Feeding Koi Fish in Winter

This article is posted with the permission of smb.

FEEDING KOI FISH IN WINTER

Are you a new koi fish owner? Are you considering the purchase of koi? If so, you may be wondering if your fish should be fed the same things and the same amount all year. With Winter fast approaching, it is important that you realize that feeding koi fish in Winter is different than feeding them during the warmer months. You should pay close attention to the temperatures outside so that you can provide your koi with the food that they require.

As it grows colder, the amount of feedings you will need to provide will be reduced. During the cooler weather, you may not need to feed your fish more than 2 or 3 times a day. If the weather gets below 55 degrees, you may not need to feed your koi fish at all. This is especially true in a pond with established plants. Plants can help to provide food as needed.

If you do not currently own a koi fish, you may be thinking that 2 or 3 times a day is a lot of food. But this is not necessarily true. You would need to take into consideration that during the warm summer months a koi fish can be fed up to 8 times a day. The need for food is directly tied to the amount of energy the fish is using. During the summer, or just warmer weather in general, your fish will be much more active.

Koi fish do not have stomachs. A very basic description is that their food just passes through with the fish grabbing as many nutrients as they can along the way. This contributes to the reason they require so many feedings. They don't have a place to store a large amount of food. Thus, they need several small meals.

Keep an eye on the temperatures and you will have no problems feeding koi fish in Winter.

More basic feeding info at Koi Fish Food. For complete care info from a koi fish pro, visit Koi Complete Care Guide.

This post has been edited by frmgirl: 17 November 2009 - 10:50 PM

Very sound advice for beginners!

The only thing that I would add is that you need to be very careful about NOT overfeeding your koi in cold weather.

If the fish have not risen to the food and consumed it all within a couple of minutes, the water is too cold, the koi's metabolisms have slowed right down - AND THEY ARE NOT HUNGRY!! The food will go to waste, sink to the bottom of the pond and - (unless you have properly installed bottom drains and are flushing them regularly - even in the winter) - the uneaten fool will at the very least put an unnecessary extra load on your filter. If your pond filter is not up to the task - (which is usually the case, with beginners) - the uneaten food will eventually pollute the pond water, once temperatures begin to rise in the spring.

Not a very pleasant situation for your poor fish when they have already been weakened by a long cold winter...

By the way, the Koi Complete Care Guide looks like excellent value for money and a very good place for beginners to get started. Like most people, I learned a lot by trial, tribulations, heartaches and errors! It would be so much easier for you - and a whole lot kinder to your fish - if you could get it right from the beginning!

Good luck with the E-book, frmgirl!
And thanks for posting your valuable advice.