Koi Nutrition - All You Need to Know About Koi Fish Food

Kois are so beautiful and refreshing to the eyes that the enjoyment they bring on a stressful day can be matchless. However, when you opt to keep them as pets, know that there’s more to feeding them than just throwing food pellets into the pond.

Anatomy. Kois are omnivorous fish. They can eat almost anything they can get their mouths onto, and then some, so the onus is on you to provide them a well-balanced, nutritious diet for their growth and maintenance. When they get hungry, they’ve been known to jump off the pond to feed on surrounding vegetation, which can cause death and disease.

Although kois are avid eaters, they are also discriminating. Around their mouths, kois have feelers similar to that of the catfish, which are used to ‘taste’ their food. They will check out their food first if it suits their tastes; if not, they spit the food out. Because kois are bottom-feeders, their mouths are turned downwards so they can scrounge for food on the pond floor.

Kois don’t have stomachs that can handle food the way other animals do, they have long guts where food is metabolized. Whatever kois eat in excess, they eliminate quickly. Keep this in mind for when winter comes because then the koi’s digestive system slows down. Food should not be allowed to stay long in their guts because the good bacteria that help in digestion may also turn lethal for your kois.

Young and mature kois utilize food differently. For younger kois, food is used for growth; for mature ones, food is mostly used for producing eggs and sperm.

Serious breeders must remember that there is a correlation between koi population and the amount and frequency of feeding. Too few kois in your pond can result in retarded growth-competitions is low so the growth rate is faster but also plateaus earlier. Too many, and the competition for food turns stiff, stressing out your kois to eventual death and disease.

Feeding with the seasons. Like most fish, kois are ectothermic-their body temperatures are altered with the changes in pond temperature. Their ideal environment should be between 59-77ºF (15-25ºC) for them to thrive.

Koi appetite kicks in during warmer weather, in temperatures above 59ºF (15ºC). In the spring and summer, they enter a period of feeding frenzy and their growth rates are its fastest. Kois should have a high-protein diet at this time to encourage growth, repair damaged tissues, heal injuries, and encourage reproduction.

Their food intake slows down in the winter months, and especially with high protein foods, kois have trouble digesting when the water goes below 65ºF (18ºC). In winter, their diet should have more of carbohydrates-rich foods for energy, especially for kois younger than a year old. A cereal diet digests better in winter.

Kois can be fed just about anything, barring food that has disease-carrying potential, if it boils down to it. The water in your koi pond remains to be the single most important aspect in koi well-being. Poor pond water quality can affect your their metabolism negatively, cause them to lose their appetites, and stop them from feeding altogether.

Koi Nutrition - All You Need to Know About Koi Fish Food