Types of pond fish food vary for the nutritional needs of the fish you have in your pond. It is common for people who are not well versed in the care of ponds which house fish to think that regular old flake food is just what the fishies ordered. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Ponds have a delicate balance which they are able to sustain with a little help from you. In nature, all the needs of a pond’s biological system are in place and operate pretty well without any human influence. If they didn’t operate on their own, there would be no fish there because they wouldn’t be able to survive. Human created ponds differ in that they don’t usually have proper natural aeration and there is no food source for the fish, save a bit of algae when the pond becomes a bit better established. That is why the types of pond fish food are so important. The wrong food will throw that delicate balance way out of whack.
The various types of pond fish food are developed to minimize waste in order to prevent the chemical reaction which gives algae a strong food source in the pond upon which it will feed and become more prevalent. When fish poop in the pond, the poop sinks and bacteria begin to transform that poop into several different chemicals in different operations. The end result of those transformations is nitrates, which become a food source for plants in a pond as well as algae. Algae is a very fast moving plant and will consume excess nitrates in the water very quickly, encouraging growth in the algae. The more algae in a pond, the less oxygen, which is extremely dangerous to other life forms in a pond. Pond fish foods are developed to float, making them more visible to the fish and to not become part of the sludge at the bottom of a pond on which the bacteria will feed and induce the chemical reactions.
The most common types of pond fish food come in pellet form. They do float and they do provide the essential nutrients any healthy fish needs. They also tend to not cloud the pond’s waters or encourage the natural ecology of the pond to use the food for the forces of evil we discussed earlier. Another of the great types of pond fish food is the pellet form. These also float and come in many different nutrient levels for your fish and the particular season. Eventually, these pellets can be used to train fish to accept hand fed treats.
Knowing a bit about the ecology of your pond will help you understand why the types of pond fish food you select is crucial to the overall health of your pond.
