Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Game fish chow?

My fish will suck a pellet in then spit it back out. I read somewhere here that someone moisturized the pellets some how. But I can't find it again. Anyway, how do you soften up the pellets? Maybe the pellets are too hard when I feed the fish. Any ideas? Thanks for any help.

Do you hand feed the pellets?

Lots of people on the forum that hand feed, soak the pellets in pond water for a brief time before feeding. I suspect the fish are spitting them back out because they are too hard, not because they don't like the feed.

I believe the soaking time is around 10 minutes? However, if you soak too long, then your floating feed will sink faster.

You should be able to experiment and see what makes your fish happy!

Perhaps one of our hand-feeding regulars will pop into your post.

Yes. I hand toss the pellets into the water. I watch them come and get it. I will try the water soaking and see if it makes a difference. Thanks

The only time my fish do that is if they are small then it’s common to see them spit it out only to see their neighbor wolf it down

Mine are the same way. Big BG much more inclined to just take it dry, little guys prefer soaked.

It can be feed dependent. With the feed I got from the Fish Farm when I picked up my fish I add 2 tsp of water per 1/4 cup of feed (you may need to add or take away water based on your feed), shake for 1 minute ( I use an old coffee can), then shake 1-2 more times over the next 10-30 minutes. I then let it sit 2-6 hours. This allows minimal "sludge" when you first add water, the sludge is a potential loss of nutrients. This also turns the pellets to a play-doh consistency. The benefit of this consistency is you can mold them or mash them. My pellets are small and I have a couple large perch in my mix, so I like to give them bigger treats. Bill says the bigger the perch get (think like 14"+) the less they like to rise for food, so I mold a bunch of little pellets together and smush the air out so they sink for the big girls. I can also straight smush individual pellets and allow them to sink. I feel like this gets the perch riled up quicker. The pellets I don't do anything to still float. I usually feed in the evening, so I usually mix up a batch after lunch sometime. If I work and don't get home until dusk I just feed dry food.

I also made a feed ring out of 1" black poly water line ( you need a 4-5' circle for this material to make a nice circle, about 15 feet of water line makes close to a 5ft circle) that helps keep my floaters from floating to shore.