which food do you use?

[jmajid]

HI all
I am looking into food for koi and goldfish in an outside pond environment.
Koi dont mind coming to the surface for food, whereas i think goldfish prefer to forage for food on the bottom?
Anyways... i am looking at food to help growth - and will be fed ONLY when the temperature is warmer - which happens to be now for houston!
So - the questions are:
- which food do you use right now?
- which food should i use for best growth rate?
I am considering something like Koi Vibrance floating pellets - these float and become soft - so seem to be useful for small and larger fish?

thanks!

 

[mrsclem]

I have used Blue Ridge growth food for years. It really seems to help my koi get large fast. It comes in different size pellets.

 

[koiguy1969]

i use BLUE RIDGE also, with fingerlings and juveniles. but TETRAPOND, and WARDLEYS as the adults staple diet. but i am always looking for online deals.(mostly ebay) but fresh veggies and such are always nice. along with brine shrimp cubes etc...

 

[slakker]

I use the Hikari brand with different mixes for the summer vs the fall.

 

[jmajid]

thanks all - i will look into the Blue Ridge and Hikari brands - not that familiar with those.
I always forget about ebay! Need to remember that more...
I find that Drs F&S seems to be pretty competitive on price for most items...

 

[sissy]

I buy tetra from pet mountain.com.I add garlic in the spring to help my fish eat and fight off diseases

 

[JohnHuff]

Both koi and goldies will come to the surface for food. At least mine will. For growth, buy higher protein food, you can check the nutritional info for that. Ensure that the pellets aren't too big for their mouths and feed them goodies like krill and stuff once in a while!

 

[jmajid]

thanks - i have seen my comets and goldfish come to my planter ring for food - have them trained to come to the dinner table so to say!
The new koi are still foraging - they are young though also - but a few of them started to mimic the comets/goldfish yesterday and nibbled at the food in the ring at the surface rather than foraging like the others.
My only issue now is to find something that will be eaten by the very smallest and the large also - floating pellets seems to be the way to go - but i may have to keep feeding flakes just so the smaller ones can eat too...

 

[sissy]

I grind up some of the pellet food between my fingers after the garlic is added .I think that helps them also

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I don't have koi but I feed my goldfish and bettas New Life Spectrum foods. Very good quality and the fish seem to like it http://nlsfishfood.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=60 comes in many different sizes etc for all different kinds of fish. There is also a koi formula 4.5 & 7.5 mm floating food.

 

[jmajid]

sissy: is that garlic juice or just minced garlic?
bettasngoldfish: thanks - that looks like a good food too - and the website has a very nice animated photo of a saltwater (?) tank
nice

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

I feed my Koi and Goldfish the same pond food from a feed barn $20 for 50#

 

[sissy]

I used minced ,organic and even powdered I don't think I have seen a difference .Minced makes the food moist so you have to watch how long you leave it before you feed it to the fish .I have used them all .

 

[jmajid]

sissy: thanks - didnt even remember about powdered - seems like that would be easy to use on an ongoing basis.
I did try some garlic that i chopped fairly well, then put in water and swished around and then nuked for a few seconds... soaked an orange piece in there and the two koi i had in QT at the time seemed to like it - havnt gone back and tried garlic again, but may try that powder...

 

[Sunshine]

I use Drs. Foster & Smith Super food. It has garlic already in it in the Summer. I use their Sring/Fall food for well, Spring and Fall.