How much should I feed my Koi?
Feed an amount of koi food such that your koi would have finished everything after 2 - 5 mins (i.e. no leftover koi food in pond). Smaller kois tend to eat faster while larger kois tend to eat at a more leisurely pace. As a general guide, three hands full of koi food for every 10 pcs of 1-foot long koi.
Feed from the same place for the koi to get use to it and widely disperse the food to spread it out so that every koi can receive the feed. Do ensure that you do not feed more than they can consume and remove all unfinished food to prevent contamination to the pond.
Twice a day feeding is sufficient, one in the morning and the other in the evening. However to enhance and attain a good body shape, it would be ideal to feed your koi 4 times a day (or even 5 times - which is what koi breeders do) at intervals starting at around 8 am and with the last feed at around 6 pm.
If your pond is new, it is important to feed much lesser (about 50% of the usual amount in the first five weeks) to allow time for the pond filter to mature so that ammonia and nitride are kept to the bare minimum.
Growing your koi
Koi takes time to grow. Pushing them with food to speed up their growth in size is not the best thing to do as it would likely result in its color being compromised - not solid and vibrant. The right koi food selection and amount, and regular feeding would ensure your koi grow to their fullest potential.
A varied and balanced diet is important for your koi. One type of commercial food will not cover everything as the koi grows. The temperature, oxygen content and quality of your pond water must be ideal for the koi if you want them to grow healthily. A balanced diet promotes balanced growth and gives the koi resistance against diseases. Other factors include a well-aerated and good quality water environment, free from parasites and infections.
What should I feed?
Feeding your koi with good quality and highly digestible food is important, and a high protein diet is essential for growing them. Wheat germ is a natural source of Vitamin E and its high quality protein helps koi grow faster. Carotene in koi food improves the red or orange colour of koi while Spirulina brings out the natural vibrant colour. Kois also need greater amount of vitamins (such as vitamins B, C and E) than people because their digestive system is not as highly developed.
As Kois are cold-blooded, they do not need a lot of carbohydrates to generate body heat on a continual basis, although carbohydrates provide them energy. Nevertheless, this depends much on the temperature of the pond water. A lower temperature means that the koi will not be so active and less feeding is needed. Conversely, tropical countres like Malaysia or Singapore with higher temperature means that the koi will require more carbohydrates as they will be more active and will tend to grow faster than those in temperate countries.
A variety of commercial koi food can be purchased from our retail outlet to suit different koi needs. Koi foods are sold in bulk at our retail outlet at reasonable prices and also sell them loose by the kg. Hikari saki range are packed in 1 and 2 kg bags.