Koi will relish a variety of livefoods, including cockles, worms and prawns. Earthworms can be fed to the fish all year round and, like prawns and cockles, are high in protein and soon become a favourite treat - a sure way to gain the affection of your koi.
Tadpoles from frogs are another great treat in spring and, in summer, silkworm pupae, imported from Japan, are an excellent source of protein. Feed these pupae only as an occasional treat, however, as they have be shown to cause a diabetes-like disease in koi. Chironomid larva and mosquito larva are a popular diet for small fish, though not easily available. Daphnia ('water fleas'), plentiful in earth ponds, are one of the first foods for koi fry but tend to be too small for adult koi. Maggots are not recommended as they can carry harmful bacteria from the decaying flesh.
Do not rely on livefoods to form the staple diet for koi, however, but offer them as a supplement to the regular diet. If koi are fed on these titbits alone, there is a risk that nutritional diseases will set in as the result of a lack of vitamins or amino acids. |
