Koi and Winter Feeding
One of the ways that Koi keepers can assist their fish in winter is by understanding how the cycle of the seasons affects them. Fish are cold-blooded animals; therefore, they are directly affected by even the slightest temperature changes. To start with, many hobbyists do no tknow that there is a right way and a wrong way to feed their fish.
Awareness of your Kois eating habits is crucial in analyzing how climactic changes contribute to their well being. All four seasons can be useful to Koi if we understand what is happening to know how we deal with their perennial conditions.
The first rule about feeding Koi is knowing when not to feed. Do no feed your fish if they are not hungry or not interested. Uneaten food floating on the water loses nutrition in a few minutes. On many occasions, i have seen people throwing in much more food than their fish can consume in a five minute span. The rest of the food remains dissipated and absorbs water. If the food does not start to break down in the winter, then the ingredients of the food come into question. If the food does not break down in the water, what happens to it when it gets to the fishes digestive system? One must ask itself, "Will our fish be able to digest these ingredients? Fish have no teeth or stomachs. So with no stomach and digestive enzymes to help break down the food, the food ends up as pond excrement and pond waste, instead of stored energy and muscle.
Koi food is extruded through a machine at very high temperatures, leaving it with far less nutritional value than fresh foods. However, this is necessary process to pelletize the food into morsels the fish can more easily ingest. More food is prepared this way. Ask your local dealer whether there are variations in this process that distinguish one food from another, from its pre-cooking preparation and cooking process to its ingredients. Like human food, all foods are not the same and since your fish can not speak, it is upto you to make sure you maximize the nutrition your fish are getting. When we say feed as much food as your fish can eat in five minutes, this is exactly what we mean. Why add more waste to your pond precisely at a time when the biological filter is slowing down or is in a dominant stage. If your fish don't eat what you feed them in a few minutes, you are pollution your water.
During the period when Koi are not eating, it is necessary to understand the meta-physical process taking place. Koi do not produce white blood corpuscles when the temperatures dips below 57F, so their immune system no longer functions ate significant level. Naturally, this makes them more vulnerable to stress and disease. To compound matters, while your fishes immune system shutting down, your pond becomes an ideal environment for bacteria and other diseases to thrive. Understanding the relationship between these two phenomena is critical to your Koi's health. Good nutrition food is essential but not when your fish are unable to assimilate it or make use of its benefits. In other words, if you are attempting to reinforce or fortify your Koi's immune system at this time, you are already too late. You have missed the boat.
When we humans are sick or deficient, we can rejuvenate ourselves with proper nutrition at any time - summer or winter. We have been taught and socially conditioned that a hardy appetite is a sign of good health. We extend this logic to our fish and expect them to eat at a time when nutrition has little or no benefit.
Unlike us, Koi are cold-blooded animals. This is why it is so important to feed your Koi the highest quality of digestive proteins and vitamins and minerals when they are able to benefit from them most.
I know many people feed their fish any food they can get their hands on, thinking that this is good enough. Not so. Koi do not have human appetites; therefore, their bodies do not have a long-term recovery metabolism. When you give your fish in the Spring, Summer, and Fall is essential for their survival and health in the Winter. During the Winter months, Koi burn off the nutrition they have stored earlier in the year. Feeding fish carbohydrates instead of protein puts fat and not muscle on your fish. In one incident, a Koi keeper had his fish autopsied after it died of unknown causes. The autopsy revealed a thick layer of fat on a fish that they determined died of malnutrition! To the surprise of a hobbyist, the veterinarian told him to cease using the popular brand of food he was using immediately and start using a feed with higher protein and nutrition. Even this, however, is no guarantee that your fish are getting what they need. Some manufactures opt for cheaper more fatty animal products and by products to raise the protein content, rather than using natural proteins that are better for your fish. So consider too, the quality of the protein you are feeding your fish and not just the percentage of protein in the food.
What about when germ flour and other grains? I have heard many Koi keepers advocate when germ as a good year round diet for Koi, especially in the Spring and Fall when their fishes metabolism slows down. Not so. No more than if you are or I ate wheat germ bread as a steady diet. Fish need and can digest high amounts of protein if they are processed correctly. True, when germ can be nutritious, but not without the other components of a well balanced Koi diet, and certainly not in the proportions people are feeding it to their fish. I have not met one important Japanese breeder that feeds his fish wheat germ food. In fact, they have told me that a consistent wheat germ diet causes Koi to become pot bellied and pigeon breasted. Because wheat germ food is cheap, some people want to believe it is as good as other foods and that their fish needs it. But consider this: i know breeders in Japan that spend proportionately far more in food for their fish than they spend on food for themselves, pound for pound. Why? Are they just being extravagant? Are they misguided? Do they not want a more economical and efficient way to feed their fish? The answer is yes, but the right diet is necessary. They cannot sell good Koi that are not healthy, colorful, and with good conformation. Yet, many assure these carefully bred and fed Koi with flourish on whatever food we feed them and in any conditions we subject them to. In many cases, this can be penny wise and dollar foolish with Koi food and Koi care. So simple and true are the old adages, garbage in, garbage out or we are what we eat.
To nutritionally prepare your koi for winter, one needs to start in the Spring. As the fish are coming out of winter hibernation and adjusting to the new season, I recommend several weeks of a lighter diet. This does not mean just wheat germ, but preferably a food without color enhances. Then as the temperature increase to 60F, change to a higher protein diet with color enhances to stimulate increases to 65F, you can feed stronger color enhancing foods. By this time, the fishes metabolic rate has picked up and can now assimilate heavier food without taxing their system. At this point, you may start feeding your fish twice a day. Some collectors believe that color food should b fed to fish only prior to being exhibited at shows. Thi sis not so, Koi need color food to stimulate color, which is the primary reason for breeding them. However, note that color enhances can be harder on Koi's digestive system, kidneys, liver, and so forth when overused or fed at an inappropriate time.
This time to assist your fish in building their immune system is from around April to October, depending on the climate where you live. One should maintain a disciplined regimen containing natural animal protein (for example, fishmeal), while avoiding a diet that is primarily made up of grains. Mixing several types of food together is not suggested because the individual effects of each food cannot be monitored. Nor does constantly changing ingredients or food allow one to establish a control form which to draw positive or negative conclusions. Caution. Some collectors think silk worm larvae and other hard animals proteins (such as whole krill) are advantageous to fish but this is true only under the appropriate conditions. breeders use silk worm larvae, but only in their mud ponds. The high bacteria and oil levels of silk worm larvae and other hard proteins definitely present potential problems in normal ponds.
In the Fall, proteins should be curtailed somewhat as fish start to acclimatize themselves to winter, but do not eliminate protein. It is best to feed your fish less and keep the quality content of the food high to ensure proper nutrition. When your fish begin refusing food, stop feeding them. They can no longer digest it properly, and food that remains in their digestive system, with them unable to purge it properly, is more harmful than the benefit that they are receiving from the food. Remember, do not pollute your water. The aerobic bacteria so beneficial to your filter in the summer lies dormant come Winter, and it cannot dispose of the normal organic waste.
It is recommended that you do not feed your fish when temperatures go below 52F and very little (no more than once a day) when the temperature is 52F to 57F. Your fish will let you know. When feed our fish only citrus fruit, such as oranges and grapefruit during these colder months. If and/or when, the temperature stabilizes in the safe zone of 52F and above, for a least a few days before and will remain so, in few days after, we supplement this diet with small amounts of food.
In Closing
It is well to remember than many of us are guilty of being undisciplined about our own eating habits from time to time. Your Koi, however are much more vulnerable to their environmental changes and they are totally dependent on you, to feed them what they need when they need it. You are in control. Their health and well being are in your hands. Tend to them and they will reward your efforts. |
