Koi Forum (Nishikigoi - Japanese Koi Fish): Koi Health: Koi Feeding, Nutrition and Diet: How much food is too much??

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How much food is too much??

animagusbc
Koi Lover

Aug 17, 2004, 2:44 PM

Post #1 of 12 (3556 views)
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How much food is too much??	Can't Post

I currently have 5 koi in a 600 gallon pond. My question is: How much food is too much?? I try and feed my fish 4X a day and have noticed considerable growth on a lot of my smaller 4" koi as well as girth on my 6-7" Koi. Am I feeding them too much or just right. I have read that you should feed your fish 4X a day and 1X a day on other posts and articles that I have read. My water quality is perfect and couldn't ask for more but I do want to grow them out as well. I currently feed them a mix of 1/2 and 1/2 Hikari Staple and Hikari Gold. Any feedback would be great. Smile

Located on the Westcoast of Canada. We currently breeder Show Quality Bettas, Portuguese Water Dogs and Bengal Cats.

linear
Koi Lover

Aug 17, 2004, 4:16 PM

Post #2 of 12 (3552 views)
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Re: [animagusbc] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

i think that you are meant to feed them all they can eat in 4 minutes each time you feed them but you dont want any uneaten food!!

Once you start koi you just can't stop.

Smile

i love my doitsu sanke Smile

KoiOwner
Koi Lover

Aug 17, 2004, 9:48 PM

Post #3 of 12 (3543 views)
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Re: [linear] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Animagus the koi hobby is really controversial about feeding. Some people say only 2 times a day, some say 4 to 5. It really depends on your filtration. I personally feed mine 4 to 5 because I want them to grow quickly. Koi have no stomachs so it is not hard to overfeed them.

animagusbc
Koi Lover

Aug 18, 2004, 2:24 PM

Post #4 of 12 (3499 views)
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Re: [KoiOwner] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for the answers to my question. What is the general concensus on feeding from everybody else. How many times do other people on this forum feed their fish? Have many people noticed considerable growth for their Koi by feeding 4X a day compared to 1 or 2X per day? It would be interesting to find out what other people's feeding regime is when it comes to their Koi. Thanks again to the people that have answered so far. Wink

Located on the Westcoast of Canada. We currently breeder Show Quality Bettas, Portuguese Water Dogs and Bengal Cats.

henros
Koi Lover

Aug 18, 2004, 4:47 PM

Post #5 of 12 (3481 views)
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Re: [animagusbc] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

hi animagusbc

i feed my koi at least 3 times a day. 2 tablespoon of sera koi spirulina or some sera koi royal. i have 6 kois ranging from 13 to 22 inches. sometimes 4 to 5 times a day. I noticed that they grow a lot. small feeding several times a day is better than feeding several amount of koi feeds in one time.

henry

eastside
Koi Lover

Aug 18, 2004, 5:14 PM

Post #6 of 12 (3480 views)
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Re: [henros] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

People dont over feed because It takes time for the stomach to digest the food and if you feed alot the koi will get less of the nutrient and it will realese undigested food by this means it will grow slower then usual.Feed less and get them time the gain nutrients and better health.

ucpondguy
Member

Aug 18, 2004, 9:19 PM

Post #7 of 12 (3467 views)
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Re: [eastside] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi eastside,
I heard kois dont have stomaches

koifishgirl
Koi Kichi

Aug 18, 2004, 9:25 PM

Post #8 of 12 (3465 views)
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Re: [ucpondguy] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

lol

Good point
Judy

eastside
Koi Lover

Aug 19, 2004, 5:06 AM

Post #9 of 12 (3417 views)
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Re: [eastside] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

Oh I meant the digetive system that needs time to digest if yoou feed more thn it will just push out other food and make it undigeste.But I feed mines alot and they seem to digesting well.

ndt98
New User

Aug 19, 2004, 5:44 PM

Post #10 of 12 (3380 views)
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Re: [eastside] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

My koi's vendor is an biological engineer , he also breeds brown trouts for fishing . He told me that if you give them alot of food, the pellets just go through them and won't be absorbed. Then you dirty your water . He told me that for the koi i bought (about 15cm) , 2 pellets a day are enough.

Personnaly , i think that if you filtration system is performant , why not give more , as it is a great pleasure to see them eating.

EVRENB
Koi Lover

Mar 4, 2005, 7:49 PM

Post #11 of 12 (2492 views)
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Re: [animagusbc] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

I roughly calculate my fishes body weight then calculate 1%, 2%, 3% of that as a guideline to what to feed. In the spring I would feed 1/2 to 1% of body weight - slowly rising (being kind on the filters) as the temperature increased. I weigh the food each morning and then divide into about six feeds a day but not feeding too late as I believe the oxygen demand is greater at night. The food I use is divided into usually 40% saki hikari small, 40% medicarp medium and 20% kusuri wheatgerm - I soak in water to make the pellets soft. I soak with either mineral water or freshly squeezed orange juice - I some times juice up some garlic and add to mixture. The koi's go mad on these. On eday a week I'll give treats such as shelled prawns, mussels, orange and red peppers.
My growth rate on some of my koi's last season (may-oct) was
Shusui - 100% growth - 5.5 inches to 11 inches.
Kohaku - 63% growth - 7 to 11 inches
Shiro Utsuri - 100% growth - 4 inches - 8 inches
Kohaku 2 - 20% - 11 inches to 13.5 inches (introduced to the pond later)
Showa - 15% - 13.5 inches to 15.5 inches (introduced to pond later)

The worst growth rate was about 15%

The maximum temperature That my pond achieved was 25 degrees (on about three days only!)
Overall in the summer there was only about 60 days that was above 20C !!! Very poor summer and I had some New Pond Syndrome so I was quite please with the growth rates. This year will be better as all the fish have over wintered and I will have a longer feeding season.

I hope this helps some

Evren

alown
Koi Lover

Jul 25, 2005, 11:01 AM

Post #12 of 12 (1707 views)
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Re: [EVRENB] How much food is too much?? [In reply to]	Can't Post

I have to give you thanks.
I didn't know how long it would take for my new baby koi become big.
I thought it might take like 4 years to double it size.
I just put my baby, 4", koi in there pond in this july. So hopefuly by winter they will be bigger, maybe 5" or 6"

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