Cat fish food is for "food" fish, it is for quick growth so they get to market in
under 2 years. Food fish farmers dont care about the long term consequences of
feeding cheap foods. But my fish are pets, and I follow the recommendations of the
people who breed and raise koi for pets. They are every bit as eager to cut their
costs as the food fish producers, but obviously they are not finding it cost
effective to feed the cheap food to their koi. I prefer to follow the
recommendations of the experts when it comes to feeding my fish.
below is a reprint. Most people are overfeeding their fish which is both costly and
unhealthy for the fish. It isnt necessarily the total amount fed, but too much fed
at one time. Koi have very short intestines and the food is in and out quickly
(depending on water temp of course). Their normal feeding pattern is a little bit
all day long.
"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 still 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 bit 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. Anybody wanna feed catfish food to save a few bucks no skin off my nose.
I will feed my fish what experts like Brett feeds his." Ingrid
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List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
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Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.