Food Koi Goldfish
Food Koi Goldfish
Caring for Koi
Caring for koi is a hobby that will bring peace and beauty into your life. The word koi comes from the Japanese word Nishikigoi which means living jewels. Watching your colorful living jewels peacefully undulating along the bottom of a well-maintained garden pond can be a Zen oasis in the midst of a bustling life.
Koi care consists of maintaining the pond, regulating the numbers of your fish relative to the pond size, and ensuring they have adequate food and a healthy diet. Introducing new fish to the pond should be approached carefully.
Feeding Your Koi
Outdoor koi come in a variety of colors, and taking care with their diet will ensure their colors remain vibrant and distinctive. They will feed at the bottom of the pond and also enjoy treats from your hand if you care to interact with them. They have great personalities and you will enjoy identifying their individual characteristics. They eat proteins like worms and larvae or pupae and fruit such as pieces of melon or apple. You can also feed them small pieces of cereal by hand. Koi hibernate in the winter time so when the temperature drops below 55ºF or so you should not feed them by hand during their period of hibernation. When their metabolism slows, overfeeding can make them sick. Food that is not eaten rots into the pond and just creates more for you to filter and clean.
Koi are descendants of the common black carp, which were originally bred for food in China. The Japanese began breeding carp in the early 1800s and quickly learned to breed them for color. Today koi, like their goldfish cousins, are available in a variety of metallic colors, including the original black, and hues of red, orange and yellow. You can also get blue or white koi, and all koi come with a wide variety of color and patterning.
Koi Like Their Living Space
A basic element of koi care is providing enough space for them to grow and thrive. Koi can grow up to three feet long and need ponds that can hold 500 gallons or more of Water to provide them sufficient living space. Koi lifespans can be around thirty years, give or take five years or so, which is a pretty good commitment for most of us. If you take good care of them they can often live longer, and have been known to live for over two hundred years. If you maintain a small pond, you may need to exchange your koi for smaller ones as they grow, because it is important to their care to keep the koi in the right size pond. You also need to keep your eye on the numbers of koi relative to the pond size.
Koi like to be with other fish, choosing to live in small groups, rather than large shoals. They also tolerate winter weather reasonably well. The pond should be deep if you live in a cold climate, so that the earth's heat can warm the pond from below. Three or four feet of water is probably enough unless your winters are very severe and will freeze a pond of that depth. Well oxygenated water, of somewhere between 60 and 75ºF, provides the ideal environment. Invest in a good pump and filter system for your pond to ensure the water is kept clean.
Many people like to decorate the pond and create a tranquil haven by growing different flowers or plants around it, or creating a landscape effect with a bridge and a garden ornament or two. This is especially pretty in the Springtime when the plants and flowers begin to green up and the koi slowly come back to life as the temperature rises. This is one of those special times when you reap the biggest rewards from the care you have given your koi.
About the Author
Jonathon Matthews is a koi expert. For more great tips on koi care and koi ponds visit http://www.koicaringsecrets.com.
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 HIKARI EXCEL 11lb Medium koi goldfish fish food  US $139.46
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 TETRA POND VIBRANCE KOI GOLDFISH FOOD 11 LB US $115.49
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 TETRA POND FLOATING STICKS KOI GOLDFISH FOOD 11 LB US $109.49
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 3 PACK GOLDFISH and KOI FOOD LARGE Size 22 POUND Catalog Category PondFISH US $82.33
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 51 lb BULK FLOATING PELLET FISH FOOD for KOI GOLDFISH US $78.00
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 50 lb BULK FLOATING PELLET FISH FOOD for KOI GOLDFISH US $78.00
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 KOI PELLET 51 LBS FLOATING FISH FOOD FOR KOI GOLDFISH US $78.00
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 50 lb BULK FLOATING PELLET FISH FOOD for KOI GOLDFISH US $73.00
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 TETRA POND VIBRANCE KOI GOLDFISH FOOD 661 LB US $71.49
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 3 PACK GOLDFISH and KOI FOOD SMALL Size 17 OUNCE Catalog Category PondFISH US $70.73
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 3 PACK GOLDFISH and KOI FOOD MEDIUM Size 17 OUNCE Catalog Category PondFISH US $70.73
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 12 Tetra Pond 16210 635 oz Flaked Fish Food for Small Fish Goldfish Koi US $69.99
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 25lbs Koi Food Pond Fish Pellets 35 Growth Floating Koi and Goldfish Food live US $69.99
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 TETRA POND FLOATING STICKS KOI GOLDFISH FOOD 661 LB US $68.89
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 40 lb BULK 32 FLOATING PELLET FOOD for KOI GOLDFISH US $65.00
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 Brand New LAGUNA WATER GARDEN 3 PACK GOLDFISH KOI FOOD MEDIUM Size 22 POUN US $64.65
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 51 lb BULK FLOATING PELLET FISH FOOD for KOI GOLDFISH Pond Pellets US $64.00
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 22lbs Koi Food Pond Fish Pellets 35 Growth Floating Koi and Goldfish Food live US $59.99
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 Saki Hikari Koi and Goldfish food Growth Diet 44lb US $59.95
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 Brand New LAGUNA WATER GARDEN 3 PACK GOLDFISH KOI FOOD SMALL Size 17 OUNCE US $54.57
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 Brand New LAGUNA WATER GARDEN 3 PACK GOLDFISH KOI FOOD MEDIUM Size 17 OUNCE US $54.57
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 Brand New LAGUNA WATER GARDEN 3 PACK GOLDFISH KOI FOOD LARGE Size 17 OUNCE US $54.57
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 6 PACK GOLDFISH and KOI FOOD SMALL Size 7 OUNCE Catalog Category PondFISH F US $53.89
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 TETRA POND VIBRANCE KOI GOLDFISH FOOD 37 LB US $53.19
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 TETRA POND GROWTH KOI GOLDFISH FISH FOOD 172 LB US $50.09
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 TETRA POND SPRING FALL DIET KOI GOLDFISH FOOD 172 LB US $48.59
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Mallard ducks back to visit backyard goldfish koi pond in the spring
