Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding How long for a bluegill to digest fish food?

My question comes through an observation I had today. I hand feed my fish optimal bluegill once per day of an evening @ 7:30 with all food consumed off the surface in 10 minutes. Today @ 1 pm me and a buddy was fishing and he deep hooked 2. Anout a 3/4 # female and 1 # male. I kept them and when I filleted them out both stomachs were full of fish food. The male I could still distinguish the individual pellets. This just struck me as odd as they were 6 hours from Beeing fed again. I know a lot feed 2 or 3 times a day. I'm not sure what my question actually is? Has anyone else seen this? Normal? Not? Feeding too much?
Thanks

I thought Lusk once said it takes 8 hours generally for fish to digest...might have recalled this incorrectly however. Seems your data suggests otherwise...I think water temps have an influence on metabolism and digestion rates, but imagine your temps are still in the upper 70s or low 80s in KY?

I've dressed a few YP that had new looking fish food present, and wondered the same thing. It would have been from the prior evening's feeding, and still looked intact. I wondered why they hit my little jig, if they already had a belly full of fish chow.

Perhaps it depends on how much food is in the stomach after feeding???

In addition to mechanical action, digestion involves enzymes that break down certain components of food. Enzymes are catalysts that speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes are often more efficient at higher physiological temperatures and are also affected by pH. While many animals excrete higher quantities of digestive enzymes in response to a larger meal, larger meals still generally take longer to digest. The composition of the meal also affects digestion time. The digestive systems of different fish species differ and there are differences among individual within a species including variation in the microbes present in the gut that can affect digestion efficiency.

Dry pellets have to absorb water and soften first as the first step in digestion. Depending on the density of the pellet this first step can vary by a few hours.

BG have small stomachs thus the feeding multiple times a day. Some will eat once leaving others to feed the next feeding. Some will eat a little every time. BG feeding is best around 74 F IIRC while digestion is faster at a little higher temp.

Thanks Eric...any intel on other species?

Given that Optimal is digested more thoroughly than other feeds, thus with less waste, I wonder if it is digested faster. If so, perhaps it could be fed to BG at lower temps than other feeds without harming the fish, lengthening the time of safe feeding.

It would be interesting to find out.

Not so sure about that."digested more thoroughly " does not mean faster. It might be if "digested more thoroughly " that more nutritional value is absorbed from the same weight of food. If so then with decreasing temps and metabolism and more nutrients from the same food - lees food would be needed and eaten. It all depends.

TJ I will check. My memory is LMB feeding and growth optimum temps are close to those of BG. HSB optimum temps are lower.

This data would be very helpful, I notice feeding in my Male BG trophy fishery seems to varying widely. Considering there's only 120 BG in a .25 ac pond, wondering if the variable feeding response is due to fish still digesting 24 hours later. Excluding all other factors [same food, same time, same water temps/air temps] I have been unable to determine what might be causing the tepid response to feeding one day, next day it's aggressive. Maybe I'm feeding too often?

Check out feeding to satiation and compensatory feeding concepts. I think you are on the right track.

Thanks E - too bad feeder timers don't have controls to select days of feeding. Feeder timers are generally woefully bereft of options IMO.

On way to use the concept is to set feeders at a rate that is enough for normal eating and then once or twice a week hand feed until satiation at the last feeding of the day.