long
and stringy) and tadpoles, although like yours, they eventually
disappear before they reach maturity. I don't think the goldfish eat
them all. Some, very probably, but I think the birds (blackbirds and
thrushes) take a lot.

I was worried about the fish eating tadpoles and baby newts and that
is why I fed them a lot instead, which seems to have worked with the
newts but not the tadpoles. The latter have disappeared completely and
here is not even any young frogs, though several adults.

I shall try not feeding my fish to see how they react. At the moment I
haver an automatic daily feeder and they congregate in the open water
around it at feeding time. It will be more convenient for me if I can
stop feeding the fish for several days at a time.

Doug.

O

I was worried about the fish eating tadpoles and baby newts and that
is why I fed them a lot instead, which seems to have worked with the
newts but not the tadpoles. The latter have disappeared completely and
here is not even any young frogs, though several adults.

Doug.

This is the natural way of things. The spawn and initial flush of
tadpoles would produce a plague if they could all manage to survive.
There is a "natural selection" that takes place which benefits the
amphibians and the fish.

Too many fish will skew the ballance to the detriment off the
amphibians, and I address this with section of the pond where the fish
are excluded. The large number of frogs and newts in my pond and garden
bear testiment to the fact that this system is efective. Sad to say I
see no toads at all. They tend to be highly territorial, so I am told.

Now all I need to do is to persuade the little beggars to eat more of
the blasted slugs that have decimated my plants this year.

On Jul 10, 12:25*pm, "Alan (BigAl)" wrote:
O



I was worried about the fish eating tadpoles and baby newts and that
is why I fed them a lot instead, which seems to have worked with the
newts but not the tadpoles. The latter have disappeared completely and
here is not even any young frogs, though several adults.

Doug.

This is the natural way of things. The spawn and initial flush of
tadpoles would produce a plague if they could all manage to survive.
There is a "natural selection" that takes place which benefits the
amphibians and the fish.

Too many fish will skew the ballance to the detriment off the
amphibians, and I address this with section of the pond where the fish
are excluded. The large number of frogs and newts in my pond and garden
bear testiment to the fact that this system is efective. Sad to say I
see no toads at all. They tend to be highly territorial, so I am told.

Now all I need to do is to persuade the little beggars to eat more of
the blasted slugs that have decimated my plants this year.

How do you prevent the young amphibians moving from the excluded area
into the fish area? I had a similar system but it doesn't seem to have
worked. Also, frogs and newts often migrate from elsewhere and don't
necessarily grow up in a pond.

Doug.

In message , Stephen
Wolstenholme writes
On Sat, 7 Jul 2012 12:37:02 +0100, "D. T. Green"
wrote:

Trying to give the pond goldfish a more varied diet and using things like
tinned peas is proving wasteful, because the peas sink and the fish miss a
lot. The bottom of the pond is very soft mud and i don't think the fish can
retrieve them once they are in the mud.

Is there any crafty way to arrange something to float the peas etc in, and
yet enable the fish to get at the food ?


Fish never know when to stop eating so you have to assess how much to
give them. They will eat everything they find even if it's in mud.

Ours do,if you give too much food, it is just left floating about,until
eventually sinks. Ditto the tropical fish in the tanks (which is why
they tell you to sparing with feeding fish in tanks, as the breakdown of
uneaten food isn't good for the water quality.

--
Chris French