Golden Orfe: Best Winter Food?

[mark4785]

Hello,

I currently have 3 golden orfe situated in my outdoor pond. During summer I used to feed them ordinary koi pellets and for some reason they eventually lost interest and seemed to be more interested in trying to eat flies at the water surface. Due to this, I switched to feeding them Medikoi silkworm (broken down into small pieces). The Silkworm were deemed to be treats as they only provide a high protein diet and they produce a lot of waste. The ammonia levels started to rise as a result of feeding the daily use of the silkworm. As a result I switched to compact brine shrimps for the remainder of the summer. Now winter is approaching the shrimps are reaching their expiry date and are not suitable for winter. The result of this is that I don't have anything available to give to the Golden Orfe, other than a vitamin suppliment which I put in the water every week.

The koi, goldfish, tench, golden rudd and shubunkin are happily consuming wheatgerm (small and large) pellets but the Orfe are not interested. Presumably, there are no natural sources of food for the orfe either during winter so I am concerned about their fat reserves and health.

My water parameters are as follows: PH 8.4 (applied salt-based PH buffer solution to reduce this), ammonia 0, nitrite 1.0, Nitrate 10. These levels have fluctuated a lot during the year and have not affected the appetite of the orfe or any other fish.

My question is: What food, if anything should I give to the orfe during winter?

Thank you.

Mark.

 

[Honeythorn]

Have you tried them on chopped up earthworms? You can breed worms in a wormery or in a compost bin. Just go to a fishing tackle shop and get a portion of red brandlin worms, chop a few into manageable pieces ( not for the squeamish and best done quickly with very sharp scissors to ease the worm's suffering) and see if the Orfe like them. If they do then you can keep the worms in a big bucket of dirt in the shed (with a lid on with holes in it) if you have no compost bin. And if they don't then chuck them on the garden for the birds and the soil.

Since worms are quite a rich meaty food, they will keep the orfe going over winter and if you feed every other day or two the ammonia shouldn't rise too much.

 

[Davo86]

Have you tried them on chopped up earthworms? You can breed worms in a wormery or in a compost bin. Just go to a fishing tackle shop and get a portion of red brandlin worms, chop a few into manageable pieces ( not for the squeamish and best done quickly with very sharp scissors to ease the worm's suffering) and see if the Orfe like them. If they do then you can keep the worms in a big bucket of dirt in the shed (with a lid on with holes in it) if you have no compost bin. And if they don't then chuck them on the garden for the birds and the soil.

Since worms are quite a rich meaty food, they will keep the orfe going over winter and if you feed every other day or two the ammonia shouldn't rise too much.

Have the Orfe become more inactive recently?

We are getting to the time now when pond fish really do not require feeding at all, they will be starting to go into a hibernatory state and therefore no high protein foods should be fed, (fish struggle to digest protein in this state exerting too much energy which could potentially kill them)

If the fish are still active then keep feeding them wheatgerm, they will eat if they want to, But slowly you will notice that as it gets colder all of the species will be less inclined to surface to feed

 

[Honeythorn]

Really? Mine used to eat all through winter and did very well indeed on earthworms ( before mother got rid of the pond anyway <_< )

 

[mark4785]

Thank you for the advice, however I'm not going to attempt chopping up worms, especially after eating.

The golden orfe are not eating the wheatgerm so whether I continue using it or not, they take no interest. They seem to prefer natural foods (brine shrimp or small silkworms), but most of these types of foods are high in protein and therefore not suitable to feed in winter.

Are there any alternative natural foods which serve the same purpose has wheatgerm pellets?

 

[Davo86]

Thank you for the advice, however I'm not going to attempt chopping up worms, especially after eating.

The golden orfe are not eating the wheatgerm so whether I continue using it or not, they take no interest. They seem to prefer natural foods (brine shrimp or small silkworms), but most of these types of foods are high in protein and therefore not suitable to feed in winter.

Are there any alternative natural foods which serve the same purpose has wheatgerm pellets?

are the orfe surface feeding or do they wait for the food to sink?

For now continue to feed what they like but i'd say no more than 3 times per week,

 

[mark4785]

They go to the surface for the food providing it is food they prefer. They don't eat food that sinks.

I'll continue to feed them brine shrimp despite it being unsuitable. I think its MORE unsuitable to not feed them anything.

 

[punkabilly]

What about trying bloodworm and daphnia,which can be brought live in small bags from a good water center,these always go down well with my orfe,and the rudd love 'em, maggots also work well,if you pour boiling water onto the maggots they will float on the surface, another favourite is dried mealworms,they were brought for birdfeeding but the fish love them!