dechoong
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Apr 18, 2005, 2:17 AM
Post #4 of 23
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Hi Sirwin,
It is not that high protein pellets are not good, I think what Andy meant is not to rely on protein alone for a complete diet.
For your information, these are the high protein food that I know of:
1) Kusuri paste food >60%
2) Momotaro pellets >50%
3) Most silkworm based food >50%
Personally, I would consider anything around 40% protein good enough to fuel growth in young kois. Once sufficient protein level has been established, you have to look at other important factors like lipids, carbohydrate, fibre and ash (minerals). Some of the best koi food are fortified with vitamins, essential minerals and probiotics. Protein is very important, but not the end to it all. Just take a look at the typical analysis and ingredients for Hikari Excel.
Not all koi food which uses spirulina as colour enhancer are made equal. I've been given Astro Spirulina as a gift and personally, it doesn't smell right to me. In the end I gave it away to another friend who keeps local koi. If you'd like to know how a well processed spirulina smells like, simply catch a whiff of a bottle of GNC spirulina capsules. I find Hikari Excel and Misaki Spirulina comes closest... the "green" smell is prevalent.
One last thing... kois can only digest and absorb protein when the water temperature is high enough. If you are living in parts of the world with cold weather, it is better to feed wheatgerm based pellets.
Rgds,
Dennis
(This post was edited by dechoong on Apr 18, 2005, 2:34 AM)
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), try Hikari Hi-Growth in the morning and Saki Hikari Growth for the rest of the day. 
). Spirulina is a naturally occuring food for kois in algae rich natural ponds and kois harvested from such ponds display intense colours. There are words that colour food damages young kois' liver, but I can't verify it. However, I'm quoting a paragraph from an experienced hobbyist HWong below: 
. This stinky paste food has a super high protein level of 63.5% and is particularly effective in promoting growth, especially in young kois which always seem hungry 
. 
If we were to make similar assumptions of koi with humans, too much of colour enhancers, which are basically Vit A derivatives would cause liver toxicity. But then again, koi are not humans and this was not proven in koi. However, I strongly agree with you that naturally derived colour enhancers are the safer choice and gives better results. As to the type of feeding for preparing a koi prior to competition, I would like to advocate following what is logical and if one is adventurous enough, thru trial and error. 