Quote:
> I've found a much more inexpensive source my catfish, comets, Koi, and apple
> snails all love. It's called "Koi's Choice", and it sells at a local <don't
> laugh> "feed store" <horse, chicken, dog, etc. type farming feed store> for
> roughly $2 per 24 ounces(!).
> I mentioned the pellets to my local Koi dealer, and he said it was trout feed,
> and the Koi couldn't handle all the extra protein. It would also "burn" out
> the fish and possibly cause them to die. Sure enough, the label on the package
> said "goldfish, koi, and trout feed". I've been feeding my fish this stuff for
> months with no ill effects. All my water critters love the stuff (as well as
> my wallet).
> I trust this dealer very much, I do a lot of business with them and I don't
> believe for a second that they would tell me something just to pay higher
> prices for their supplies. But at the same time, I am rather worried. Does
> anyone have any information they could pass on?
> Please respond in email, I may not be back to the group for a few days.
> Thanks in advance!!
> Chris
> http://rohan.sdsu.edu/home/hitt/html/pond
05/12/96
Chris,
I attended a seminar yesterday at Water Garden Gems' Grand Reopening and Megumi
Yoshida koi sale. Andy Moo, of Andrew's Koi Intenational, lectured on koi feeding
and foods. Andy was published in Koi USA last year for his research on koi growth
and how it is affected by the amount of food that is fed. His latest study dealt
with several different brands of koi food and which was best for the koi (in terms of
growth and overall koi appearance). One of the foods tested was Hai Feng. Hai Feng
food was found to be one of the best foods in the test. It is solely for koi and
costs about $30.00 for an 11 pound bag (growth food, not color food). That's under
$3.00 per pound and you don't have to wonder if it's good or not.
Andy feeds his koi a small amount of food each feeding, but feeds many times each
day. The objective is to feed your koi about 3% of their body weight each day during
the summer months. A 12"-14" koi weighs about 1 pound so if you have 10 koi in this
size range, you should be feeding about a third of a pound per day. Andy tested this
type of feeding for 6 months using 45 koi that all measured under 4" to begin with.
After 6 months of feeding the 45 koi in a 650 gallon pond, the average length was 14
inches. The largest koi was around 19 inches.
By the way, if anyone in Texas is looking for something to do today (Sunday-May 12),
drive to Water Garden Gems and check out the koi still remaining. Megumi Yoshida
brought about 1,500 koi from Japan and I'm willing to bet there are still over 1000
that have not been purchased yet. Prices for koi start at just $20.00 and go up to
over $500.00. Water Garden Gems is on I10 between exits 593 and 595, about 30 miles
East of San Antonio. Seminars go all day and cover topics from water clarity to pond
construction to choosing good koi.
Hai Feng has a home page at http://www.haifeng.com
--
Regards,
Steve & Shawn Gray
Austin Pond Society
Texas Koi and Fancy Goldfish Society
Lone Star Koi Club
Mid-Atlantic Koi Club
http://www.ccsi.com/~sgray/austin.pond.society/apshome.html
by