Mark,favor please

[dick benbow]

Some are putting personal koi out in the mud ponds and wish to know what foods to use
to get maximum growth and development.

Would you use the same feed as what you'd use in your personal pond? What do japanese breeders use. Is sinking better than floating.

What have you seen, experienced , or can find out on the topic

[Lam Nguyen]

Bump.....very interested in this topic, too. Hopefully Mark will respond soon, but I take it that he is very busy as he prepares to leave Japan soon.

[markgardner]

Without specifically 'finding out'.........

Maruju tell me they use sinking all the time to prevent food being washed to edges. In addition to pellets they will also use silkworm pupae at times.

Others clearly use floating as across the mountains there are feeding rings set up to contain the pellets to one area.

Some use auto feeders, some don't. Some use on demand feeders.

I've seen a number of different brands of food around the place, i'm unaware of a special 'mud pond' food.

The reality is that there are hundreds of breeders and therefore there are hundreds of answers, and even individual breeders will have different foods for different Koi throughout the season and will also adjust foods dependent on condition of Koi and pond.

[Lam Nguyen]

Thanks for sharing Mark.

[aquitori]

I was curious to know how Toshio Sakai feeds his mudponds in Niigata, Dick has Toshio explained his process or specific formula of food he uses?

[dick benbow]

No, I never got around to that one! We'll see if Mark can find out anything more and if not I'll ask this fall at the PNKCA convention.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow No, I never got around to that one! We'll see if Mark can find out anything more and if not I'll ask this fall at the PNKCA convention.

Good deal. I have always heard about his koi keeping ideologies, but never heard about his mudpond practices.

[markgardner]

Ok, have spent the day with Marudo today.

This afternoon we were out touring a number of the farms mud ponds, myself, Hisashi Hirasawa (the boss) and Devin Swanson.

The food fed will vary from pond to pond, expensive Koi get expensive food, cheaper Koi get cheaper food!

Expensive foods, such as Saki Hikari only come in floating pellets.

Floating pellets are only fed to ponds which are well protected from the air, for 2 reasons:

1) ducks and such like soon get used to the sight, sound and taste of floating pellets and will outfight the Koi for them.
2) the sight of brightly coloured Nishikigoi engrossed in feeding attracts predators.

The ponds with the best quality Nishikigoi in them are the ones that are best protected.

[l113892]

Someone told me last night that two fishing lines stretched across a pond in the form of a "T" will discourage owls, herons and other birds.


Mike Pfeffer

[dick benbow]

thank-you Mark!