You Might be over Feeding your

Koi or Goldfish If……...

by Ray Jordan

Many of the phone calls and questions I get concerning koi or goldfish problems are directly or indirectly related to feeding. Most of this article will apply to both types of pond fish.  However, there are some special considerations to feeding goldfish. Feeding is a much bigger topic to present than you might think. First and last, everyone feeds his or her fish too much! You do it and I do it. It is just so much fun to see them come to us and eat. But, we could be killing our pets with kindness. Please consider the following: 

You might be over feeding your fish if…(or feeding the wrong food)

1.      Your water is cloudy or green

2.      You see foam on the surface of your pond(Turn off your simmer if you have one for several hours)

3.      Fish poop is floating instead of sinking

4.      Your fish look more like sumo wrestlers than gymnasts

5.      The white color in your adult fish is yellow or pink instead of bright white

6.      Your fish start losing their color

7.      There is unconsumed food more than 90 seconds after feeding begins

8.      Your fish are getting sick or dying

 The most common questions I get about feeding fish are:

Q – What should I feed my Koi/Goldfish?

A - Most hobbyists feed a basic diet of a manufactured Koi or goldfish food and supplement with fruits, vegetables, cereals, shrimp, krill, worms, etc.

You should feed a fresh high quality manufactured fish food as your fish’s basic diet. Koi and goldfish need the same types of nutrients as we do. That is, they need carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins and minerals. Fish digest carbohydrates at a lower rate than we do and should receive very little fat. Koi & Goldfish do very poorly on fish food based on corn. Since corn is cheap some pond fish foods or catfish foods use it as the main ingredient. Avoid food that lists corn as one of the top four ingredients. Wheat and Wheat Germ is a much better main ingredient for koi and Goldfish.  Good foods will have about 32%-36% protein based on wheat germ, fish meal and/or shrimp/krill meal, sea weed (spirulina) soybean meal, assorted cereals and added vitamins. Fat should be 6% or less. 

Look for vitamins:  A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C & E. If your koi or goldfish food doesn’t clearly tell you what is in it they probably don’t want you to know.

 TIP: Look at the Champion fish at shows that have deep colors, bright whites, and strong body shapes then ask their owners what they feed their fish.

 You want the freshest food you can buy and you need to keep it fresh.  If possible buy food that has a manufactured or expiration date. Buy from a dealer that sells lots of food and therefore has fresh food. Buy in small enough bags that you can use it within 2-3 weeks of opening.  Vitamin levels start dropping as soon as manufactured and even faster as soon as you open the bag. Do not let fish food get warm or damp. It will quickly spoil and get moldy. Many times sick or dead fish can be traced directly to “spoiled” food. I recommend putting opened fish food in airtight containers such as a ziplock bag in the refrigerator. This will allow you to squeeze out the air each time you reseal the bag. If in doubt about your food being spoiled throw it out. I once visited someone that kept having fish die and I noticed some fish swollen from internal infections. When I saw a huge half used open bag of food in the tool shed I check it out. I found just under the surface of the food was a solid lump of moldy disgusting yucky stuff. The owner threw out the bad food and his fish health problems quickly disappeared. I know a big bag is cheaper but please believe me when I tell you it can cost you a lot more in the long run.

 Q - How much and how often should you feed your koi & goldfish?

A – Short Answer - Feed less total food per day and give more frequent feedings.

Long-Long Answer: Everyone I know feeds his or her fish too much! I do it and so do you. Koi and goldfish feeding should be based on a combination of water temperature and total weight of fish in your pond. Fish are cold-blooded creatures and cannot digest food once pond water drops and stays much below 50 degrees. In colder winter months koi and goldfish in outside ponds become dormant. Yes, they will eat if fed but the food just passes through them and then pollutes the water and your filter system without doing your fish any good whatever. In fact, your biological filter is also mostly inactive below 50 degrees so any ammonia and waste produced by the undigested food cannot be process by your filter system. If ammonia or nitrite levels go high enough it can easily stress or even kill your fish.

 Here is the feeding schedule I try to use. Use average weekly water temperature. Optimum water temperature is about 72-76 degrees for koi and 75-80 degrees for goldfish.

 Ø      Below 50 degrees – do not feed

Ø      Start feeding in spring as water warms and stays above 50 degrees. For first few weeks feed only every other day and very sparingly maybe 2-3 pellets per fish. Try to feed in late afternoon when water is warmest and fish will be better able to digest.

Ø      50 to 60 degrees - Slowly feed to 1% of fish weight divided into two daily feedings if possible mid and late afternoon.

Ø      60 to 70 degrees feed 1% - 2% of total fish weight divided into three daily feedings

Ø      70-80 degrees feed 3 to 3-1/2% of total fish weight divided into 3-10 feedings.

Ø      80-90 degrees feed 2% to 1% of total fish weight divided into 3-10 feedings

Ø      90-100 degrees reduce feed to less than 1% total fish weight divided into two feedings. Feed early and late when cooler

According to this formula if you had 35 lbs. of fish in your pond (This is a lot of fish folks - about 44 - twelve in. koi) and the water temperature is 75 degrees you could feed up to 1lb. Of food a day divided into 3-10 feedings. Remember this is the optimum water temperature and in our area you might only feed at this rate for 3-4 weeks in the spring and maybe about the same in the fall. For those of us that are gone during the day we are limited to feeding about three times. Before work, when we get home and then just before dark. On the days you are home you could increase the frequency of feedings. You might also consider using an automatic fish feeder for the mid day feedings. For example if you were going to feed 1 lb of food per day you should still do the first and last feeding to observe your fishes behavior to be sure they are "happy" and also that's one of the pleasures of having koi. Use the automatic feeder to deliver the rest of the food allocated into feedings every 1-2 hours.

 But how do you find out how much your fish weigh? Well you could guess or you could put one of average size in a plastic bag and sneak into the grocery store and……

Or you can estimate each of your fish’s length in inches and use the following chart to calculate each fishes weight and then add up the weight of all your fish.

(Example)

Koi Length/Weight conversion Chart*

*Estimate based on length of “average” koi. Adjust for fatter or skinner koi. With Long Fin Koi and goldfish I would not include tails in the length estimates.

 There is some pretty interesting information in the chart above. Notice how the weight of fish increases almost logarithmically as the length increases. For example almost 50% of the total fish weight is the three 22 in. fish. If you really want to do the calculations and you have excel as a program on your computer chick on the attached file an a excel spreadsheet will do the work for you.

KOI-WEIGHT-CALCULATOR

 With some fish foods such as Tetra koi sticks almost all the moisture is removed so the food is very light weight. The calculation suggested above would not work with that type of food. In practice this chart and formula is just a starting point. You should look to your fish to tell you if they are getting the right nutrition. Healthy fish will have bright colors, and a very bright shiny white color. Their skin will almost glow and they will be very active and feed vigorously. Look to the clues listed in the beginning of this article for problems that suggest over feeding or poor nutrition.

 I feed the amount of food I use by volume. For example, at optimum water temperature I feed my koi about 2 cups of food a day divided into as many feedings as possible. This weighs about ¾ of a lb. I measure the 2 cups into a zip lock bag each morning and then I can space out the feedings from that bag so that it lasts all day. This way I don’t lose track and overfeed. We have a 100-gallon aquarium with 5 small oranda’s. I feed ½ teaspoon of goldfish food daily divided into several feedings.

 Q – What Feeding Supplements are recommended?

 A - In addition to the basic manufactured koi or goldfish foods I like to feed some additional foods to help insure my fish get a well balanced diet. Also many of these foods seem to be a real treat for the fish and they turn into a “Fish Tornado” when certain foods are offered. The things that my fish seem to like the most are freeze dried krill and baby peas. They go nuts when I offer these treats. You can buy Freeze died krill in most places where you buy fish food or it can be ordered. They also love canned baby peas (silver can of course). I just toss a handful to the fish a few times a week. I bet you can hear the slurping sounds of happy greedy koi a block away. Koi can also be trained to eat romaine lettuce, oranges, Grapefruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, bell peppers, carrots, spinach, zucchini, Swiss chard, cooked rice and pasta, whole wheat bread and pinto beans.

I buy a jar of vitamin C powder from a health food store each spring and dissolve a teaspoon in a small amount of water and mix into the koi food I feed for the first few weeks each spring. I believe this has helped cut down on spring disease problems and is very easy to do.

 I bet you could tell me many other things that your fish eat as well. Many of the koi magazines and web sites offer recipes for making your own fish food if you would like to experiment. Let me know how your fish like the homemade foods if you try any.

 Special Foods

There are koi and goldfish foods that are called “Color” foods. These foods contain coloring agents often “spirulina” which is from blue green algae and can enhance red colors. Color food is much more expensive and higher in protein than basic food. Therefore if used it should only be feed at optimum water temperatures an only for short periods of time. If you feed color food too long your fishes white color will turn yellow. Also color food only enhances the reds so fish of any other color will not benefit. I personally, do not feed any color food. I save the extra expense and buy better basic food. This past spring I bough some paste food. I fed this once every other day along with the regular pellet food. The paste food was easy to mix into dough balls and I added vitamins C&E plus a immune booster. It seemed to work well and the fish thought it was great. You have to be careful with this type of food as it tends to make your koi fat fairly quickly. You should not feed this alone but give in place of one feeding every other day or every third day.

 Q – What are the special considerations for Goldfish Foods?

A - Goldfish definitely have some special requirements to consider when feeding. The fancier more rounded goldfish such as Ranchus, Orandas, and Ryunkins can develop a condition called floating disease.

No one is really sure what causes them to lose their ability to equalize the air in their swim bladders and start to float but this is by far the biggest problem I have with my goldfish. For this reason it is recommended to buy sinking goldfish foods. It is also a good idea to presoak the food in some water before feeding goldfish. If you have goldfish like orandas or lionheads with the special head-growth pattern. There are goldfish foods that contain the hormones to help stimulate this growth. If the growth gets excessive switch back to the basic goldfish food without the hormones.

Q – How can I train my Koi/Goldfish to eat out of my hand?

It is a special treat to train your fish to eat from your hands. This can also be a lifesaver if a koi gets sick. You could feed medicated food just to that fish without treating your entire pond.

 Before hand feeding remove all jewelry including your watch. As your koi get bolder they will rub all over your hands and arms and can get scratched very easily by your jewelry. Quit feeding for several days to get your fish really hungry. At first the fish will be shy of your hands so place a small amount of food on the water near your hand and hold your hand in the water and stay very still. Don’t bother to try this if your fish are small babies. Only the larger adults will be bold enough to approach your hand. As the fish begin feeding and become accustomed to your hand in the water start placing a few pellets very near your hand. Avoid sudden movements. As they approach you do not try to pet them yet. Once they are feeding near your hand put the food only in your hand and again stay very still. It may take a few feeding sessions but soon the bolder fish will be willing to swim up and eat right from your hand. Later you can pet and rub them and let them suck on your fingers. I had a koi that would let me lift it completely out of the water for a few seconds without trying to flop around. Some fish will never be bold enough to feed from your hands. The friendliest fish and ones easiest to train are an older variety called a Cha Goi. Which is a subdued brown colored koi with beautiful black edging around each scale that appears like the fish is covered in netting. Goldfish seem to learn hand feeding faster than koi.

Vacation Feeding

I have heard many sad stores of pond owners leaving on vacation and asking a neighbor to “feed” their fish. They frequently come home to over feeding disasters. I recommend that if you are leaving town for one week or less do not have your fish fed at all. You will probably be amazed when you come home to the prettiest cleanest pond water you have seen for quite a while. If you are going out of town for longer than one week. Cut back the feeding by ½ and carefully measure the exact amount of food you what fed each day into separate labeled ziplock bags.

 Summary

Feeding your fish is a very important part of your responsibilities as a pond owner. Please do not over feed. If you are not into all the calculation stuff just start by cutting the amount of food you have been feeding in half. If you water gets clearer and your fish look and act happier in a few weeks then you know you are on the right track. Feed high quality fresh food and keep it fresh. Divide your feedings in to as many times a day as possible.  Then sit back and enjoy your healthier and prettier koi & goldfish.