You have set up your garden with a beautiful koi pond. It is perfectly beautiful but are you ready for one of the most important aspects when it comes to koi care? Yes, koi feeding is very essential when it comes to caring for your koi.
Contrary to what you might be thinking of...These beautiful colored koi fish are very easy to handle and take care of. Koi loves to eat, they almost eat anything and everything they feel like eating. Classified as an omnivore, they eat both meat and grass (to name a few these are the snails, worms and underwater plants).
Guideline for your koi diet relies on their sizes. Therefore you should feed them accordingly to their body size and weight. Koi with a 15-20cm or 6-8inches in measurement needs only five percent of their total body weight with regards to daily feeding. For large koi, which is 6-8 inches long or 20cm requires to be fed for only 2 percent of their body weight per day. Provide just enough food so that after five minutes food has all been eaten giving no opportunity for ammonia to build up from the left overs.
Koi colors are the most valued feature, hence you have to provide them a diet that can enhance their color. Carotene that is found abundantly in vegetables such as carrots is responsible for the red pigmentation on koi, however you should never use this on white koi for it will turn their elegant white into a fancy pink. For this problem, the remedy is to use a Spirulina Platensis which is an algae. SpirulinaPlatensis mostly found in Mexico, it does help to fix red pigments on koi's body but on the side doesn't affect the pigmentation.
During the hot summer days when koi are very active is the time that you need to feed your koi a high quality food. Koi is an opportunistic eater, this means that koi eats whatever comes along their way. But this is not enough to maintain their good health so a little help from the koi pond owner and the koi's health is at its peak.
Koi's diet should include nutrients like fiber, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals. They also enjoy food such as vegetables, to name a few this are the lettuce, peas or fruits like the watermelon. Chopped in reasonable sizes these foods can be a good fish treats. You can also check your koi's health through feeding. By feeding you get the chance to see them and observe their bodies for possible injuries, skin diseases, and analyze how active and how good is their appetite.
During the cold winter days, koi becomes inactive. When the temperature drops below 50F the koi digestive system turns into a sluggish state. During this time it is best not to give any food at all. Giving food during this season can damage their stomachs for becoming too acidic which is dangerous for the koi. Don't worry you are not starving your fish to death, the algae underneath the pond is an enough diet during this time.
Koi feeding is not really that complicated, with the right knowledge about the basics of koi care your koi experience will be of smooth sailing. Happy koi feeding!
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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