Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations feeding dog food to fish?

A friend of mine who operates a pet food business recently called and asked if I wanted some free dog food. The food could not be sold because it was out of date and had a few bugs in it. I thought it might be good fish food but thought I should ask you guys first. He has an entire palet of it.

James, I fed Dog food in a catfish pond for a whole summer, don't know if it was good for them but they ate it all.

Buggy food is not good, and dog food is
too low in protein. Dog foods range from
15% to 26% in protein content, and your
catfish need about 32%. Predator fish such
as bass need even more.

James, I wouldn't bother with it. First, the protien level is too low.

Second, if it is old, its food value has probably deteriorated. When I get a new bag of Purina fish food, it is oily with a distinctive smell of new stuff. After awhile, the oil has evaporated or something. It becomes almost odorless. I even check the "born on" date on fish food.

if free and you have lots of catfish to feed then feel free to use if not already using fish food. Just do not expect gorwth as near as good as with high quality fish food. If moldy throw it out.

But if you have some free food (and it's still good), why couldn't you just give them some extra? If the cats only eat 6% to 10% more, shouldn't they get all the protein they need? I never met a catfish that didn't like to eat. But I know a pond owner who merely tossed dog food in for his catfish and basically grew giant catfish heads. Still, I know others who have had better results. Those cats also had some decent natural forage. Is pond size an important factor in this?

Would I feed my dog fish food? Nah.

That sounds fabulous.

The food I got looked to be in excellent shape so I decided to take a pallet, which was 1200 pounds. I mixed two bags of dog food and three bags of fish food in the feeder and added one extra feeding to the daily schedule. They do like to eat the dog food and I just can't resist free food!