How much do you feed?

[gcuss]

Assuming 70's for temperature or higher, and all parameters remain healthy, how much do you feed and how often?

Or does it vary from food to food?

Reason I'm asking, this is one of the urban legends I've found. Some swear by once a day, others all day but lightly, all they can eat in 5 min, all they can eat in 10 min.... the list goes on.

Thanks,

Grant

[luke frisbee]

you'll find those that have a hard rule aren't doing the most with the fish they have....
Once a day will keep em alive with no problem...might even be healthier for them than other feeding parameters.

The better way to feed your koi (if you want em as big and purty as you can get em without getting em looking fat) is to check em at the beginning of each hand feeding..and I suggest two hand feedings, early and then late in the day. On top of that, a mechanical feeder is used the rest of the day.and in my case NIGHT. I judge what to put in the mechanical feeder based on the activity during the hand feeding times and the water temperature.

So how do I check em to determine how much to feed them?
Well there are many things to look for..
I look to see how many are already at the feeding area in the pond when I go out there, this tells me if there is anything worth grazing on in the lake.
I watch to see how hard they hit the food when they first show up...this tells me if they are getting high-quality protein in the 'grazing food" or if they are just eating algae.
I notice if some koi are missing (In my lake some koi don't notice I am feeding if they've found something they like doing.).
I notice how quick the fish start getting full ( My clue here is not really feeding speed because the temp will affect that, but if the koi start to tail-slap the water after I've been feeding fro awhile it lets me know they are about full.. Tail-slapping at the beginning tends to just be done if they are nervous.).

I get so picky as to note when my shy koi are feeding still. If they are, and the piggies are full then i keep feeding till the shy koi start backing off (it could have been that good quality natural food was avaialble that day but in a small yet constant flow; thus the more aggressive koi get wellfed, and no others.).

[luke frisbee]

I "mechanical feed" my koi when the temp is between 70-80 roughly. I place enough in the feeder to keep em grazing, but not so much they will get full.
if I can't watch them at the feeding just before I load the Mechanical feeder, I front load the feeder.

[PapaBear]

I think Luke's giving you some pretty good advice.
Koi are continual grazers by natures design, so feeding small quantities many times is more in tune with their nature. It really boils down to your filter in many ways. As much as the FILTER can handle without uneaten food going to waste is my motto, so long as growth and development is your goal. If bare maintenance is all you are aiming for, less is ok.
Oomosako recommends 1.5-2.0% of body weight of high quality feed per day when optimal growth temperatures are at hand.

[gcuss]

I appreciate the input guys. I've been doing 4 feedings per day. About all they snarf down in 3-5 minutes. The pond is inside and at 78 degrees. So far Ive never had measurable ammonia, or nitrites so I think I'll increase the feedings over the next little while. I'll go slow so the filters can grow with the increased feedings and watch my parameters carefully.


Thanks!

Grant

[Lam Nguyen]

Originally Posted by gcuss

I appreciate the input guys. I've been doing 4 feedings per day. About all they snarf down in 3-5 minutes. The pond is inside and at 78 degrees. So far Ive never had measurable ammonia, or nitrites so I think I'll increase the feedings over the next little while. I'll go slow so the filters can grow with the increased feedings and watch my parameters carefully.


Thanks!

Grant

Hi Grant, there's a good article in the latest issue of KN that was written by Jasper Kuijper about feeding frequencies and its effect on koi growth and water quality. In this article, Jasper wrote that studies have shown that feeding koi twice daily resulted in better koi growth and water quality than feeding koi 4 or 7 times daily. Hmmmmmmm. Anyways, I started a thread about a month back and here is the link. There are some very good discussions about feeding frequencies that I think you will find interesting.

Feeding frequency, growth, & water quality

I hope I posted the link correctly, if not then you can always title search the words "feeding" & "frequency" and you will see the thread. Enjoy.

[gcuss]

Originally Posted by Lam Nguyen

Hi Grant, there's a good article in the latest issue of KN that was written by Jasper Kuijper about feeding frequencies and its effect on koi growth and water quality. In this article, Jasper wrote that studies have shown that feeding koi twice daily resulted in better koi growth and water quality than feeding koi 4 or 7 times daily. Hmmmmmmm. Anyways, I started a thread about a month back and here is the link. There are some very good discussions about feeding frequencies that I think you will find interesting.

Feeding frequency, growth, & water quality

I hope I posted the link correctly, if not then you can always title search the words "feeding" & "frequency" and you will see the thread. Enjoy.

TYVM Sir!

Grant

[davkoi]

i feed my 11 koi 8 times a day . each feeding is about 100 ml food .
i hope my crazy feeding ( i think ) will improve my koi growth

Cheers