Feeding dry pellet food to yellow perch in cold water of 39F to 46F can result in adult YP dying due to the food digesting too slowly in cold water causing perch deaths. Several perch farms report this problem. It may also occur in other fish species if the fish eat a lot of dry pellets. Moist food fed in cold water below 55-60F(13C) digests faster and rarely causes problems with YP digesting the pellets.
azteca - do you have YP in a pond? How are they growing and sizes after a few years?
Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/25/1709:47 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
azteca - you are doing good things with yellow perch in Quebec, near Montréal. Good video. Congratulations. Note the risky water temperature for causing cold water pellet feeding deaths of YP is 39F to 47F (4C-8.3C). Results have been the more dry pellets the perch eat at the low temperatures the more chance of them dying from spoiled, non-fully, digested pellets. They can eat a few dry pellets in cold water and survive okay. The relative safe temperature for dry pellet feeding is 50F(10C).
Some questions please: How long you been raising YP? What is the percent protein of the pellets you feed to perch? What is your biggest YP so far? How long does it take you to grow YP to 8" a length that is considered a cleanable or market size?
Last edited by Bill Cody; 02/25/1710:01 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
Since 2years I don't give nothing and I don't have problems anymore.
Last year I cath some at around 14 inches, I give them pellet food only 3 times a week, they have crayfish and I give them fathead minnow, I have a forage pond.
The pellets are from Corey, Big pellets 5.5 protein 44% Starter 0.5 protein 55%
Like I said I like to play with my fish and do different thing. One year I made I will say a big hole 20x20 feet, I put there lots of fathead minnow, very near this big hole I made a small hole 7x10 feet.
The second year I fertilize the small hole for phytoplankton, and I put around 400 perch larvae, and I put the automatic feeder, and around mid July I connect the small hole with the big hole, you imagine the party there, and I still gave them small pellets with the automatic feeder.
At the October all the perch were around 6 inches big and fat, they cleaned all the fathead minnow except the big one.