The Best Koi Food for Growth and Color (9 Brands Compared for 2020)

Being a Koi owner is amazing. The fish are beautiful and full of life. To maintain the health of your Koi, feeding your Koi the right food is essential. It is critical that your fish is receiving the best Koi food for growth and color. What you feed your Koi can directly impact their health and appearance. 

With so many food options on the market, which one is the best for your Koi? The food should have an adequate balance of vitamins, protein, minerals, and fiber. The combination of these ingredients can help the overall health, growth, and color of your Koi.

What factors contribute to koi growth?

The biggest factor that contributes to koi growth are proteins and, by extension, amino acids. Amino acids support the building of healthy tissues, reproduction and of course growth.  Some of the other factors to consider are lipids (and carbohydrates) which act as an excellent energy source for koi. Vitamins and minerals are critical for virtually all metabolic reactions. 

What factors contribute to koi color?

Spirulina, which you will notice as the ingredient in some of the formulas below, contribute to enhancement of reds and oranges due to the beta-Carotene.  You may see some formulas include marigold extract which lends itself to enhanced yellow colors in koi. Lastly, Canthaxanthin are carotenoids that act to enhance reds and oranges.

A few things to consider when buying food is that it should be able to be easily digested by your Koi. Not only is this beneficial to your Koi, but it also helps the pond water from becoming cloudy.

In this article, I will review the best koi food. I will cover the features and benefits of each product. The purpose of this review is to help you find the best food options for your Koi so let’s dive in!

Need to Just Skip to the Goods? Here’s the Top Picks… 

Best Koi Food for Growth and Color

1. Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance

At the top of the list is the Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance. This food provides an ideal maintenance diet for your Koi. Your Koi will receive nutrition for energy, health, and longevity with this food. The food comes in the form of soft sticks. This is great because the sticks are easy for fish to digest.

Have you been experiencing cloudy water? This could in part be due to the fish food you are using. The Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance provides high-quality food that can help to create less waste, which is beneficial to the clarity of your pond. This food is excellent for all life stages of your Koi.

This food formula helps to bring out the vibrant colors in your koi. Essential vitamins are included in the mix for growth and metabolism. There are proteins for growth, fats for a great energy source, and fiber for efficient digestion.

What makes this food a top pick is its highly nutritious value, price, and quality.

2. Shinju White Pearl Enhancer Wheat Germ Premium Koi Fish Food
If you are looking for a food that enhances the color of your Koi, this is a great option. This fish food adds a color enhancer to its food formula. The Spirulina in the mixture greatly enhances the color vibrancy of your Koi. A benefit of this food is that you will start to see darker reds in your fish.

With premium benefits, sometimes comes a higher price. You can expect to spend a little more on this food, due to the addition of the high-quality Spirulina. What sets this food apart from others is that it doesn’t dilute the Spirulina, but rather it uses concentrated (4,000 PPM) amounts.

You may pay more for this food, but the results are worth it. This food focuses specifically on the nutrition and color enhancement of your Koi.

3. Kaytee Koi’s Choice Premium Pond Fish Food

The Kaytee Koi’s Choice Premium food provides the necessary animal and vegetable protein for your fish. Fish meal is the first and main ingredient in this food mixture. Why is this important?

Fish meal supports tissues and muscle development, it is excellent for Koi growth. The fish meal also contains 35% protein, which also aids in maintaining health and growth.

Other benefits include the suitability of this food for all seasons. You will not have to switch foods throughout the year, which is an awesome bonus. The fish oil and wheat germ meal are ingredients in this food mixture that help with heart health, cognitive and eye function in Koi.

Your Koi can easily digest this food. In addition to the many health benefits, this food is also affordable, making it an ideal option on this list.

4. Hikari Saki Growth Food

The Hikari Saki Growth Food is another option if you want to enhance the growth of your Koi. The main feature of this food is that it heightens growth rates by providing your Koi with nutritional balance. With a faster growth rate, there are no fat-deposit buildups with long-term use. This protects the health of your Koi.

What is growth without nutrition? Your Koi can experience a protein-packed and carbohydrate complete food option with Hakari Saki food. The benefits do not end there, the food contains a source of live microorganisms that function as a probiotic to help with digestion.

This brand is a top option on this list because of its benefits. It is highly preferred by many Koi breeders. The food was specifically designed for raising jumbo Koi.

5. Blue Ridge Fish Food Pellets for Koi

Blue Ridge is America’s largest and one of the most experienced Koi Farms. It is no surprise they made it on the list. This food is a premium floating food pellet.

You can use this food for your Koi in all seasons. Once the pellets go into the water, they are quickly softened which makes them easily digested by Koi.

The food pellets encourage healthy growth and they are friendly to the water causing minimum pollution. In addition to having a phenomenal growth formula, this food also contains three proven color enhancers.

Marigold extract, Spirulina, and Canthaxanthin are ingredients that support color vibrance. It is suggested that the results will become noticeable in 30 days. Your Koi will begin to grow and look their best.

6. Wardley Pond Fish Food Pellets

The Wardley Pond Fish Food is specifically designed for the energy needs of your Koi. The food comes in pellet form that is highly digestible by your Koi.

What makes this food stand out from others is the balanced protein-to-fat ratio. This scientifically proven balance aids in healthy growth and also assists with the upkeep of your pond water.

I like this food because it is fortified with a form of Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps to promote a healthy immune system for your Koi. Although this food is light in weight, it is powered with many nutrients.

7. Laguna Color Enhancing Koi Floating Food

Next on the list is the Laguna Color Enhancing Food. This is a wonderful option because of its premium formula and nutrition. It provides your Koi with a well-balanced diet to promote color growth. The formula has 38% protein to support skeletal and muscle health.

This food will not cloud your pond water, and it is easy for Koi to consume. Overall, the food contains a blend of vitamins, minerals, and high-quality proteins for growth. The ingredients that focus on the colors of your Koi are stabilized Vitamin C and Spirulina. This food provides premium nutrition for an all-seasons diet.

8. Dainichi All Seasons Food For Koi

Dainichi All Seasons Food offers excellent nutrition for your Koi no matter the time of year. It supports the growth and development of your fish. The pellets have a special coating and they contain essential minerals and vitamins.

Both proteins and vegetables are included in the food. Digestion is supported by the vegetable matter. It also helps to speed up the nutrition benefits throughout the fish body.

The growth of your Koi is supported by the protein in the food. Even during the cold months, this food helps your Koi to stay nourished. To get a better understanding of feeding your koi through the seasons/temperature changes, feel free to explore my infographic here.

9. API Pond Fish Food

Closing out the list is the API Pond Fish Food. This food provides a superior pellet diet for your Koi. If you are looking for high protein utilization for your fish, this food is a great choice. The high protein percentage results in your Koi to producing less ammonia/waste.

The food places a focus on the immune health of your Koi. It also works to enhance color and growth. It is the perfect food choice that is both affordable but delivers premium benefits.

Conclusion

To be sure, you want your koi to be in top health and of course you want your “living jewels” to look as vibrant as possible with the right diet.  Hopefully, after going through this article you are more informed about which brand of koi food is right for  your koi.  When you finally decide to try one out, let me know later how it went in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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