How to feed koi fish properly and what are the feeding habits to cultivate to allow the koi to grow the fastest, including when you shouldn’t feed them
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There’s a whole lot to consider when setting up a koi pond or any other habitat that will act as a home to this Japanese species of carp. Properly cultivating and caring for koi isn’t like that fish tank you had as a child. Throwing in a filter and a few algae fish won’t suffice; instead, a little bit of tender loving care will be required.
Different size koi feed differently. Different size koi need different types of food, depending on how large you want them. Needless to say, koi are very unique pets. When you’re first introducing small koi fish to your pond (hopefully ready for inhabitants), you will want a slighter warmer water temperature to keep them in. This will enable the fish to grow faster. In warm water, you can feed the fish twice per day or until their limit.
On the reverse side, feeding koi in colder waters (64 degrees F or lower) slows their digestive system and thus slows their growth. In colder waters below 50 degrees, you want to refrain from feeding the koi at all until the water temperate is higher.
Then you have the actual size of the fish to contend with. All koi less than 8 inches in length, as a rule of thumb, should eat around 5% of their total body weight. This may result in two or more feedings per day, depending on the feeding schedule you choose; however, koi will eat whatever you give them and will rarely turn away food, so this means you’re in complete control of what they ingest. Keep track of it, whether it’s a cereal-based diet, high proteins, or even fruits.
Koi exceeding 8 inches in length should only consume around 2% of their body weight. Again, this requires discipline on your part and not on the part of your fish. With a basic fisherman’s scale, you can weigh your fish in a matter or minutes and have a gauge for feeding. The warm/cold water system will allow you to properly control their growth and also give you a feeding gauge.
You will know if you’re properly feeding your koi fish due to their color. A healthy koi is very bright and you can tell that this fish has a healthy diet. A malnourished fish, on the other hand, will have a duller colored skin or perhaps even spots on the skin where the color has faded. The latter means you have to provide a more nutritious diet.
Most agree that the best diet for your koi is a mixture of processed pet food and some live treats every now and again. Feeding your koi strictly one or the other may result in malnourished fish.
Koi pellets are available nearly everywhere pond supplies or fish supplies are sold. You can get them in different balances of vitamins and minerals, for smaller or larger fish, etc. To keep koi vibrant and lively, mix in a few live treats. Earthworms, prawns, cockles – these are all koi favorites and will help to offer a balanced diet
