Fish Food for Koi

Koi fish are beautiful vibrantly colored fish. They are related to goldfish and can become quite large, reaching up to 3 feet. They can be fed a variety of foods, including commercial flake fish food. Koi fish, however, may also eat live foods and other delicacies occasionally.

  1. Koi Diet

    • Koi eat a variety of foods to satisfy their dietary needs. They are omnivorous and nibble on vegetation as well as some meaty foods. Koi do have teeth that are not easy to see but that help chew through various textures of food. They do not generally eat other fish but do eat small critters such as small water insects, worms and shrimp. They also will snack on a variety of aquatic plants. Koi have a hearty appetite for their size when compared with similar species. They are naturally bottom feeders but learn to surface-feed quickly.

    Koi Flake Food

    • Flake foods usually contain earthworm or a variety of meals such as fish and shrimp and vitamins. Feeding goldfish food and foods made for other fish is not recommended and should be used as a last resort only. Flake food is the cheapest method of feeding and is often sold in bulk for commercial pond use.

    Fruit

    • Koi eat fresh fruit they wouldn't commonly find in the wild in their natural habitat. Fruits such as oranges, grapefruits and watermelon are suitable for koi and can be fed as a treat once a week. Cut the fruit into bite-size pieces, toss into your pond and watch the koi nibble away. After feeding fruit, remove any excess skin to prevent clogging of any filters. Feeding fruit too often can cause the fish's mouth area to become inflamed similar to the way human lips experience when eating highly acidic fruit. The solution to that is to stop feeding the acidic fruit temporarily.

    Vegetables and Plants

    • Koi feed on vegetative matter such as algae and the leaves of aquatic plants. They also eat vegetables such as zucchini, but these hard veggies should be boiled until soft in texture. Soft vegetables such as lettuce can be served raw. If you don't have any aquatic plants in your pond, supplement with vegetables occasionally as an all meat or flake diet is not healthy in the long term for koi.

    Pellets

    • Koi fish may also eat pellet food. This food sinks down and softens. It is made primarily of spirulina and wheat germ, or shrimp and krill. It is good to alternate between the two as koi need both protein and vegetation in their diet. Pellets may cut down on pond waste in comparison with flake food.