Jan 2003
21 Years of Koi Keeping
Selected Articles
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Jan 2003 21 Years of Koi Keeping Selected Articles |
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I hope that Don Rohman has a speedy recovery from his accident and know that Shirley Rohman has all our prayer’s and well wishes for her family and Don.
I want to thank Dan & Barbara Wehby for hosting the Christmas party meeting, which turned out to be an emergency meeting place. What an effort on their part to get ready for the members to try to have a festive time. The house and yard looked great and the Christmas tree was beautiful. The dinner was wonderful and all the food was very tasty. Thank you Dan and Barbara for helping the club and for giving Shirley Rohman something less to worry about.
I want to thank Terry Carter for making Christmas tree ornaments for the members to have. That was very thoughtful of her. Thank you also goes out to Jan Brown and Anne Miller who picked up and cooked the meat for the party.
I have to tell you that this has been such a great bunch of people to work with this year. I am so glad that the members stood up for this board to stay and work harder in “2003” to keep this club progressing to the future. We are committed to doing the best for the club that we can. We are even trying to learn a rain dance or two to fend off the weather.
I want to thank one of our new “2002” members for hosting our January meeting. Lillian Allen offered to host the meeting at the Christmas party. Thank you Lillian!
Well it’s time to say good bye to “2002” and hello to “2003” and all the new adventures that await each of us. I hope everyone had a great holiday time and for some here’s to better times ahead.
Thank You North Florida Koi Club Members for all the help and support you gave me in “2002” and for the help that you will give me in “2003” to make this a great club for everyone to enjoy. Till we meet again, Tim Gasson President “2002-03”
Secretary's Report By Todo 38 members and guests
Tim opened the meeting and gave out accomplishment awards to the board members. Next was a report on Don Rohman’s condition. He had fallen from a tree the week before. After the tres. and sec. reports were approved Tim and Jim reviewed the Koi Show and we were told that in the end the show cost the club $128. Several items were listed as new for 2003; Send your dry pet pix to Todo for the web site, we need a volunteer to take over the chairs and drinks for the meetings. Finally we had our gift exchange and Jim Roberts was elected Koi Person Of The Year.
Koi Nutrition Features to Look for in Koi Food By Ben Helm B. Sc - Nishikoi Info. Center, UK. Mid-Columbia Koi and Pond Club
Koi and all other fish are just like us in that they have particular dietary requirements. Naturally, Koi will scavenge and root around a pond bottom as an aquatic pig eating worms, algae and debris, but where they are stocked in an artificial garden pond, their diet and overall health is reliant on what they are fed artificially.
As a close relative of the carp, (they even share the same Cyprinus carpio) the nutritional requirements are almost identical to that of carp and similar to ourselves in that they are omnivores, eating both plant and animal material.
In fact, there is very little difference between the dietary requirements of Koi and other pond fish such as goldfish, comets and Shubunkins. Manufactured Koi diets tend to be a little more refined than pond fish diets with a greater emphasis on protein content and color enhancement.
Manufactured Koi diets can contain a wide range of raw materials in their formulation as long as they provide an overall balanced diet. Just think of the vast range of foods we can eat and still remain healthy.
However, the blend of raw materials in a Koi diet must satisfy specific criteria to provide sufficient of the following:
Protein: Levels of approximately 30% are typical but will be higher if a growth food and lower than this if a low temperature food. Protein is present for growth and repair and is the diet’s most costly ingredient. Sources of protein include both animal and plant derivatives and meals such as fishmeal, soya, wheat & egg.
No mammalian meats are permitted in Koi diets in the EC through the BSE legislation!
Carbohydrate: These are the complex sugars such as starch and cellulose. They are all plant in origin and are included in high quantities in Koi diets as a cheap source of energy. The are also included as a source of fiber to aid digestion.
Oils: Oils are included as fish or vegetable oils. Usually less than 10% in the diet they are used by Koi in the production of new tissues etc. If too much oil is included, then pellets appear greasy and oily as in a trout pellet. These tend to be too rich for Koi and can cause water quality problems.
Vitamins and Minerals: Manufactured diets often rely on the natural vitamin and mineral content included in the raw ingredients. More recently better quality brands have been including stable supplements of the notoriously unstable Vitamin C.
All reputable Koi foods will satisfy the above, providing adequate, balanced nutrition for your Koi and pond fish, however there is no industry standard that Koi food must meet before it can be sold.
Carry out some detective work yourself before buying. Look at shop displays to see which are the popular foods and ask friends and aquatic retailers which food they use or recommend.
When choosing a food, it is also wise to keep an eye out for the following. These may often set brands apart and may be reflected in the price.
1. Value for money. Check and compare weights. This may sound obvious but rival brands may produce pellets that are more “blown” with air than others. This may give the impression of setting a larger pack for your money when in fact you may be paying for air!
2. Look on the ingredient list for a wide range of ingredients and for beneficial additives such as:
Color Enhancers: Raw ingredients such as spirulina, krill, Chrysanthemum meal and other synthetic compounds such a astaxanthin and canthaxanthin are included to enhance the skin coloration in fish. A food containing these will improve your fish’s color but will also increase the price of the food.
Stabilized Vitamin C: Most of the natural Vitamin C is lost in the milling process, Stabilized Vitamin C is added to provide a boost of such an essential Vitamin ensuring your Koi are kept in tip-top condition.
3. Packaging: Is the packaging robust and re-sealable enabling you to keep the food fresh for a reasonable period? If food is left open to the air, then it’s quality will rapidly deteriorate.
4. Best Before Date: Make sure that you are buying this year’s stock and that the “Best Before” date will last until the end of the season. Vitamin content should be present up to 12 months after manufacture. The less time there is on the best before date, the less fresh food there is.
You may find it useful to ask your Koi dealer what they feed their fish. They will be very well informed as to what they want from food and will only offer their own Koi what they consider to be the best for them. Be careful not to be too influenced by price as there are unbalanced “gadget” diets on the market. In the same way there are over-priced “belt & braces” diets which are not significantly better than mid-priced well balanced diets. Now that you know what to look for when choosing a suitable Koi diet, Best of luck
About the Author:
Bob Helm is a qualified marine biologist, having bred Koi for a living in the UK. He was the head of the Koi Farming and Aquatics Dept of Brooksby College, Leics, UK for 5 years and has been a consultant to a number of fish food companies. He is currently head of the Nishikoi Information Center, writing regularly for the top specialist Koi and aquatic titles in the UK and has recently written 2 chapters for the Koi book.
I just wanted to thank you and your club once again for a great
show. Even with the bad weather, I still enjoyed myself immensely. I sincerely hope you
stick with the 2 day format for next year. If you do, I can guarantee I'll be back again.
If I get the SUV I'm planning on, I'll bring more Koi
next year (I could only safely fit 4 large Koi boxes in my car this year).
For your club members that were hesitant to bring their Koi to the 2 day show, you can let
them know that my Koi being boxed for 4 hours prior to arriving, then in your tanks for 2
days, then being boxed for another 4 hours showed no signs of stress. Now nine days after
the show, scraping
and microscopic examination shows they picked up no parasites while at the show, so your
disinfecting protocol worked.
I spoke with one of your club members that did not bring Koi due to the 2 day format (I don't remember her name). We talked for a while and I let her know that the 2 day format was the only reason I did attend. I think it helped because on Sunday she asked for my help picking out some Koi that she could grow out over the next year so she can compete in next year's show.
Although the 2 day format was much more work, I hope your club members will
realize that if the show is to grow, it has to be a 2 day show.
Again, you can count on me to be there next year along with a Friendship Award from
Central FL Koi Club. If you find that you need extra show tanks, don't hesitate to ask for
some of ours. Henry Culpepper, President, Central FL Koi Club