Reportably it can lead to kidney failure in dogs, in larger doses it is actually an insecticide. Granted my knowledge of it comes from dog food and not Koi food. My dogs eat like kings.........All through summer my koi were getting a steady supplement of japanese beetles lol, I hope these were ok.
Good Time to Buy Food
- Thread starter koikeepr
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I watched one koi eat a wasp and I almost gagged. It didn't seem to mind it.
My pond water temp is now 55%. Should I stop feeding now?. Please let me know.
We had one of those japenese beetle traps that use ferimones and a container to catch beetles (no pesticides around the pond). One day I decided to give them a rinse and toss a few in the pond....they went crazy. After that they got them almost daily lol.
I have used the Drs. Organic Mix. It is I think 39% protien. My koi really liked it. I also bought the wheatgerm one for fall and spring. They are not as crazy about it. I feed shrimp and lots of fruits as well. I also want to try some dried seaweed as I can get this in abundance. My momma is Japanese and always has this on hand.koikeepr said:
Maybe once a day twice a week.
rdk said:
yes, they are never as crazy over the wheat germ stuff as they are for the summer protein stuff! LOL!
RDK, if you water is at 55 degrees you can still feed 2x per day (way less than what you feed during summer) of the wheat germ stuff. I'm at 60 degrees in water temps and still feeding 2x per day. They don't gobble it up like in summer, however. The winter slow down is happening. Once you hit 50 degrees you back off and are done. Even if you hit a warm spell for a few days, you don't start feeding again. The minute u see 50 degree water temps just stop cold.
RDK, if you water is at 55 degrees you can still feed 2x per day (way less than what you feed during summer) of the wheat germ stuff. I'm at 60 degrees in water temps and still feeding 2x per day. They don't gobble it up like in summer, however. The winter slow down is happening. Once you hit 50 degrees you back off and are done. Even if you hit a warm spell for a few days, you don't start feeding again. The minute u see 50 degree water temps just stop cold.
I guess I could be considered the Jack Benny of Koi ponding. I fill a 15-gallon plastic paint container (w/ lid) with a bag of cheapest WalMart koi food, a box of generic kitten food, and store brand generic equivilent of honey nut cheerios. Lasts forever, and 10 foot-long koi are practically obese on a handful a day. They seem to eat the kitty food first, cereal next and koi food last.
would you feed a kitten/dog koi food? The answer should be no (i hope), so it should not work in reverse either.
Koi will eat almost anything you throw in there, that does not mean that it's healthy for them.
Here's a quick primer on koi food from a general eyeball perspective:
In the summer, a higher protein food with 36%+ crude protein is good to put on girth and length. There are special growth foods that may have higher percentages of crude protein of about 40% to 42%. Anything over that would be a waste because the koi cannot digest all that protein. It's like when we eat more than the recommended daily allowance of vitamins....the body can only absorb so much, anything above that creates very expensive urine because your body will excrete it out since it has no use for that much.
Koi will eat almost anything you throw in there, that does not mean that it's healthy for them.
Here's a quick primer on koi food from a general eyeball perspective:
In the summer, a higher protein food with 36%+ crude protein is good to put on girth and length. There are special growth foods that may have higher percentages of crude protein of about 40% to 42%. Anything over that would be a waste because the koi cannot digest all that protein. It's like when we eat more than the recommended daily allowance of vitamins....the body can only absorb so much, anything above that creates very expensive urine because your body will excrete it out since it has no use for that much.
The ingredients are also critical. You want to see words like fish meal. If you see words like soybean meal or corn meal, this is not good and is considered koi junk food.
Wheat germ is okay in autumn foods, and the protein levels are way lower on autumn/spring foods because digestion is slower due to colder weather.
Some koi and goldfish foods have fillers (like corn meal) that add no nutritional value. They add poop/waste to the pond because fillers are not digested by the fish, so they just poop 'em out, which of course creates detrius in the pond and gets things dirty. koi/goldfish food that is nutritious and healthy is easily absorbed/digested and leaves little waste. This, of course, leads to clearer water. Fillers add weight to the food package, which is better for the manufacturer--not for your fish.
If you want to play up color, then a food with spirulina in it will do that. But be warned that feeding color enhancing foods to young koi causes them to finish their color earlier than nature intends, and often throws what would have been their real colors for a loop. Don't be in a rush, and allow for your young fish to naturally colorize into adults. When your fish are older, if you want to supplement some color food, go ahead.
Don't buy the cheapest thing you see, but you don't need to go crazy and buy $60 a pound food either. You can find a middle ground in price that has the right ingredients. Really, the ingredients matter way more than the price.
Well no but it has happened when I inadvertantly spilled a can of Koi Vibrance lol.
Feeding a koi dog food, yeah probably not a good idea but one has to wonder.......
Ingredients:
Salmon meal, russet potato, peas, fresh boneless
salmon (source of DHA), fresh
boneless herring, herring meal, pumpkin, fresh
boneless flounder, salmon oil
(preserved with mixed tocopherols and rosemary),
ground lobster shell (natural source
of glucosamine), sun-cured alfalfa leaf, red
delicious apples, carrots, turnip greens,
organic kelp, organic bladderwrack, organic
dulse, juniper berries, cranberries,
Saskatoon berries, black currants, angelica
root, chicory root, red clover, red raspberry
leaf, dandelion root, peppermint leaf, marigold
flowers, chamomile flowers, rosemary,
Soy and corn are both excellent sources of protein for Koi IF they are cooked/processed into their gluten form. In their meal form they are very difficult to digest at all without a stomach.
nc0, I can assure you that most typical dog food doesn't have an ingredient list that looks like that. Here is an example of Purina Kitty Chow. This reminds me that animal by-products are also not healthy for koi (nevermind other animals). But they are listed here:
Poultry by-product meal, ground yellow corn, wheat flour, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, brewers rice, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), fish meal, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, calcium chloride, choline chloride, dicalcium phosphate, salt, taurine, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), L-Alanine, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, citric acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), calcium iodate.
Again, you can feed your animals what you wish. I'm just providing a general viewpoint of what is healthy and nutritious for a fish.
Poultry by-product meal, ground yellow corn, wheat flour, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, brewers rice, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of vitamin E), fish meal, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, calcium chloride, choline chloride, dicalcium phosphate, salt, taurine, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), L-Alanine, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, citric acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), calcium iodate.
Again, you can feed your animals what you wish. I'm just providing a general viewpoint of what is healthy and nutritious for a fish.
koiguy1969 said:
Koiguy, Do you continue to feed them the summer foods since you bring them in for the winter?
How long does koi food generally last? Some of the packages I've seen do not have an expiration date.