Healthy food is an important aspect of the koi hobby. In addition to water quality, nutrition is of utmost importance to ensure that koi remain healthy and also remain in a healthy status. Fortunately, in addition to grain food, there are plenty of alternatives that you can use, such as natural food products. Shrimp are a great product to use for this, a treat for koi and also very healthy.
Is it healthy to feed shrimp?
Koi love crustaceans and other underwater creatures. It is not without reason that a koi is constantly looking for food along the edges and walls in the pond. In nature this is no different, carp-like animals are busy gathering food almost at any time of the day. Among other things, snails, beetles and other small aquatic creatures are collected. To mimic this idea in the pond, you can feed shrimp.
Not only are koi fond of shrimp, they are also very healthy and an excellent addition to the daily menu that often only consists of standard grain food. Shrimp consist to a large extent of proteins. Proteins are required for growth and animal proteins are best for this. You can also notice when you feed shrimp daily that there will be a development in the body volume of your koi. In a good sense, it is not that a koi will get fat, see it as good nutrition for the muscles, resulting in an improvement of the body.
What kind of shrimp can I feed?
There are many types of shrimp that can be used to feed koi or even other pond inhabitants. The most common types that are used for this are freshwater shrimps or Dutch shrimps.
For a koi it does not matter whether you choose peeled or unpeeled variants. They love both and it will not be a problem to process them. In fact, the unpeeled shrimps are completely pulverized by the throat teeth and a large part of the shell will be brought out again through the gills. If you can choose between hulled or unpeeled, it is best to go for the unpeeled variety. These promote the intestinal tract. In addition, it does not harm the other intestines to feed them.
Dried or frozen shrimp
Shrimps are actually available everywhere, just think of the supermarket. There you will find in the freezer compartments in small bags of 100 to 500 grams, or even fresh. However, the fresh shrimps are often quite expensive here. It is better for your wallet to go to a special pond shop or koi dealer that keeps the shrimps frozen in unpeeled form. Not only does this cost less, but it is also many times better and healthier for the koi itself.
In addition, you can use dried, which contain less nutrients. You can find these in bags or plastic packaging at every pond shop, ko dealer or even at garden centers with their own pond department.
When can I feed shrimp?
The easy thing is that shrimp can be fed all year round, from summer to deep winter. Because shrimps consist of a large part of animal proteins, it makes them an ideal winter food. This means you don’t have to worry about buying shrimp that you don’t even use half the package. Make sure that feeding is definitely stopped when the water temperature drops below 4 degrees Celsius.