The beautiful, colorful koi carp will devour almost anything that even looks like food. Such a koi is considered an absolute glutton because it eats until there is nothing left. This sounds like uncomplicated feeding. However, this is a misconception because the Koi carp makes some demands on feeding. If you want your koi carp to grow up healthy and delight you with their beautiful colors, you should pay attention to a few things when feeding them. It depends not only on what you provide but also when you give which food. The seasons play a role as well as the size of the fish and sinking or floating food.
The Feeding Behavior of the Koi Carp
Before choosing food for your koi carp, you should familiarize yourself with these impressive fish’ feeding behavior. The feeding behavior is quite comparable to that of the wild carp. A genetic mutation probably created the pretty, colorful relative of the wild carp.
As omnivores, carp eat animal and vegetable food. They will take just about anything that they can find in the backyard pond. They love nutritious and easily digestible animal food. This includes insects and their larvae. What the carp do not like is carrion. The food should therefore be fresh and preferably alive.
In search of food, carp like to rummage through the bottom of the pond. Therefore, you can give food that sinks to the bottom. However, when feeding, koi carp are not picky. They also eat on the water surface, which is why you can use floating koi food.
For the most part, the fish never get much food in the wild. They always have to be active to search for food, compete with their conspecifics and prevail against other fish species. The anatomical peculiarity of carp that they do not have a stomach, but only a stomach-like extension of the intestine to store food, does justice to these facts. If food is available, the carp will strike. They do not get a sense of satiety. In the natural wild environment of carp, this is not a problem due to the permanent lack of food. The situation is different in the garden pond.
Orientate to the Behavior of Wild Carp
If you want to feed your koi carp, you can orientate yourself on carp’ feeding behavior in the wild. Koi carp love animal food. Preferably they eat live food.
Normally, koi carp do not disdain vegetable matter.
Koi eat floating food from the surface and also scour the bottom for sinking food.
Most of the time, koi have an excellent appetite.
Why You Should Not Feed Too Much
The ever-hungry koi come rushing in when they notice movement on the pond. They hope to get food and stick their open mouths out of the water. Many a pond owner has fun with this and reaches for the food bucket. Since the koi have a huge appetite, they like to feed a little more. The food given into the water is devoured completely. Since the pretty pond dwellers do not know any feeling of satiety, this can be dangerous. They eat until the intestinal tract is complete.
You should not feed too much because you are not doing yourself or the koi any favors. Part of the food is excreted undigested. This promotes the formation of sludge in the pond. Excessive feed intake also leads to the unnaturally fast growth of the fish. Your koi will put on fat, which is unhealthy. Of course, the high feed intake also leads to massive excretion, which increases the ammonia content in the water. The water quality deteriorates. Since the food is not utilized, it is simply a pity because the koi food is valuable.
If the fish grow too fast, it poses severe risks to their health. The organism develops unevenly. Compared to the body length, the internal organs grow disproportionately. The life expectancy of the valuable fish is thus shortened.
Tip: A Fasting Day Makes Sense
Just as some people swear by fasting cures or diet days, a fasting day can also make sense for koi. Once a week or every ten to twelve days, you can have your koi fast. This practice is often used for aquarium fish as well. The fasting day does justice to the fact that the fish never find much food in the wild. In the garden pond, the food supply is much greater when humans pamper the fish. This can quickly become too much for the fish. The limited opportunities for movement promote rapid growth and the accumulation of fat in the colorful pond dwellers. During a fasting day, the fish do not have to starve, but the food shortage in natural waters is simulated for them.
The Ideal Amount of Feed
The ideal amount of feed depends on several factors:
- Size of the fish
- water temperature
- Feeding behavior.
Depending on the size of the fish, you can feed two to four times a day. You should not give more food than the fish can eat within five minutes. You should remove food that has not been eaten from the pond. This will prevent the fish from eating too much, from tending to overweight, and from mud forming in the water. It is better to feed several smaller portions a day than to give large amounts. If the water temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), the Koi carp’s appetite also drops. It would be best if you stopped feeding when the water temperature drops below 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). The desire of the fish also decreases when the water temperature climbs. If you choose the type of food depending on the season, this feeding behavior will be taken into account.
Feeding in Absence
It is no problem for koi to fast for up to four days in a row. If you want to go on vacation, you will wonder how to feed your koi then. You can ask the neighbors to provide your fish. However, you should thoroughly inform the neighbors about the specifics of feeding. It would help if you told the neighbors what food your fish should get and how often they should fed them. This could not be easy if you provide your koi several times a day and if the neighbors are busy at work.
If you don’t want to ask the neighbors for their help, you can use technology. There are modern automatic feeders that allow you to dose the feed according to a set schedule.
Feeding Depending on the Size of the Fish
You can get koi food in the form of pellets in different sizes. You can choose the size of the pellets depending on the size of the fish:
The initial feed for young fish is rearing feed or growth feed. It has a size of up to 1/16 inches (2 mm). Food for adult koi has a size from 3/16 to 1/4 inches (3 to 6 mm). Jumbo food has a size of 1/3 inches (8 mm).
Floating and Sinking Koi Food
Koi food is divided into floating and sinking food. Floating food stays longer on the water surface and is eaten there by the koi. Sinking food sinks immediately and is consumed in the water or from the bottom. You will need both types of feed and should note the specifics when feeding.
The floating feed has air-filled microchambers and is consumed within a few minutes. Because of the air chambers, the nutrient content is low. When feeding, you can check if all koi appear and if they are healthy. Because the food is more significant due to the air chambers, it is not suitable for smaller fish. In winter, floating food is unsuitable because the koi then tend to eat on the bottom.
Due to the low temperatures, koi rarely come to the cold season’s water surface because it is too hard for them. Therefore, you should then use sinking food. However, you should avoid overfeeding. Sink feed is also available in small size and therefore also suitable for breeding fish. As the fish pick up the food from the bottom, they clean the bottom.
Feeding of Young Fish
In the yolk sac phase, young fish need a small size rich in nutrients food. Rearing food is suitable in the first stages of life. It is enriched with a high vitamin content and additionally stimulates the immune system of the baby koi. Already in the early stages, this rearing food supports the formation of beautiful, bright colors. Good digestibility is ensured by the addition of fish oils and fish meals. High fat and protein content promotes rapid growth.
The Correct Feeding All Year Round
You need special foods throughout the year to feed your koi properly in each season.
In winter, the pond freezes over. Often the daytime temperatures are below freezing. You need to break up the ice regularly or use an ice-freezer to provide fresh air for the fish. In winter, the fish usually stay in the lower layers of water. It is warmer there. They hardly eat any food during this time and save energy. The metabolism is shut down. When the temperatures rise, the koi become more active again. They come to the surface and beg. The metabolism is boosted again. You can use sinking food that is suitable for fall and spring. If there is another cold snap, the fish’s metabolism will be cut back again. You should break the ice cover again and stop feeding the fish.
When your garden blooms again in spring, the koi awaken from their winter sleep. They show increasing activity and need food too. This is also the time when reproduction takes place. Soon you can enjoy the offspring. You should provide the young fish with rearing food and give the older animals energy food as sinking food designed for spring and autumn. The energy feed has a high protein and fat content.
In summer, the pond is full of life. The koi do not grow as intensively as in spring. Since they are active, they are constantly hungry. You should use basic food as floating food because then the fish eat on the surface. You can also give color food to increase the color intensity of the fish. When temperatures rise above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), the activity decreases. The fish retreat to deeper areas because it is cooler there. Appetite decreases, which is why you should feed less. You should aerate the pond as the oxygen content of the water decreases.
In autumn, the fish prepare for winter. To accumulate fat reserves for the cold season, you should again use energy food as sinking food. The fish slowly shut down their metabolism, are no longer as active, and grow less.
Koi food is available every season. It is offered as floating food and as sinking food. Since the fish eat at the water surface in the warmer season, you should use floating food in the summer. In the cold season, the fish retreat to the depths because it is warmer there. They feed in midwater and on the bottom, so you should feed sinking food. In spring and autumn, the fish need more energy. Therefore, the feed for these seasons is more energetic than the meal for summer.
Special rearing food is offered for young fish. You should choose the grain size of the feed depending on the size of the fish. You should not give your fish too much food, as their hunger is unrestrained. Too much food can lead to under-proportional growth of the internal organs, the early death of the fish, and increased sludge formation due to excrements and excretions of the not utilized food.
Conclusion
Koi food is available every season. It is offered as floating food and as sinking food. Since the fish eat at the water surface in the warmer season, you should use floating food in the summer. In the cold season, the fish retreat to the depths because it is warmer there. They feed in midwater and on the bottom, so you should feed sinking food. In spring and autumn, the fish need more energy. Therefore, the feed for these seasons is more energetic than the meal for summer. Special rearing food is offered for young fish. You should choose the grain size of the feed depending on the size of the fish. You should not give your fish too much food, as their hunger is unrestrained. Too much food can lead to under-proportional growth of the internal organs, the early death of the fish, and increased sludge formation due to excrements and excretions of the not utilized food.