Feeding Koi - What and How Much Do Koi Eat

Being cold blooded koi's temperature and metabolism varies in line with their environment, which means that the amount that they will eat depends on the water temperature. As the water warms up they eat more, as it cools down they eat less, so it is important to bear this in mind with their feeding.

Koi have a very simple digestive system, They have no stomach as such but rather a simple alimentary canal with which they can only digest a certain amount of food at a time. Consequently it is very important to only give them the right type and amount of food in order to avoid leftover food remaining and building up in the water and causing contamination and adding to potential problems. IIt is also essential that they get the right kind of balance in their diet in terms of roughage, proteins, vitamins and fat.

As the weather warms up you will find that your koi become far more active and their appetite will increase. It is essential that you increase the protein levels within their food to compensate for this. This is also the time of year that Koi are growing the most so a diet rich in protein ensures that your koi stay healthy as they grow.

There are different ideas on what is the best way to feed koi but what is generally accepted is that as temperature increases the protein level in their food needs to be increased as well as the number of feeds. In the height of summer when temperatures are at their highest you may well be feeding your koi eight times a day. The protein level will need to be around the forty five percent mark to ensure that they are getting all the nutrition that they need. It is important, especially at this time that you watch to see how much of the food is being eaten . Warm water temperatures can deplete oxygen, if you then add in too much food and a potential algae bloom and you could have serious problems in your pond.

As the water temperature starts to drop you need to start reducing the protein content and number of feeds. A protein level of around forty percent is ideal for coler temperatures and as the temperature drops below fifty degrees you need to stop feeding the koi altogether. This is because as the temperature drops, so does the koi's metabolism until they are no longer able to digest food which can lead to health problems.

If you have a mature pond that contains plants your koi are unlikely to ever starve as there will be a natural food supply in their environment especially in warmer weather. It is always difficult to advise on how much to feed fish as there are so many factors that can influence this such as age of pond, size of pond, the number and type of plants as well as the number and size of koi and other fish in the pond.

If you get to understand your koi's eating habits and spend time watching them as they feed you are unlikely to ever over feed them to any serious extent. Make life easier for yourself by changing the brand of food on a fairly regular basis. That way when you need to change the protein content they will already be used to changes in diet

Enjoy your koi

Nick Harrison is a koi keeping enthusiast who has been keeping koi carp for nearly twenty years. He promotes the koi keeping hobby to encourage others and shares his knowledge and experience through his articles and through the website which he is a co-author of. If this article has been of interest and you would like more information on the koi keeping hobby visit the website at
http://www.pondsofkoi.com

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