feeding catfish food. - Koi Forum - Koi-Bito Magazine

koifishgirl · 06-19-2005

Guys I would like your thoughts on feeding catfish food to koi. I understand a lot of breeder feed catfish food to their koi. I have seen some drawbacks to feeding catfish food to goldfish but not sure if it will do the same to koi. Noted the goldfish developed dropsy when feed catfish food over extended period of time. Also, why is corn bad for the koi? Can anyone tell me if the make up of the green carp is any different in terms of what they can eat. Reason I am asking is my boyfriends mother have green grass carp in the big ponds and they eat the catfish food all the time and I have not noted a problem with them, they are growing well and not over fat, good lone stream line body's. I need to add that most of the time they are feed about three times a week.

aquitori · 06-19-2005

Catfish food or trout chow is bad for koi. I heard that food contains too much animal protein that is very very bad for koi. I mean very bad in the long run. Well put it this way if you invest alot of money, which people do they should do it in the feed too...

koifishgirl · 06-19-2005

I agree unless you are waisting money by feeding expensive foods. Im wondering,,why then,if it is animal fat that is bad for koi, why is corn? I have noted that most koi food has corn meal in the food.

yet I have been told by a guy who sell koi food to stay away for koi food that has corn in the mix. I guess he distributes the brand Show Koi which is what I feed the koi.

luke frisbee · 06-19-2005

KFG,
You Can feed koi catfish food and it can be better for them than koi food. Thing is you aren't at a level where you need to be playing with matches.
the best instance I can give ya is when you are supplementing a mudpond's natural food and you can't get to it as often as you'd like, and you are rearing pond grade fish. throw some catfish chow in it and don't give em as much.
My disclaimer is...Ya gotta know your koi and your ponds before you can start playing with Catfish food.

dick benbow · 06-19-2005

when I first started in this interesting hobby, trout chow was all the rage.
good nice fresh, inexpensive trout chow. High in ptotein and perfect for low temp unheated NW water! Took less than half a year to get koi in trouble.
55F for rainbow trout was a good temp at their metobolism. for koi it was way too hot!

I think the reason they call it catfish chow is because that's what it's designed for. Different fish, different needs.

Corn, not a good choice especially if it's towards the front of the ingredients list.
Since they eat wheatgerm and whitefish meal same as humans we compete for the same provider. If you were a fisherman risking your life in the open ocean would you sell your best catch cheaper because it's going to pet food instead of human.

when it comes to koi food, like koi you do pay for a name. but if that name continues to have a higher standard and you can stay away from health issues, isn't it cheaper ( and less frustrating ) than buying incorrect feed, medicines and more replacement koi?

in the next decade it will be interesting to read the newest thoughts on beating the high cost of koi food with ( insert name of commercially reared
fish here). ever wonder why for human consumption of salmon the wild is recommended over commercially reared.) same ocean different food tho.

right now the hottest growth market in foods is organically grown. people are actually willing to pay more. All the more reason to pay more to insure your pets get the best also. as for me and my blue babies, I buy the best. Stick with koi food, (please)

Mark · 06-19-2005

Luke's answer, albeit a little nebulous, was very correct in context. The high protein and fat content of catfish food for koi may benefit a koi diet under certain circumstances, and be detrimental to koi under other circumstances. Water temperature comes immediately to mind, as a factor. A feeding trial might just be the answer to your query. Feed a group nothing but catfish food, another group with supplemented catfish food and another (control group) no catfish food. Take notes on disease occurrences, growth and color. At the end of the trial dissect 15% of the koi from each group and compare major organs. Especially the liver. I would suspect a certain amount of enlarged and fatty livers in the catfish feed groups.

koifishgirl · 06-19-2005

Mark if I had tons of koi to play with, I would do this, but I dont and dont want to lose any of my koi. So the best bet for me is to stick with the koi food. The bag of catfish foods going to the catfish. I dont want liver damage in my koi. That is all I wanted to know, I have eye witnessed this in goldfish and I did not want to do this to my koi if they cant take this type of food. Thanks you guys for the help

06-19-2005	#1 (permalink)
koifishgirl Oyagoi Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,156	feeding catfish food. Guys I would like your thoughts on feeding catfish food to koi. I understand a lot of breeder feed catfish food to their koi. I have seen some drawbacks to feeding catfish food to goldfish but not sure if it will do the same to koi. Noted the goldfish developed dropsy when feed catfish food over extended period of time. Also, why is corn bad for the koi? Can anyone tell me if the make up of the green carp is any different in terms of what they can eat. Reason I am asking is my boyfriends mother have green grass carp in the big ponds and they eat the catfish food all the time and I have not noted a problem with them, they are growing well and not over fat, good lone stream line body's. I need to add that most of the time they are feed about three times a week.

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06-19-2005	#2 (permalink)
aquitori Daihonmei Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: DA 408 Posts: 7,419	Catfish food or trout chow is bad for koi. I heard that food contains too much animal protein that is very very bad for koi. I mean very bad in the long run. Well put it this way if you invest alot of money, which people do they should do it in the feed too...

06-19-2005	#3 (permalink)
koifishgirl Oyagoi Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,156	I agree unless you are waisting money by feeding expensive foods. Im wondering,,why then,if it is animal fat that is bad for koi, why is corn? I have noted that most koi food has corn meal in the food. yet I have been told by a guy who sell koi food to stay away for koi food that has corn in the mix. I guess he distributes the brand Show Koi which is what I feed the koi.

06-19-2005	#4 (permalink)
luke frisbee Oyagoi Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 2,451	KFG, You Can feed koi catfish food and it can be better for them than koi food. Thing is you aren't at a level where you need to be playing with matches. the best instance I can give ya is when you are supplementing a mudpond's natural food and you can't get to it as often as you'd like, and you are rearing pond grade fish. throw some catfish chow in it and don't give em as much. My disclaimer is...Ya gotta know your koi and your ponds before you can start playing with Catfish food.

06-19-2005	#5 (permalink)
dick benbow Honmei Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 4,164	when I first started in this interesting hobby, trout chow was all the rage. good nice fresh, inexpensive trout chow. High in ptotein and perfect for low temp unheated NW water! Took less than half a year to get koi in trouble. 55F for rainbow trout was a good temp at their metobolism. for koi it was way too hot! I think the reason they call it catfish chow is because that's what it's designed for. Different fish, different needs. Corn, not a good choice especially if it's towards the front of the ingredients list. Since they eat wheatgerm and whitefish meal same as humans we compete for the same provider. If you were a fisherman risking your life in the open ocean would you sell your best catch cheaper because it's going to pet food instead of human. when it comes to koi food, like koi you do pay for a name. but if that name continues to have a higher standard and you can stay away from health issues, isn't it cheaper ( and less frustrating ) than buying incorrect feed, medicines and more replacement koi? in the next decade it will be interesting to read the newest thoughts on beating the high cost of koi food with ( insert name of commercially reared fish here). ever wonder why for human consumption of salmon the wild is recommended over commercially reared.) same ocean different food tho. right now the hottest growth market in foods is organically grown. people are actually willing to pay more. All the more reason to pay more to insure your pets get the best also. as for me and my blue babies, I buy the best. Stick with koi food, (please)

06-19-2005	#6 (permalink)
Mark Tosai Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 30	Luke's answer, albeit a little nebulous, was very correct in context. The high protein and fat content of catfish food for koi may benefit a koi diet under certain circumstances, and be detrimental to koi under other circumstances. Water temperature comes immediately to mind, as a factor. A feeding trial might just be the answer to your query. Feed a group nothing but catfish food, another group with supplemented catfish food and another (control group) no catfish food. Take notes on disease occurrences, growth and color. At the end of the trial dissect 15% of the koi from each group and compare major organs. Especially the liver. I would suspect a certain amount of enlarged and fatty livers in the catfish feed groups.

06-19-2005	#7 (permalink)
koifishgirl Oyagoi Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,156	Mark if I had tons of koi to play with, I would do this, but I dont and dont want to lose any of my koi. So the best bet for me is to stick with the koi food. The bag of catfish foods going to the catfish. I dont want liver damage in my koi. That is all I wanted to know, I have eye witnessed this in goldfish and I did not want to do this to my koi if they cant take this type of food. Thanks you guys for the help