Koi-Food

[swordfish]

Yes, Nico tofu is easily available in all our local supermarket. It is cheap here but most importantly very nutritious even for human.

B.Scott, various manufacturer for tofu have their calcium content range from 75mg to 89mg per 100g. Protein around 15mg per 100g etc...It is a very nutritious food recommended by our Ministry of health too.

Akai-San, koi will eat almost anything that are throw into our pond. I heard of some koi owner(wouldn't call them hobbyist) even give their fish dog food,cat food & fried chicken!!! When you have very high quality koi you wouldn't want to try that. Live food are like fresh food to human but are not so easily available & live food also might carry some parasite,bacteria which we don't know. Occassionally I give my koi sterilize frozen blood worm that I defrozed.

SF

[Akai-San]

B.Scott,

You mention that you make your own special koi paste for feeding. When introducing into pond, does it create clouds of fines when the koi hit it and really dig into the wet/liquified paste? It just sounds messy...unless your koi are natural born pond vacuum cleaners.

When feeding fruits and vegetables, is there a specific size to chop up the produce? Cubes, quarters, halves, whole fruits? What about when it time to clean your icebox out and find soft produce that is not exactly pleasant to eat for us humans (example: soft bananas, bruised fruit, soggy grapes or oranges, aged lettuce & cabbage (not rotten) etc.

[B.Scott]

For paste food, I make it into little balls. A great way to do this is to use a "Bollie Maker" that carp fisherman use to make their bait with. Fast and easy to clean in will make dozens on balls in seconds.
No trouble with fines in the water except when one of the orphened sunfish attack a paste ball. (Yes I know, these aren't koi but I have had the little twerps for near 15 years. They are the oldest fish in the pond) But they don't eat much.
The only trouble is a bit of an oil slick if you over do the codliver oil. The skimmer takes car of that.

With fruits and veggie, it depends on what it is. If possible I like to let them tear it apart themselves. (Butter) Lettucce goes in whole, oranges and grapefruit in halves and (slightly cooked) squash in cubes. I never use old or soggy produce. Especially important that leafy veggies are fresh. If I wouldn't eat it myself, it doesn't go in the pond. Avoid using cast off produce.

B.Scott

[dick benbow]

I have enjoyed reading this thread and the dozens of varying opinions.

coupla things to keep in mind as each hobbyist sorts things out for themselves.
How well is your koi digesting what your feeding them. The harder it is for them, the more it makes your filter work. A sign of good food is small amounts of waste meaning it was easy to digest.

like most things in life, variety is good. No one even ourselves enjoys eating the same thing for breakfast every day the rest of their lives.

[Akai-San]

Wow B. Scott, If I were a koi, I would definitely want to be under your care. Home made meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, a clean home. I bet your koi get evening cocktails and after dinner desert too...that would be the life. lol. I guess like any household pet, they would be a member of the family...why not include koi (my guess is each have their own likes, dislikes and personalities as well).

[JasonS]

One great koi joys I had last year was mixing up Izeki paste by the bowl and hand feeding the fish. Wish I could get Izeki paste this year.

I'd hold a nice big chunk in my closed fish and hold my hand about a foot under the water. The fish would see what I had and ATTACK! The attack is why I used a fist; they would try to take off with a finger if one was sticking out.

I could also make sure everybody got their fair share -- if a couple fish were hogging the food I could just move my hand over to some fish that were left out. And after a bowl most of the fish were happily munching their chunk of food so some of the more shy fish could then be tossed a couple of chunks.

[Pacificcoastkoi]

B. Scott,

Did the horns fall off or did you have to cut them off?

[B.Scott]

They are sitting on the computer next to me waiting for carnival to come upon us in a couple of months.

[Sanke56]

The horns grew in Oct and now they disappeared completely but added some flare to the board.

I was only feeding my koi in the semiwild pond once a day in summer as there was lots of plant growth they were eating. A commercial fish culturist was telling me that they use up a lot of energy at that time in grazing and catching food and that I shoulod have given them more feedings at that time to stimulate growth. I will try that next summer.

[B.Scott]

Sanke 56

What in tarnation is that avitar a picture of?