Looking to make my own koi food. Or at least see if it's viable.
Have been rolling my own baits using Smurf's BM1 recipe with a few tweaks so my knowledge is still rather limited.
I've got a heated 25000L pond with around 30 koi in and some are quite decently sized so they can go through a lot of food which costs a fortune each year.
So first off I'm thinking of just rolling 10 millers that I can feed them.
Any advice in what to put into them would be great. Obviously I don't need any attraction and they can break down quick as theu are eat within minutes. I was thinking dropping all flavours obviously and want to get rid of anything that's not beneficial or needed.
Semo/soya can go?
Eggs can go?
Favours can go.
Liquids/oil can go?
My current mix
- [ ] 100 grams Semolina
- [ ] 100 grams Soya flour (heat treated)
- [ ] 150 grams Maize Protein Meal 60% (supergold 60)
- [ ] 300 grams LT94 fishmeal
- [ ] 35 gramsCalf or lambs milk powder
- [ ] 85 gramspre-digested fishmeal
- [ ] 130 grams cede Egg based bird food
- [ ] 10 grams Selenavite
- [ ] 20 grams Spice blend
- [ ] 50 grams hydrolysed liver powder
- [ ] 30 grams brocacel
-
So I'm thinking some spirulina and wheat germ in there could be beneficial? Anything else?
Help me tweak this
or change completely
Have been rolling my own baits using Smurf's BM1 recipe with a few tweaks so my knowledge is still rather limited.
I've got a heated 25000L pond with around 30 koi in and some are quite decently sized so they can go through a lot of food which costs a fortune each year.
So first off I'm thinking of just rolling 10 millers that I can feed them.
Any advice in what to put into them would be great. Obviously I don't need any attraction and they can break down quick as theu are eat within minutes. I was thinking dropping all flavours obviously and want to get rid of anything that's not beneficial or needed.
Semo/soya can go?
Eggs can go?
Favours can go.
Liquids/oil can go?
My current mix
- [ ] 100 grams Semolina
- [ ] 100 grams Soya flour (heat treated)
- [ ] 150 grams Maize Protein Meal 60% (supergold 60)
- [ ] 300 grams LT94 fishmeal
- [ ] 35 gramsCalf or lambs milk powder
- [ ] 85 gramspre-digested fishmeal
- [ ] 130 grams cede Egg based bird food
- [ ] 10 grams Selenavite
- [ ] 20 grams Spice blend
- [ ] 50 grams hydrolysed liver powder
- [ ] 30 grams brocacel
-
So I'm thinking some spirulina and wheat germ in there could be beneficial? Anything else?
Help me tweak this
or change completely
In reply to Post #1
What is wrong with normal koi food?
What is wrong with normal koi food?
In reply to Post #2
It's as expensive as ****!!!
It's as expensive as ****!!!
In reply to Post #1
Could be quite an expensive time consuming waste of time mate. I've fed baits to koi and they simply won't touch them , good baits too. No idea why though
Could be quite an expensive time consuming waste of time mate. I've fed baits to koi and they simply won't touch them , good baits too. No idea why though
In reply to Post #3
If it is to expensive mix it with some other pellets there are plenty out there, that way you can see it on label what they contain.
If it is to expensive mix it with some other pellets there are plenty out there, that way you can see it on label what they contain.
In reply to Post #4
My koi have never not eaten anything I've given them and they love the boilies and scraps I'm always throwing in.
Regarding a waste of time with a auto boilie roller it's no work at all hardly and I don't intend on boiling.
And it's definitely cheaper than the over £100 for 15kg of koi food I feed them with. I Probably spend 1500 a year. On food. And I could feed them more if I could justify the cost.
My koi have never not eaten anything I've given them and they love the boilies and scraps I'm always throwing in.
Regarding a waste of time with a auto boilie roller it's no work at all hardly and I don't intend on boiling.
And it's definitely cheaper than the over £100 for 15kg of koi food I feed them with. I Probably spend 1500 a year. On food. And I could feed them more if I could justify the cost.
In reply to Post #5
Yeah I don't wanna do that either. Defeats the purpose. I'd then be feeding lower quality food. I don't want to downgrade as I'd just buy a cheaper food in the first place. I want to produce equal quality (or better if possible) to what they currently get for a lot less money.
Yeah I don't wanna do that either. Defeats the purpose. I'd then be feeding lower quality food. I don't want to downgrade as I'd just buy a cheaper food in the first place. I want to produce equal quality (or better if possible) to what they currently get for a lot less money.
In reply to Post #6
Fair enough mate, the one I fed wouldn't eat boilie at all, even crumbed up for some reason. They didn't really like to eat anything that wasn't floating Tbh which was odd. I see what you mean about the money thing, didn't realise you were spending that kind of money on koi food lol
Fair enough mate, the one I fed wouldn't eat boilie at all, even crumbed up for some reason. They didn't really like to eat anything that wasn't floating Tbh which was odd. I see what you mean about the money thing, didn't realise you were spending that kind of money on koi food lol
In reply to Post #7
You will need someone with a really good knowledge and ability to do comprehensive analysis to answer that. No really sure mixture of pellets for carp, trout etc would be that inferior in quality but I guess you looked into it more than I can. Good luck to you and your fish!
You will need someone with a really good knowledge and ability to do comprehensive analysis to answer that. No really sure mixture of pellets for carp, trout etc would be that inferior in quality but I guess you looked into it more than I can. Good luck to you and your fish!
If you haven't already I'd be looking at the back of a packet of decent Koi pellets, looking at the ingredients and analysis and going from there. Its been a long time since I kept Koi but I know there's a lot of crossover with fishing bait, Spirulina Wheat etc.
In reply to Post #8
Mad, hope you stopped using those boilies in your regular fishing 😂
Mad, hope you stopped using those boilies in your regular fishing 😂
In reply to Post #12
Was any boilies mate, ones I'd made and also a few shop bought. B5, trigga and some others I can't remember. Just didn't want to know . They weren't even keen on a worm
Was any boilies mate, ones I'd made and also a few shop bought. B5, trigga and some others I can't remember. Just didn't want to know . They weren't even keen on a worm
In reply to Post #13
Fish in captivity can get selective.
Some koi I had took days to recognize live midge larva as food.
And escaped salmon from farms eat stones that resemble pellets.
Fish in captivity can get selective.
Some koi I had took days to recognize live midge larva as food.
And escaped salmon from farms eat stones that resemble pellets.
In reply to Post #12
An egg , vecon/belechan free PeteB mix extruded and chopped into pellet sizes and air dried would be absolutely perfect for your needs. You could lesson the binder ie semo if you felt they were not required and would not hinder the binding qualities and up the wheatgerm a tad, but all in all with a small vit/ mineral supplement you have everything they need to remain healthy. My large Koi thrive on the stuff.
An egg , vecon/belechan free PeteB mix extruded and chopped into pellet sizes and air dried would be absolutely perfect for your needs. You could lesson the binder ie semo if you felt they were not required and would not hinder the binding qualities and up the wheatgerm a tad, but all in all with a small vit/ mineral supplement you have everything they need to remain healthy. My large Koi thrive on the stuff.
why not ask bait companys for roll offs.. some can be cheap as chips for the quantity
In reply to Post #16
Why not try some of the better pellets available to us carp anglers. My mate feeds his koi on our green Betaine and krill pellets. They look amazing and eat loads! I have never seen koi turn their nose up at them but I am no koi expert
Why not try some of the better pellets available to us carp anglers. My mate feeds his koi on our green Betaine and krill pellets. They look amazing and eat loads! I have never seen koi turn their nose up at them but I am no koi expert
What about someone like BP Milling cereal based pellets, their standard pellet you can get 40 25kg sacks for £590 plus £50 per pallet delivery, or lesser quantities at a slight bit more cost.
In reply to Post #18
This is the route I would be looking at rather than carp fishing bait.
This is the route I would be looking at rather than carp fishing bait.
In reply to Post #3
any thing re koi is expensive as im just finding out
Ive got a tad carried away with the build
any thing re koi is expensive as im just finding out
Ive got a tad carried away with the build
In reply to Post #20
just put in a few 20lb normal carp and sell them as 50lb 3 years later to get the investment back
just put in a few 20lb normal carp and sell them as 50lb 3 years later to get the investment back
I'm filling my pond in this year and re-modelling the garden without a new pond though, I've had it 20 years but the cost for new equipment/updating doesn't come into the budget just re-doing the garden is about £12'000.00 for what I have planned.
I only have four fish left in the pond at the moment one Koi about 7/8lb in weight, one Crucian about 2lb, a Grassie around 10lb these are easy to re-home my mate will have them for his pond that he's building but then I have one Silure about mid double he's the problem nobody wants him as they're frightened it will eat their smaller Koi's, he ate all of my smaller ones hence the only few that remain in mine , a pound or less and he was nailing them.
I only have four fish left in the pond at the moment one Koi about 7/8lb in weight, one Crucian about 2lb, a Grassie around 10lb these are easy to re-home my mate will have them for his pond that he's building but then I have one Silure about mid double he's the problem nobody wants him as they're frightened it will eat their smaller Koi's, he ate all of my smaller ones hence the only few that remain in mine , a pound or less and he was nailing them.
In reply to Post #21
now thats a fine idea mate
now thats a fine idea mate
In reply to Post #21
I'd just sell 24 hour tickets to catch them
I'd just sell 24 hour tickets to catch them
In reply to Post #22
If you can get him/her down to near Hastings on the South Coast I'll take him!
My large pond is certainly big enough with enough small fish that he'd have a great time. Most of the better carp are doubles+ so he probably wouldn't harm them for a good few years!
If you can get him/her down to near Hastings on the South Coast I'll take him!
My large pond is certainly big enough with enough small fish that he'd have a great time. Most of the better carp are doubles+ so he probably wouldn't harm them for a good few years!
I think as posted earlier look at the ingredients in a good quality koi pellet and mimic that. I too when I lived in Austria tried to feed koi in a koi pond with boilie on many occasions , this included baitworks Atlantic heat , home made Pete b mix and a few other so called high quality baits , the koi would not even investigate the bait they just swam straight passed it , they obviously get accustomed to being fed at a certain time every day with a certain floating pellet. They probably associate anything that floats with being food , and will sample it.
Don't aller aqua the German outfit make a koi pellet .? They certainly make carp , sturgeon and trout pellets that are top notch and reasonably priced .
Don't aller aqua the German outfit make a koi pellet .? They certainly make carp , sturgeon and trout pellets that are top notch and reasonably priced .
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