Hi catfish_pondere,
The first thing you'll need to do is to determine which family your
catfish belong, how many you have and your location. Some are
vegetarian, some prefer meat, and still others eat a varied diet of
both veggies and meat. I've copied and pasted some relevant sections
but please click on the links for lots of information.
Stuff you need to know about feeding catfish
How do you ensure your catfish are getting enough to eat? Chris Ralph
has some sound advice to put you on the right track...
"Catfish fall into four main categories: carnivore, omnivore,
limnivore or herbivore. "
"Typical foods for carnivores include live and frozen foods such as
bloodworm, mosquito larvae, Daphnia, Gammarus (freshwater shrimps)..."
"Herbivores are vegetarian. In their natural surroundings, these
catfish would feed predominantly on algae, fruit and plants..."
Frozen peas are an excellent food for most of the suckermouthed catfish..."
"Limnivores, or mud-eaters, feed on vegetable matter and
micro-organisms found within the substrate..."
"Typical foods for omnivore catfish include those for both the
carnivore and herbivore diets, plus a good quality flake food, sinking
catfish pellets, granular foods and tablet foods..."
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=261
Shane's World :: Catfishology :: The Catfish Basics Series
Part 2 :: Feeding Your Catfish
by Chris Ralph
http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/s_c_171.php
Fish, Tanks and Ponds: Catfish [photos]
http://www.fishtanksandponds.net/live-stock/tropical/catfish.htm
Stocking Channel Catfish Into a Pond
"Channel catfish should be the only species stocked into the pond"
Feeding Catfish in Ponds
Floating food pellets and sinking food pellets formulated for catfish
are available. Catfish feed should contain from 28 to 36 percent crude
protein and the required vitamins and minerals. Use a feed containing
32 to 36 percent crude protein if you stocked your pond at a rate of
1,000 fish or more per acre. Floating feeds are more expensive. The
advantages, however, of a floating feed far outweigh the cost:
1. You can adjust the amount of feed per day and avoid wasted feed and
pond pollution problems.
2. You can observe your fish each day, which helps in monitoring their
health and vigor. You can reduce feed costs and still have the
advantage of observing your fish by mixing 15 percent floating feed
with 85 percent sinking feed. There are various sizes of fish feeds.
Feed crumbles (crushed pellets) when fingerlings are less than 3
inches long. Feed 3/16- inch pellets to fish larger than 3 inches
until they weigh 1 pound. Fish can be switched to a ¼- or 3/8-inch
pellet when they reach ½
http://aqua.ucdavis.edu/dbweb/outreach/aqua/B881.PDF
"Feeding the fish commercial pellets in not recommended in most ponds
because it adds nutrients to the water and spurs excessive plant
growth."
http://www.miwildlife.org/h-ponds.asp
I think a visit to you State Cooperative Extension Service would be
very helpful for not only determining what you have, but also to help
you decide what, when, and how to feed them (if needed), and where a
good supplier is in your area (there is no point in paying for postage
if you don't have to).
Cooperative Extension Services, By State
http://landscaping.about.com/library/blcooperativeextensions.htm
I enjoyed working on this for you. Sorry I can't give you a more
definitive answer but hopefully this will get you off to a good start.
If you have any questions, please post a clarification request and
wait for me to respond before closing/rating my answer.
Thank you,
hummer
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