cold weather

[M D Fowler]

It just turned cold here in sunny Florida.  Tonight it is going to be a whopping 23f.  I really wasn't prepared for it but a trip to Lowe's I was able to gather enough for survival of the next couple of nights (hopefully).  Is there any good advise to prepare for next year on a 200 gal. IBC?

[M D Fowler]

my cat fish is what's going first.  is it my feeding?   i feed them koi pond food, is there something better or something wrong with the food now.  i'm feeding them every other day or every third day and only a little at that. 

what do feed yours?

[TCLynx]

You are cycling up.  You need to base your feeding on the water quality.  Do ammonia and nitrite tests before you feed.  Anything above a trace or .25 on either ammonia or nitrite readings and you probably should either reduce the feed or not feed at all depending on how high above .25 either of those readings are.  Prolonged exposure to ammonia and/or nitrite is probably what's killing the catfish off first since they are more sensitive to either than goldfish, koi or tilapia are.

[M D Fowler]

i see, i was getting a sample of water and feeding them while waiting for results.  good idea!   thanks