Another great pleasure for all koi-keepers is seeing their beloved koi swimming eagerly toward them for feeding. It is a good idea to decide a certain place and a certain calling method for feeding the koi. Through this way, the koi will become tame easily and you may enjoy feeding them with or from your hand, thus you will come to love them even more.
Feeding your koi also provides an early warning sign of their health. A sick koi will quickly lose its appetite while the others are hungry and feeding well. Therefore it is preferred to give the koi food that will float on the surface, as the sick koi will leave its group and be less active often isolating itself at the bottom of the pond.
Feeding is the best opportunity to inspect each fish for wounds, lesions, or any visible sign of large parasites such as fish lice or anchor worm.
During the summer months koi feeding is actively increased when the temperature rises above 15˚C. The amount of food is proportional to the koi growth rate. However, the growth rate depends on many factors:
1 Pond conditions: e.g. Water temperature, stock density, overall pond environment.
2 Water Quality
3 Food Quality
4 Genetic/Bloodline background.
Plenty of food is necessary to increase or maintain their size in a short period of time, therefore you must make sure that the water quality is well controlled.
Another interesting thing to know about koi is that they are omnivores; they feed on both meat and vegetable materials.
We, as a koi keepers, living in a modern world with a busy lifestyle, find it difficult to provide our koi with fresh foods everyday. Therefore it is now more convenient to feed our beloved koi a specialized formulated and balanced diet in a form of pellets. Should you have more time over weekends, you can always prepare a special treat made from paste bait together with fresh ingredients such as lettuce, cabbage, carrots, rice, bread, potato, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, chicken livers, garlic, shrimps, oranges, melons etc. With the fresh food bait, koi can absorb some natural nutrients such as carotene, rutine astaxanthin and diastaxanthin.
Koi should not overeat as they are not like other animals that have stomachs to store the extra foods for later. Therefore it is wise to feed less but in a more frequent manner. Allow them to feed no more than 30 minutes maximum, and vary the amount of food / bait depending on the size and stock density in the pond.
The feeding pattern can have a serious effect on the Koi's body shape. This is the most important feature that judges and breeders look for, and it should also be the priority of the koi keeper to keep the koi in good shape.
Koi Feeding: The Important Three Factors
1) Suitable Temperature
Winter Season:
- No feeding is necessary when the water temperature is on or below 10˚C
- Preferred feeding water temperature is 12˚C ~ 15˚C or higher.
- Preferred feeding time for the day is between 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Koi hibernates during the winter, especially in South Africa, where the temperature drops below 10˚C, the feeding of koi becomes unnecessary as the koi’s metabolism slows down. The koi would not want much food during this period. It’s also not healthy for koi when food is administered at such a low temperature.
Summer Season:
Koi consumes plenty of food when temperatures are high. Ensure food high in protein and freshness, as well as a well-balanced diet of koi food is offered for maximum growth and body build-up, able to tolerate harsh conditions and/or change in environment. Additional fresh, live food is also quite suitable to offer them.
2) Types of food used
Winter Season:
- Make sure Wheat germ food is used in the diet. E.g. Ichiban Prof. Wheatgerm
Wheat germ food contains a lot of vitamin E. It is a good anti-oxidizing agent in food to stop fats turning rancid resulting in Koi Skeletal Disorders and Fatty Degeneration of the Liver. Wheat germ food also provides faster digestion, as the koi does not have stomach, it cannot store food like other animals can, therefore, it could resulting in internal organ inflammatory if when food is not being digested soon enough especially when the koi’s metabolism slows down in low temperature.
Summer Season:
- Make sure high level of protein koi food is provided in the diet.
E.g. Ichiban Std Hi-Pro ( minimum 45% Protein)
The proteins are made up by different amino acids. Different animal requires different amino acids; there are thirteen essential amino acids should be included in the fish diet. The proteins are used to provide faster growth, to repair damaged tissue and to produce eggs or sperms.
3) Pellet Size used
Always provide suitable pellet size for different size koi. As different size koi display differences in consuming time, consuming quantity and absorption of nutrients. Try not to keep fish of different size together.
Feeding koi is one of the essential techniques that all koi keepers need to learn, or have experienced in their time of koi-keeping. Using the correct method of feeding will promote a more interesting experience in keeping koi, with less problems for your fish.
The Ichiban Koi Food is available in different size pellets. Please cosult with us in selecting the correct size pellets for your koi.
Feel free to contact us for more information
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