With a little basic information you can ensure that your koi fish are getting exactly what they need at the right time of the year. Also, at the right time in their life. Is it Winter? Is the weather super hot? Are they babies (fry)? All of these things matter when deciding which koi fish food is best.
During the winter months, in cold weather, koi do not require as much food and tend to eat less. You want to cut back on the amount of food you are feeding them. If the temperature is less that 55 degrees, you can skip feeding them. Especially in a mature pond.
During the hot, summer months you will need to feed your koi fish up to 8 times a day. During warm weather the fish are more active and grow faster. They will need more protein to compensate for the extra energy being used.
Koi fish have no stomach. A very basic way to describe the way they use food is that what goes in essentially goes out.
Except for what they are able to convert to needed energy. This is the reason for their need for frequent feedings when they are active and growing. You may need to increase the amount of protein in their meals to approximately 55% from 40%-45%.Serving several small meals is a much better option than one or two larger meals. This also helps to reduce the amount of food that is left over and makes it's way to the bottom of your pond. Excess food in a pond can create problems. Waste and excess food need to be vacuumed from the bottom of the pond.
When deciding what to feed your koi fish, you will want to make sure that fish is the number one or two ingredient in your pellets. Corn should not be in the pellet. At least, corn should not be in the top 4 or 5 ingredients. Sprinkle just enough pellets over the top of the water.
Some believe you should mix two or three different types of pellets to ensure your fish will get all of the ingredients in their food that they need. This is up to you. Just make sure that their diet is richin fish proteins.
Of course, you will want to give your koi fish some treats. They love fruit, vegetables, pieces of cut up shrimp, and some koi fish even love earthworms. You can also grow water celery in a pot and put in at the edge of their pond. If you grow several pots at once, you can trade them out as the fish eat the leaves off of the plants. I recommend growing 3-4 at the same time.
Koi fish will eat smaller fish. You will need to be careful about what fish you put them in the pond with.
This should give you a basic idea of the direction to take when deciding on what koi fish food you want to serve your fish.
