For many of us, the majority of our daylight hours are consumed by our work, travels, family time and other commitments that make our lives hectic. Often it is well after dinner time before we have the chance to relax. It is no secret that listening to the sound of cascading water or watching Koi playfully feed is a great way to relax. Unfortunately, nightfall often comes too soon! With the addition of underwater lighting you can add night time beauty to your water feature and extend the enjoyable time it provides.
Maintaining Your Pond
UV sterilizers will keep your water clear of planktonic algae. This means that a new pond does not have to go through the green water stage. If you already have an established pond an ultraviolet system will clear an algae bloom within one to two weeks.Maintaining Your Pond
Algae is one of the most talked about topics among new pond owners. Controlling algae is usually more of a problem for new ponds. A new pond does not have the proper balance of plants and animal life.Maintaining Your Pond
At The Koi Food Warehouse we feature the best in Koi Foods the industry has to offer.
The Koi Diet
Koi are omnivorous, which means they feed on both plant and animal material. Koi prefer aquatic insects and larvae. Man Made ponds provide precious little of these preferred food sources for koi. The absence of plant life coupled with the number of fish in your pond means you must supply a manufactured food for your koi to ensure they receive enough nutrients to thrive. What you feed your koi can have a huge effect on them. We don't pay enough attention to what we feed our koi. Good quality koi food comes at a premium price, however the koi's overall health is at stake. Think of it like this. When you eat Fast Food 7 days a week you may put on weight, but it's not healthy weight gain. You may begin to get ill easier since your immune system isn't getting what it needs, etc. I think you get my point. Koi require a balanced diet just like us. If you want to know what is "Good" koi food, look at the Breeders. What do they feed their koi. Do they go to the local hardware store that has a little pond section and grab the floating sticks? I don't think so. Pay attention to what you feed your koi and you will see results.
When deciding what to feed as your food of choice consider the following.
The main component of any quality manufactured food is protein. This being said the percentage of protein plays a factor in how your fish will grow or bulk up. Protein content is important in tissue maintenance, repair, and growth. Koi can not store protein.
Fats or fatty acids are the second most important ingredient in koi foods. This gives koi energy as well as help them absorb fat-soluble vitamins. If fats were omitted from koi food they would suffer stunted growth, fin erosion, and liver and heart problems.
Vitamins are essential for life. They need to be incorporated into the diet. Manufactured food has vitamins and minerals added to it. Some vitamins are baked on the pellets, some are incorporated into the food.
Koi are natural bottom feeders, but using a floating food allows us as the koi keeper to view our fish easily. One of the early warning signs that a koi may be getting sick is poor appetite. When all the others in the pond come up for food and one does not it is worth evaluating that particular koi for disease.
Ensure the pellet is small enough so that the smallest koi in your pond can easily swallow it.
The rate at which your koi grow and develop color is dependent on the quality of the food you feed. In the summer mixing a color enhancing food with a growth formula will assist in developing those colors that koi are prized for.
You should never feed your koi more food than they can easily consume within 2-3 minutes at the most. Excess food won't necessarily harm koi, it mostly places undue stress on the filtration system.