Feedin cichlids koi food?

[Southjerseycichlidz]

recently really got into the large fish keeping. Buddy of mine swares by feeing koi food. Did some research and some of the local koi food I can pick up is actually pretty good quality for a fraction of the price 41% protien a 5 pound bag for just under 10.00 vs the hikari red bag which is 8oz and 40% protien. What's your guys thoughts

 

[ehh]

You need to look at the ingredients too. Any koi food I've seen is loaded with grain.

 

[duanes]

I alternate NLS with a Koi vitamin enriched pellet for color, but because many of my cichlis are omnivores with a tendency toward vegetation, I add stuff like hair algae peas, and other leafy foods such as dandelions.

 

[keystonewma]

As mentioned above, most koi food is high in plant material, so it would only be suited for omnivorous cichlids. There used to be a significant price difference on the hikari koi vs cichlid foods, with both having a very similar ingredient list. When there was this big price difference, and I had omnivores like pearsi and bocourti, I used to feed the hikari koi food to save some $. Now the price difference is minimal, guess the company "wised up".......

 

[ShadowP]

recently really got into the large fish keeping. Buddy of mine swares by feeing koi food. Did some research and some of the local koi food I can pick up is actually pretty good quality for a fraction of the price 41% protien a 5 pound bag for just under 10.00 vs the hikari red bag which is 8oz and 40% protien. What's your guys thoughts

Sounds good since most cichlid need some veggie too, but be sure some meat protein is in there too. And if that don't work, you can always feed the food to koi and feed the koi to your CA/SA Cichlids. Gotsta get their meaty protein somewheres.

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

But what cichlids do you house ,

 

[ahud]

Soups, jelly, juice and fish food, always read the ingredients because the title/product name is generally useless. I think its a never ending battle, but RD has gone at length to explain that the protein percentage without an ingredient list is useless.

 

[RD.]

Most koi food, particularly the bulk low cost koi food, is full of terrestrial based plant matter. Not aquatic plant matter, but terrestrial based plant matter - something that most fish can only assimilate & utilize so much of. Ingredients such as soybeans, corn, rice, middlings, etc. It's cheap for a reason.

 

[Southjerseycichlidz]

Most koi food, particularly the bulk low cost koi food, is full of terrestrial based plant matter. Not aquatic plant matter, but terrestrial based plant matter - something that most fish can only assimilate & utilize so much of. Ingredients such as soybeans, corn, rice, middlings, etc. It's cheap for a reason.

That's why I asked for people's opinions

 

[ehh]

Most koi food, particularly the bulk low cost koi food, is full of terrestrial based plant matter. Not aquatic plant matter, but terrestrial based plant matter - something that most fish can only assimilate & utilize so much of. Ingredients such as soybeans, corn, rice, middlings, etc. It's cheap for a reason.

this is what i was talking about.