Without proper nutrition you can not have good health. Because of this, we put together this page as a piece of the Koi and Goldfish nutrition and health puzzle. Koi and Goldfish health is also highly dependent on disease management, water quality and environmental conditions. Below are links to a page covering each of these issues:
Nutritional Requirements
Koi and Goldfish are omnivorous, which basically means that they will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. When in the wild or in more natural ponds with lots of algae and mud bottoms, these fish will do very well on their own and require little to no supplemental feeds. However, once they are put in an artificial setting, which is filtered to be kept clean and dosed with algaecides to keep the algae at a minimum, many of the natural foods are removed and the fish become dependent on their keepers for nutrition. In general, it is a good idea to feed Koi and Goldfish a variety of foods to be sure that all required nutrients are accounted for. Most quality feeds on the market are more or less complete and the fish will do well on them, but an important vitamin or mineral may be limited. Therefore, if you feed multiple diets, you stand a better chance of covering all the requirements. This can be done by mixing pellets together or feeding two foods on alternate days. However, for the fish to excel, they should have a variety of foods, including some natural feed.
Staple Diets
You can think of a Koi or Goldfish Staple diet as their everyday diet. This is a well-balanced, affordable diet that will keep your fish healthy and allow them to grow. It should have a protein level of 30 to 35% with one of the top 3 ingredients being fishmeal, shrimp or krill. We offer Keystone Koi Pellets as the everyday diet; it’s what we raise our Koi with. It is an exceptional value with a balance that allows it to be fed year-round at water temperatures down to 50F. This feed also includes the color-enhancing pigment Spirulina, which makes it the most complete feed that we offer. Tetra Pond Sticks and Blackwater Color Diet are other good every-day Staple diets that we offer.
Wheatgerm Diets
Wheatgerm Diets are fed to Koi and Goldfish, particularly when water temperatures drop into the 50-68F range, because they are more easily assimilated than animal proteins. They are also fed sometimes during particularly stressful periods, such as handling; and before and after disease treatments. Keystone Koi Pellets, the most versatile pellets that we sell, are also considered a Wheatgerm Diet, and fish do very well with them in cool conditions. Other cool-season feeds that we offer include Tetra Spring and Fall and Blackwater Cool Season.
Color-Enhancing Diets
A technique that many Koi enthusiasts use prior to showing their fish is to put them in a mud pond to feed on natural vegetation and organisms, which contain pigments that will enhance and intensify their color. Because not everyone is able to do this, Feed Manufacturers have developed diets that contain these color-enhancing pigments. Tetra has a terrific color-enhancing diet called Koi Vibrance, which is a highly nutritional diet that also brings out vibrant reds and yellows in Koi and Goldfish. Keystone Koi Pellets and Blackwater Color Enhancing are the most affordable diets, both formulated with the color-enhancing properties of the natural pigment from the algae Spirulina.
Growth Diets
Nutritionally speaking, rapid growth is not the most important aspect of a Koi diet, but there are instances where it is desirable to get the fish up to a larger size as quickly as possible. The thing about growth diets is that they can really only be fed during warm water temperatures when the metabolism of the fish is high enough to handle the heavy inputs of protein. The most affordable growth diet, which is not intended for everyday use, but can certainly be supplemented, is Keystone Hatcheries’ 45% Hi Pro Pellets. Since these pellets were designed to be fed to Gamefish, like trout and bass, there are really no guidelines for Koi. However, if you want to give them a try, feed a few times a week when water temperatures are 70F and above. Be sure to feed a staple diet on other days.
Live Feed
There is no substitute for the nutrients found in living food. A terrific way for you to ensure that your fish get ALL the nutrients that they need is to give them a dose of live food at least once a week. There is no limit to live food available for Koi and Goldfish, but some examples include Duckweed, Algae, Romaine Lettuce, Earthworms, Shrimp, Grasshoppers, Daphnia, Tubifex Worms, Bloodworms and small Frog Tadpoles. We feed night crawlers and Duckweed frequently.
Ebi Koi Diet is a new feed that contains 98% pure shrimp, combined with probiotics and fish oil. Both Koi and Goldfish should really go for this feed, and it will enhance the red, orange and yellow colors as well.
Seasonal Feeding
As water temperatures fluctuate, it is important to adjust your feeding patterns accordingly, taking into account the ability of your fish to digest and assimilate the food, and your filter’s ability to process the waste. Below are some guidelines, but never feed more than your fish can consume within a couple minutes and never feed if your water quality is poor. Healthy Koi and Goldfish can go weeks without feeding, so if you have poor water quality, cease all feeding until you have performed water changes and resolved the problems.
Above 85F: These high water temperatures are dangerous because of stress to fish and lower oxygen levels. Do what you can to cool the water through partial water changes and shading. Only feed Wheatgerm-based diets in small amounts that the fish will eat in one or two minutes during the morning or evening.
70 to 85F: This is the ideal growing water temperature for Koi and Goldfish. Feed Staple, Color and Growth diets in amounts that the fish will consume within a couple minutes up to 4 times a day (if your filter system can handle it). Koi and Goldfish have very small stomachs, so they prefer eating small amounts of food frequently rather than large amounts occasionally.
60 to 69F: Reduce feeding frequency to once a day at most. Feed Wheatgerm and Staple diets, but avoid Growth diets.
50-59F: Feed once or twice a week and limit it to Wheatgerm diets. If your fish show no interest in feeding, let them rest.
Below 50F: Do not feed your fish unless they are begging you! This will only happen if the sun has warmed the water and triggered their feeding behavior, or if you have a bad thermometer! If you do feed them, limit it to Wheatgerm diets and only feed once or twice per week. Once the water temperature has dropped to the low 40s, you will do more harm than good by disturbing your fish.
Feeding Program
As mentioned at the beginning of this section, fish benefit from a variety of food sources. There are an unlimited number of potential combinations, but the following is an example of a feeding program, similar to what we feed our Koi at Keystone Hatcheries:
- Spring, when water temperatures reach 50F, begin feeding Wheat Germ Diets Monday or Tuesday and Live Food Thursday or Friday.
- When water temperatures reach 60F, feed Wheat Germ Diets once a day Monday through Friday and Live Food on Saturday, giving them Sunday off. It is beneficial for filter systems to have a day off of feeding to catch up.
- When water temperatures reach 70F, feed Keystone Koi Pellets every AM and/or Noon, and feed Growth Diets in the PM. Also, feed Live Food on Saturday and/or Sunday. As stated before, only feed this aggressively if your filter system is designed for, and can handle, this heavy of a nutrient input.
- When water temperatures exceed 85F, feed Keystone Koi Pellets in the AM and try to cool the water.