How to feed your koi

Here are some factors to consider when deciding how much and how often to feed your Koi. Based on the temperature, the size of your koi, and the water quality, you will soon come to an understanding of what feeding needs there are for your specific pond.

• Koi Fish Size – When your Koi are smaller, feed smaller portions of food. Our Manda Fu Koi Food can be broken down into smaller bits for hand feeding. A larger Koi will need more sustenance than a smaller or younger Koi fish.
• Season – Some locations undergo drastic seasonal/feeding changes, such as high heat in the summer and extreme low temperatures in the winter months. Other climates are much more temperate and may have more regulated feedings all year round.
  • For example, our Florida Koi Store location will have a different feeding schedule than our New Jersey Koi Storelocation. For more details on how to deal with these different climates, please feel free to contact our stores that are closest to your climate.
  • No matter what your climate, preparing your Koi pond for the spring still requires annual maintenance.
  • Please remember Koi go into hibernation once winter comes. They spend the whole winter with no food. So they must eat and store nutrition as much as possible during the summer time. If they do not eat enough, at many times, they go into winter in poor health and that may result in sickness in spring.
• Temperature – Why is water temperature important to feeding Koi? This is because the water temperature determines what and how often Koi can eat.
  • Please see the Feeding Chart for more instruction about feeding during different temperatures.
  • Remember your Koi do not have stomachs and are cold blooded animals, so the ability to produce digestive enzymes in their intestines is dependent on temperature. Don’t risk your Koi’s life!
• Weather influencing Oxygen Content – Koi need oxygen for digestion. The less oxygen in your pond, the less that your Koi can digest food. Some recommend that you do not feed Koi during or right after a storm, as the oxygen in the water is very low at this time. Whenever your Oxygen is low, you should feed your Koi less.
• Water Quality and Pumps affecting Oxygen Content – Please do not forget that when Koi fish eat more, they poop more.  During feeding season, please monitor not only water temperature, but also water quality. Always keep your water parameters within the healthy range.
  • Again, if the oxygen content drops in your water, your Koi will not be able to digest to the best of your ability. If your pump also fails to work, then you will encounter the same problem. You must make sure the water quality is correct or else your Koi may become sick or unable to digest food properly. We will discuss water quality in more detail in another blog.

source: https://www.kodamakoigarden.com/feed-koi-fish-like-japanese/