Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Anyone else hydrate their feed?

Does anyone else hydrate their pellets besides Bill Cody and I -- especially in cold water? We both believe hydrated feed is easier to digest in cold water, hence why we do it. Bill has even fed his yellow perch through the ice by pinching the air out of the hydrated pellet and allowing it to sink. I've actually taken it a step farther by feeding my bluegills and perch hydrated pellets through out the summer! My fish are spoiled and aren't that interested in hard pellets anymore!

Bill uses a container but I hydrate my pellets in a zip lock bag. It's important not to overuse water as then you end up with mush. It's also important to agitate the pellets at first to get them covered and to turn the bag every few minutes. In a couple of hours the water will have penetrated the entire pellet, and if you've done it right, the pellet should have a clay like consistency. It will still float, however, if you want it to sink you need to simply pinch the air out of it.

O.K. here's how I do it with Aquamax 5D05. It may vary with different sizes, moisture content, and brands of feed.


1.) Add three parts feed to one part water in a gallon zip lock bag. Turn the bag over and over again to distribute the water.

2.) Lay on a flat surface and periodically flip the bag over and over again every 30 to 60 seconds for the first five minutes.

3.) Wait 2 hours for full hydration

4.) Refrigerate between uses.

Your fed should have a play dough consistency, not mushy or in the other extreme as hard as dry feed. If some of your feed is mush and some is too dry you didn't mix long enough initially.

I would definitely hydrate if I lived at the pond, seems to make sense.

Nope. I did when I first started feeding non-feed trained BG, but not anymore.