Greetings, as you can see I'm up the "road" from you. Sounds like the fish have you wrapped around their fins. Trust me they will not starve. I've had fish for the past 8 years and when the water temp drops below 50 thats it. There's plenty in your pond for them to nibble on and they won't starve. Exercise some self control and they'll all be there to greet you in the spring. Stay warm this winter.

Hi donaldb,

I am very close to you. Actually, I live in Charlton which is next door to Sturbridge but I get blank stares when I tell someone what town I live in. People sort of know where Sturbridge is.

Yes, the fishies do have me wrapped around thier fins- hahaha. I will try that self-control you mentioned. The operative word is "try". When they swim up to me with thier little mouths opening I don't know how I'll be able to deny them. I guess I'll just have to walk away...quickly!

I have never fed my goldfish and they are perfectly happy. They are growing like anything. But we have lots of plants and probably plenty of little insects (?), and we don't have winters, at least not like the rest of you do.

What happens if you feed them when the water is below 55? I haven't fed mine all summer, but I am feeding them now. I like to see them. I have lots of different colored babies; they hide when I come near. Since I started feeding they come to the top and I love watching them.

I was wondering that too, helenh.

(and I can see I spelled the word "their" wrong twice in my above post! It must of been to early in the morning to be typing questions.)

Beneficial bacteria is active during the summer season. The bacteria helps balance a pond by reducing waste produced by fish. Once the temperature drops below 50 degrees, the bacteria activity is significantly reduced and the waste caused by feeding fish can create unhealthy conditions in a pond.

Thanks for the info, johnkr.

Yes, thanks johnkr. That makes sense to me now. I'll just have to leave the fish flakes in the house when I go out to check up on them.

It's the bacteria in their stomachs that stops working at colder temps, they can't digest the food properly.
Bubba