Feeding calculator
Feed only what the fish clear in ten minutes, once a day at the same time and place. Cut back when fish stop rising to the feed or when oxygen is low at dawn.
Method and sources
rate: under 50 F none, 50 to 60 F 0.5%, 60 to 70 F 1%, 70 to 85 F 2.5%, over 85 F 1%
The rate is a percent of body weight per day for a floating pellet, from the Auburn University and Kentucky State University extension feeding guides. The ten-minute rule caps the amount whatever the table says: uneaten feed sinks, rots and takes oxygen. Under 50 F digestion stalls, so feeding stops. Bags are 50 lb and a month is 30 days.
Protein ranges by fish type are the levels the feeding guides and the forum thread give for growth: 32 to 36 percent for bluegill and other panfish, 40 to 45 percent for bass, hybrid stripers and other predators, 28 to 32 percent for catfish. Fish weight is an estimate; the carrying capacity calculator gives a range for the pond, and a sample of fish scored with the fish condition calculator shows whether they are gaining on it.
Practitioner discussion: Pond Boss forum thread Fish Foods and All About Feeding Fish.