Landscaping and Gardening

Hot-Weather Fish Feeding Facts By Brett Fogle

Summertime provides the best time of the year to water garden – and also to be on the alert for high-temperature problems.

To remain healthy and continue growing, fish need to get all the nutrients available from their food, so feed them food they can easily assimilate in their systems. If fish seem hungry, feed them once to three times daily.

Feeding small amounts guarantees all the food gets eaten, preventing leftover food from spoiling in high, summertime temperatures and dirtying the water. Don’t feed fish that aren’t hungry – it only wastes money and soils their environment.

Oxygen dissolves easier in winter, when water temperatures are low. Warmer temperatures mean harder-to-acquire oxygen in water.

In summer, therefore, fish sometimes find it difficult to get enough dissolved oxygen – particularly in severe summer heat. Even when fish eat, the motion caused by their feeding further depletes oxygen supplies.

Avoid stressing your fish in the summer by feeding them in the cool, morning hours of the day. And to increase oxygen in the water, add a fountain or other aeration method to circulate and add air to your pond water. Submergible plants also help to increase the amount of soluble oxygen.

So, pay attention to your fish. The best rule of thumb is to never give them more than they’ll eat in five minutes. Unlike people (!), fish eat only what they need to survive, and as water warms past 77 degrees Fahrenheit, your fish will eat less.

Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several pond-related websites including