Feeding Koi

[Nathan A. Smith]

Hi again,

2nd question....

I would like the groups thoughts on feeding koi. It seems there are
many ideas about it.

I have read on the "web of misinformation" that people have successfully
kept koi (and goldfish) in outdoor ponds -- and never feed them, leaving
them to mother nature.

I have had salesmen totally freak at the idea of not feeding goldfish --
which most websites say can (and some say should) be done.

I have read that koi need to be feed from multiple times a day to not
at all -- depending on the water tempature.

So what does the group think?


Nasa

[Benign Vanilla]

"Nathan A. Smith" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> I would like the groups thoughts on feeding koi. It seems there are
> many ideas about it.
>
> I have read on the "web of misinformation" that people have successfully
> kept koi (and goldfish) in outdoor ponds -- and never feed them, leaving
> them to mother nature.
>
> I have had salesmen totally freak at the idea of not feeding goldfish --
> which most websites say can (and some say should) be done.
>
> I have read that koi need to be feed from multiple times a day to not
> at all -- depending on the water tempature.
>
> So what does the group think?
<snip>

Last year, I bought a box of Koi sticks and tossed some in now and then when
friends and family wanted to see the fish. Other then that, we never feed
them. This year they got the end of that original box, until the dog got her
head stuck in it, and decided to eat the rest of it. Anyway, we haven't fed
them since April'ish and they continue to grow and be healthy.

My 2.

BV.

[grubber]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Nathan A. Smith" > wrote in message
> ...
> <snip>
> > I would like the groups thoughts on feeding koi. It seems there are
> > many ideas about it.
> >
> > I have read on the "web of misinformation" that people have successfully
> > kept koi (and goldfish) in outdoor ponds -- and never feed them, leaving
> > them to mother nature.
> >
> > I have had salesmen totally freak at the idea of not feeding goldfish --
> > which most websites say can (and some say should) be done.
> >
> > I have read that koi need to be feed from multiple times a day to not
> > at all -- depending on the water tempature.
> >
> > So what does the group think?
> <snip>
>
> Last year, I bought a box of Koi sticks and tossed some in now and then
when
> friends and family wanted to see the fish. Other then that, we never feed
> them. This year they got the end of that original box, until the dog got
her
> head stuck in it, and decided to eat the rest of it. Anyway, we haven't
fed
> them since April'ish and they continue to grow and be healthy.
>
> My 2.
>
> BV.
>
>

Likewise. I rarely feed the fish, and then only for my own amusement. A 6"
koi that I put in the pond in January was 14" in June when the water got so
clear it couldn't hide anymore. We did have a constant crop of toad
tadpoles sharing the pea soup, so there was plenty of meat and greens
available.

OTOH, if you have an ultra-clear, ultra-filtered, ultra-sterile pond with no
plants and UV killing the algae, you probably need to feed.

[RichToyBox]

Size and number of fish are controlling factors here. A small number of
fish, or small fish, will find plenty of good bugs in the algae sweater of
the pond, snails, veggies, and the like. As you get more fish, and larger
fish, the pond gets smaller and the availability of the natural goodies is
not enough to go around and then the fish need to be fed supplemental foods.
I feed mine 3 or 4 times a day during the heat of the summer, and since I
heat to about 70 degrees all winter, I feed twice a day during the winter.
I have in my larger pond around 25 fish at any given time with an average
length of about 24 inches and a total weight of fish approaching 250 to 300
pounds. They would not survive without supplemental feeding.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Nathan A. Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Hi again,
>
> 2nd question....
>
> I would like the groups thoughts on feeding koi. It seems there are
> many ideas about it.
>
> I have read on the "web of misinformation" that people have successfully
> kept koi (and goldfish) in outdoor ponds -- and never feed them, leaving
> them to mother nature.
>
> I have had salesmen totally freak at the idea of not feeding goldfish --
> which most websites say can (and some say should) be done.
>
> I have read that koi need to be feed from multiple times a day to not
> at all -- depending on the water tempature.
>
> So what does the group think?
>
>
> Nasa

[Mickey]

I am going to feed mine the Mosquitoes from the mosquito magnet.

"RichToyBox" > wrote in message
news:XTzNc.173246$IQ4.91104@attbi_s02...
> Size and number of fish are controlling factors here. A small number of
> fish, or small fish, will find plenty of good bugs in the algae sweater of
> the pond, snails, veggies, and the like. As you get more fish, and larger
> fish, the pond gets smaller and the availability of the natural goodies is
> not enough to go around and then the fish need to be fed supplemental
> foods.
> I feed mine 3 or 4 times a day during the heat of the summer, and since I
> heat to about 70 degrees all winter, I feed twice a day during the winter.
> I have in my larger pond around 25 fish at any given time with an average
> length of about 24 inches and a total weight of fish approaching 250 to
> 300
> pounds. They would not survive without supplemental feeding.
> --
> RichToyBox
> http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
> "Nathan A. Smith" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hi again,
>>
>> 2nd question....
>>
>> I would like the groups thoughts on feeding koi. It seems there are
>> many ideas about it.
>>
>> I have read on the "web of misinformation" that people have successfully
>> kept koi (and goldfish) in outdoor ponds -- and never feed them, leaving
>> them to mother nature.
>>
>> I have had salesmen totally freak at the idea of not feeding goldfish --
>> which most websites say can (and some say should) be done.
>>
>> I have read that koi need to be feed from multiple times a day to not
>> at all -- depending on the water tempature.
>>
>> So what does the group think?
>>
>>
>> Nasa
>
>

[Jim and Phyllis Hurley]

We have nine koi and perhaps 6 goldfish. They would not make it without
food. They are thriving now at 20+ inches and 6 years. We use
catfish/trout food for them...they are carp, after all. Some knock the
food, but it is very cheap ($11/50# bag) and nutritious. Our game biologist
sees no problem with it. We just can't see feeding $3.95 koi food that
costs more per month than they did! Some have suggested that the catfish
food was for early growth and would shorten their life by as much as 20%.
On a lifespan of 50-200 years, that is not too big a deal...especially since
I am almost 60...(ummmm make that 39 and holding). The archives will have a
lot of info for you about koi food. Whatever you do, enjoy them.

Site below shows you them a year and two ago.

Jim

--
____________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Ask me about Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $120+ per child) at: jogathon.net

"Nathan A. Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Hi again,
>
> 2nd question....
>
> I would like the groups thoughts on feeding koi. It seems there are
> many ideas about it.
>
> I have read on the "web of misinformation" that people have successfully
> kept koi (and goldfish) in outdoor ponds -- and never feed them, leaving
> them to mother nature.
>
> I have had salesmen totally freak at the idea of not feeding goldfish --
> which most websites say can (and some say should) be done.
>
> I have read that koi need to be feed from multiple times a day to not
> at all -- depending on the water tempature.
>
> So what does the group think?
>
>
> Nasa

[~ Windsong ~]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
> Last year, I bought a box of Koi sticks and tossed some in now and then
when
> friends and family wanted to see the fish. Other then that, we never feed
> them. This year they got the end of that original box, until the dog got
her
> head stuck in it, and decided to eat the rest of it. Anyway, we haven't
fed
> them since April'ish and they continue to grow and be healthy.
=============================
But how large is your pond and how many koi are in it? A few koi in a large
pond is one thing - a smaller pond with a lot of fish is quite another.
--
Carol....
"I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most
people die of natural causes."
~~<~~<~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Nathan A. Smith]

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 21:34:47 +0000, RichToyBox wrote:

> Size and number of fish are controlling factors here. A small number of
> fish, or small fish, will find plenty of good bugs in the algae sweater of
> the pond, snails, veggies, and the like. As you get more fish, and larger
> fish, the pond gets smaller and the availability of the natural goodies is
> not enough to go around and then the fish need to be fed supplemental foods.
> I feed mine 3 or 4 times a day during the heat of the summer, and since I
> heat to about 70 degrees all winter, I feed twice a day during the winter.
> I have in my larger pond around 25 fish at any given time with an average
> length of about 24 inches and a total weight of fish approaching 250 to 300
> pounds. They would not survive without supplemental feeding.

Ok,

This all makes sense -- However, how do you know when the fish can
survive on just the pond and when they need to be feed. My pond for
example has 7 goldfish, 2 Koi, a couple mosquito eaters, and 6 guppies.
My pond is somewhere between 700 - 900 Gallons. It has a water lilly,
anachris, and hyacinth. And all the fish are under 5".

Nasa

[RichToyBox]

I think a good indicator would be when all the anacharis is gone. Of course
koi love anacharis and that might not be very long. Koi are omnivores and
love good veggies, probably more so than goldfish. If they are being under
fed, they should stop growing and start to look emaciated.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Nathan A. Smith" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 21:34:47 +0000, RichToyBox wrote:
>
> > Size and number of fish are controlling factors here. A small number of
> > fish, or small fish, will find plenty of good bugs in the algae sweater
of
> > the pond, snails, veggies, and the like. As you get more fish, and
larger
> > fish, the pond gets smaller and the availability of the natural goodies
is
> > not enough to go around and then the fish need to be fed supplemental
foods.
> > I feed mine 3 or 4 times a day during the heat of the summer, and since
I
> > heat to about 70 degrees all winter, I feed twice a day during the
winter.
> > I have in my larger pond around 25 fish at any given time with an
average
> > length of about 24 inches and a total weight of fish approaching 250 to
300
> > pounds. They would not survive without supplemental feeding.
>
> Ok,
>
> This all makes sense -- However, how do you know when the fish can
> survive on just the pond and when they need to be feed. My pond for
> example has 7 goldfish, 2 Koi, a couple mosquito eaters, and 6 guppies.
> My pond is somewhere between 700 - 900 Gallons. It has a water lilly,
> anachris, and hyacinth. And all the fish are under 5".
>
> Nasa
>

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

In this order, first the plants will disappear, then the guppies & mosquito
eaters. as soon as the koi are big enough to eat them... even though they
normally would not eat them, but if they're hungry enough they will. Now
you have 7 goldfish & 2 koi, this is assuming their immune systems are in
really good shape, spawning will produce no babies as every egg and baby
will be eaten. ~ jan

>On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 05:33:26 -0600, "Nathan A. Smith" > wrote:

>Ok,
>
>This all makes sense -- However, how do you know when the fish can
>survive on just the pond and when they need to be feed. My pond for
>example has 7 goldfish, 2 Koi, a couple mosquito eaters, and 6 guppies.
>My pond is somewhere between 700 - 900 Gallons. It has a water lilly,
>anachris, and hyacinth. And all the fish are under 5".
>
>Nasa

(Do you know where your water quality is?)

[[email protected]]

repost.................
Jo Ann and Steve got 77 koi in their big pond. they range from 5-20 lbs each
Steve gives them 2 pints of food per night (which weighs 16 oz), combination of Ogata
and Rangen. the RETAIL cost of feeding their monsters is:
6.5 cents per day per koi
45 cents per week per koi
23.63 bucks per year per koi cause they feed 365 days a year down there in Ala and
they heat their ponds. The koi are monsters and are growing.

their 5 lb fish are around 18-22", so it averages out maybe to around 0.25 lbs per
inch for those big fish.
a quick and dirty estimate of the average is they got 940 lbs of koi and feed 16 oz
of food per day.

I am not sure how many koi I got. Lets say 25 koi from 6-14", I know they arent 0.25
lbs per inch, but lets say my 25 fish weigh in at 40 lbs. I should be feeding 1/24th
as much food as they do, or 2/3 of an ounce per day. Well, I think I feed more than
that cause I been feeding a less than 1/2 cup or around 1.2 oz of food per day.

Last year I bought
5 lbs of Rangen ($4/lb) $20.00
5 lbs of Ogata (5.50/lb) 27.50
5lbs of romet B ($4) 20.00
--------------------------------------------
67.50
I had Ogata left this spring been using it and will run out this week.
I have romet B left and I gave away at least half to people with sick fish.

I started feeding around April 15 when the water is above 55oF.
I quit feeding around Oct 8th. I didnt keep records on first and last feeding. But
this was around 25 weeks I fed the koi. Lets say 24 weeks cause I forget to feed
them every day. So 24 weeks X 7 days X 1.2 ounces per day = 201 ounces per year or
12.6 lbs. If I feed them according to Steve's rate, I should feed 110 ounces per
year or 6.9 lbs of food.
However, I feed 25 koi 12.6 lbs of food per year, average price is $5/lb or so comes
out to $2.50 per koi. Feeding at Steve's rate 6.9 lbs x $5 = 34.50 or $1.38 per koi
per year.
It doesnt add up right, I have more food left over so I may have missed more feedings
than I thought or not feed 1/2 cup. I dunno.
Yeah, that comes out to about 1/2 lb per year per fish.
High quality koi food is around $5 per lb.
High quality koi food has more digestible nutrition per ounce so I dont have to feed
as much and there is less waste coming out the other end to foul my water and foul my
filters.
Ingrid


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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http://puregold.aquaria.net/
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Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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