Lack of vitamins and their effects on our koi and the answer to this...

[Dave 54]

Dave 54 submitted a new article:

Lack of Vitamins and Their Effects on Koi - Details of the effects for individual vitamin deficiencies

Vitamins are essential to the wellbeing of koi, with any deficiencies causing potentially serious problems. After researching these issues, we've formulated a helpful list which details potential problems when lacking individual vitamins:

• A lack of Vitamin A causes popeye, impaired growth of the koi and depigmentation.
• A lack of Biotin in koi will result in convulsions and skin lesions.
• A lack of B12 in koi will result in anemia and poor appetite.
• A...

Read more about this article...

 

[sissy]

I buy the OSI treats for my koi in orange strawberry and blueberry .They love them and use just tetra food .Plus mine love fresh fruit .

 

[Dave 54]

Same here sissy they love a nice juicy orange from time to time but for some reason wont touch grape fruit
There are many other things you can give them raw king prawn for one is very good for the Hi (red) in both koi and goldfish garden worms pill bugs the list is long dont know if I've put mine out but weve lookrd into it over many years and have a long list of foods you might find useful

rgrds

Dave

 

[sissy]

oh can you blame them ,I don't like grapefruit either .I get some kind of mixture stuff that adds vitamins from the pet store that tests my water .I like when they test because they give you a read out ,I have my own home test also .Mine love watermelon and put a slice in and watch them fight over it .I have fresh blueberries growing here and share with them and the go crazy when I throw some in the pond .It makes it more fun to have them .I get the wormy things but good gosh gives me the creepy crawly's even though there dried out .

 

[Dave 54]

Sissy I did post the list of alternate foods on this site when I first came here found it heres the link into it but ts worth you thinking about other alternates :-

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/10500-a-look-at-alternate-foods-for-your-koi-and-goldfish/

As I said it took 26 years putting it together and are always open to new suggestions to add to it

rgrds

Dave

 

[mtpond]

Good info Dave. Last summer I introduced watermelon to my koi and none of them would eat it. This summer I will try again and also try some of the other stuff on your list.

 

[Dave 54]

Good info Dave. Last summer I introduced watermelon to my koi and none of them would eat it. This summer I will try again and also try some of the other stuff on your list.

mtpond try juicing up some garlic into an extract and dip the watermelon in the extract, koi go nuts for garlic "like cats to catnip".
Garlic can also be used to kick start a fish eating again after illness had caused it to go off food.
It ca also be used in the spring again in extract form soaked into pellets Parasites dont like the taste so it acts as a type of deterent

rgrds

Dave

 

[mtpond]

Thanks Dave I'll try that. Last spring when my pond warmed up and I started feeding the fish it took them quit awhile before they started to eat. I have garlic extreme that is in liquid form and its made by Kent Marine that I put on my saltwater fish food sometimes when I feed them. I will put that on my koi food this spring to see if they will start eating faster then they did last year.

 

[Dave 54]

It's Ok to use Marine products I use Seachems garlic extract another product I use by Seachems is a thing called Nourish hich is a Vitamin and Amino Acid Supliment enhanced with Iodine for Fresh water fish.
Propolis is another good thing to soak your pellets in as its koivits by NTLabs...

rgrds

Dave

 

[VanDiesil]

Old post resurrection! Been hearing a lot about carp requiring Taurine in their diet to promote growth and digestion of food. Do you know much about it Dave? I have been feeding the fish in the small pond here with a diet that has been designed to be beneficial to the fish with no expense spared. Not a floating food though so don't give them too much and monitor how much they eat. The food contains all the vitamins that you have mentioned plus amino acids and a good carbohydrate to protein ratio. It has been designed as an angling bait, but has shown good growth in the small pond of the fish in there (one of the reasons why I want to get the new pond finished!!!)

 

[callingcolleen1]

I could use some vitamins for myself these days! ha ha ha

 

[Gemma]

Whatever fruit or vegetable I've tried to feed my koi, ended up at the bottom of the pond! They sometime eat Aquascape fruity treats, but they first seem to wait around hoping to get their regular food
I feed them Omega One brand, and krill (hot temps) I hope their diet has adequate vitamins

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Whatever fruit or vegetable I've tried to feed my koi, ended up at the bottom of the pond! They sometime eat Aquascape fruity treats, but they first seem to wait around hoping to get their regular food
I feed them Omega One brand, and krill (hot temps) I hope their diet has adequate vitamins

You can feel confident that they are getting the vitamins and minerals that they need.
While Koi may eat various fruits and vegetables (there is not much that they won't eat), these food items are not part of their natural diet.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Whatever fruit or vegetable I've tried to feed my koi, ended up at the bottom of the pond! They sometime eat Aquascape fruity treats, but they first seem to wait around hoping to get their regular food
I feed them Omega One brand, and krill (hot temps) I hope their diet has adequate vitamins

I try to feed two or three different brands of food and just rotate them (along with the occasional fresh fruit and veggie as well as frozen fish foods)

I also toss any food that may be left after six months of it being opened.

 

[Faebinder]

Whatever fruit or vegetable I've tried to feed my koi, ended up at the bottom of the pond! They sometime eat Aquascape fruity treats, but they first seem to wait around hoping to get their regular food
I feed them Omega One brand, and krill (hot temps) I hope their diet has adequate vitamins

don't feel bad, my fish are the same way... they dislike fruit.

I think the bigger the fish is the more likely they will explore other food. The younger fish are like children.... they refuse to eat their greens and fruits.