Feeding koi

[carolinaguy]

100 pounds - that math is easy. Why don't you feed the full 4%?

Excellent question. Some of our fish are adults and only need 1.5 percent. Some are growing out and need the higher level. It’s just like us. Teenagers in their big growth spurt can’t get enough food in their mouths especially if they are athletes. Old goats like me get fat on two meals a day.

 

[carolinaguy]

I was interested in the feeding topic, just excuse me if this question is very ignorant (new koi person) . I put duckweed in my pond each day, and the fish love it. I'm just wondering if this should be included as feed. Because my pond is new I don't think there would be a lot to forage. So I give Koi food and duckweed.

Just measure the koi food. Duckweed is like eating salad.

 

[Tara]

Just measure the koi food. Duckweed is like eating salad.

Thanks

 

[Lisak1]

Some of our fish are adults and only need 1.5 percent.

So do you have your fish in separate ponds? How do you keep the old goats from eating all the food before the teens get to it? Or are you just working the law of averages?

 

[carolinaguy]

So do you have your fish in separate ponds? How do you keep the old goats from eating all the food before the teens get to it? Or are you just working the law of averages?

Another good question. Our pond is 25 by 9.5 feet with four waterfalls, two on the long side and one at each end. The big boys typically feed in the middle and in the corners. The little guys dart in and out of the middle in snatch and grab runs. They also love to feed in the waterfalls that flow in a sheet and drive air and food down. Feeding under the water falls makes them feel safer I think. Everyone gets fed and there is plenty of food on the sidewalls because the pond is mature. Besides, when a pond keeper feeds enough, the fish eat slower. The frenzy dies down. Our food typically floats for ten minutes, not five. Sometimes longer. Everyone gets a turn. In an underfed pond, the frenzy never ends, and even the big guys get pushed out.

 

[Telion]

Also, how established and old is your pond. These play a factor in how much to feed them as I have learned here. My pond is new so we feed them once per day whatever they can eat in 5 min or so.

 

[Spartamets]

This has been a useful conversation. I find blending floating pellets and flakes, often with some treat prawns on top, gives all the fish a fair shot. The koi and older fish go to the surface for the pellets, while the younger fish swarm beneath, eating the flakes. I only feed twice a day most days, for the reason Lisak1 gave. My pond is mature and totally overrun with plants (which is how it will stay this year--heron problem), so the fish find plenty to forage throughout the day.

I don't use the five-minute rule, because the koi would be the only well-fed fish in the pond then. I figure as long the fish are all actively eating what I've put in the pond, it's not too much. They seem to go in shifts, too, so in a way it's just a bunch of 5-minute rules for each shift, linked consecutively. I'd say the fish eat the food in 15, maybe 20 minutes, if they are not efficient at finding it. (It drifts into the plants, and while the fish are constantly looking to eat at feeding time, it can take them a while to find some of those pellets. I don't regard that as overfeeding, just because they didn't find the food right away.)

 

[Lisak1]

We kind of do the same thing - toss some in, let them eat it, toss in some more. We toss in different directions in the pond to get everyone spread out a bit. When our fish are satisfied they start swimming a big deeper in the pond and nibble around at the algae. We say they are eating French style - main course first, then the salad!