Koi Fish Food You’ll Actually Want To Use — Reviewed

Written by Sarah Psaradelis
Updated: March 1, 2023
© Paul van den Berg/Shutterstock.com

Advertisement


This post may contain affiliate links to our partners like Chewy, Amazon, and others. Purchasing through these helps us further the A-Z Animals mission to educate about the world's species.

Food is the key to having healthy koi fish. Feeding your koi a high-quality diet rich in the vitamins and minerals they need as fuel to grow and thrive in an aquarium will result in healthier and more vibrant fish.

However, not all koi fish foods are alike, and some are filled with unnecessary ingredients that are not beneficial to your koi’s health. Although some foods might be labeled for koi, it does not automatically mean that the food in question truly meets your koi fish’s nutritional requirements.

It is important to note that koi fish are omnivores, which means that they should primarily consume a diet rich in both animal-based protein and plants. A healthy diet will influence your koi fish’s color, growth, and overall health.

Some foods are considered to be low-grade and made of fillers that do not benefit your koi, which is why we have created this article to give you an honest review of some of the best koi food brands available!

  1. Kaytee Koi's Choice Premium Fish Food
    • High-quality animal and vegetable proteins
    • Contains fish oil, wheat germ meal, and alfalfa meal
    • Ideal for young and growing koi fish
    • Can be used in all seasons
    Check Chewy Check Amazon
  2. Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance Color Enhancing Sticks Koi & Goldfish Food
    • Soft floating sticks
    • Easy for koi to chew
    • Highly digestible
    • Made from high-quality materials
    Check Chewy Check Amazon
  3. Blue Ridge Koi & Goldfish Mini Pellet Growth Formula Koi & Goldfish Food
    • 1/8-inch diameter pellets
    • Special vitamin and mineral blend to promote healthy fish
    • The pellets float in the water
    • Encourages healthy growth
    Check Chewy Check Amazon
  4. Hikari Usa Inc AHK06242 Wheat Germ
    • Easily assimilated
    • Great for winter feeding
    • Added vitamins and minerals
    • High-quality staple diet
    Check Amazon

Top Picks: The Best Koi Fish Food Today

#1. Best Overall: Kaytee Koi’s Choice Premium Fish Food

Throughout our extensive research, we selected Kaytee Koi’s Choice Premium Fish Food as the best overall brand of koi fish food. We made this decision for several different reasons. For starters, Kaytee is a well-known manufacturing brand for various different pet accessories and foods due to the high quality they provide. This koi fish food contains an abundance of animal and vegetable proteins to help meet a koi fish’s omnivorous dietary requirements.

This is a high-quality koi fish food created with fish oil, wheat germ meal, and alfalfa meal aimed to enhance your fish’s eye, heart, and cognitive functions while being easy to digest and gentle on your fish’s stomach.

It has a high protein level of 35% which is ideal for young and growing koi fish as this high level of protein will help support their muscle and tissue development while enhancing their overall coloration. Another noticeable benefit to this brand of koi fish food is that it floats and can be used throughout all the different seasons to keep your koi fish nutritionally satisfied.

However, it is important to note that some reviewers noticed that some of the pellets sink within 30 seconds of being distributed to the fish. Koi fish like to eat pellets that float, so this could be a problem if more of them sink than float over time.

Pros and Cons of Kaytee Koi’s Choice Premium Fish Food

ProsCons
It has a high protein level of 35% with fish meal as the first ingredient.Some purchasers noticed that some pellets stop floating after 30 seconds.
This is a great option for growing koi fish thanks to its high protein content.
The ingredients list features fish oil, wheat germ meal, etc. to help enhance eye, heart, and cognitive functions.
The pellets float, which koi fish enjoy.
Overall Best
Kaytee Koi's Choice Premium Fish Food
  • High-quality animal and vegetable proteins
  • Contains fish oil, wheat germ meal, and alfalfa meal
  • Ideal for young and growing koi fish
  • Can be used in all seasons
Check Chewy Check Amazon

2. Best for Affordability: Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance Color Enhancing Sticks Koi & Goldfish Food

Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance Color Enhancing Sticks Koi & Goldfish Food is a fantastic option if you want something affordable with high protein. This koi food makes a great daily diet for koi to provide them with enough useful nutrition to fuel their energy levels, help maintain their overall health, and increase their longevity. These are soft floating sticks that are easy for koi to chew, and it is highly digestible.

The Tetra koi vibrance sticks will not foul the water because it is made from high-quality materials which can be digested easily to help create less waste in an aquarium for clearer water. This food is great for koi that have a red or yellow coloration because the pellets are infused with red and yellow color enhances. It is a complete summer koi diet that also helps to soften the water.

These pellets can float for a long time in comparison to other types of floating koi pellets so there is less chance it will start to dissolve into the water before your koi has a chance to eat it. However, one of the biggest downsides that we came across in reviews is the fact the bag does not reseal well.

Pros and Cons of the Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance Color Enhancing Sticks Koi & Goldfish Food

ProsCons
It provides your koi fish with sufficient amounts of nutrients.The bag is not easily resealable.
The water quality will not be impacted because it is made from high-quality ingredients.
It brings out the beautiful reds and yellows in your koi fish’s coloring.
The sticks are easy for your fish to chew and digest.
Best for Affordability
Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance Color Enhancing Sticks Koi & Goldfish Food
  • Soft floating sticks
  • Easy for koi to chew
  • Highly digestible
  • Made from high-quality materials
Check Chewy Check Amazon

3. Best for Nutrition: Blue Ridge Koi & Goldfish Mini Pellet Growth Formula Koi & Goldfish Food

If you’re looking for fish food that is filled with lots of nutritional value, then look no further than the Blue Ridge Koi & Goldfish Mini Pellet Growth Formula Koi & Goldfish Food. What many reviewers love about this fish food in particular is that you’re getting high-quality food without the high price tag. This is a great fish food for fish that are five inches and under. It has all of the essential minerals and nutrients needed to help grow your koi fish to a healthy size. 

Even when your koi fish have reached their adult size, you can still feed them this fish food as it has such a great blend of nutrients. These pellets are 1/8-inch diameter in size and they float which will attract your koi fish to the food. These pellets also soften once they come in contact with the water — this makes it easier for your fish to eat and digest them. This is overall a great fish food to help promote your koi fish’s growth and health. The only major downside to this option is that the packaging of this food isn’t the best. The resealable zipper has a tendency to break and stop closing.

Pros and Cons of the Blue Ridge Koi & Goldfish Mini Pellet Growth Formula Koi & Goldfish Food

ProsCons
A high-quality food option without a premium price tag.The packaging of the fish food isn’t the greatest as the resealable zipper tends to break.
The pellets are ⅛-inch diameter in size and float in the water.
The pellets soften in water.
It is filled with vitamins and minerals to help support the growth and overall health of your koi.
Best for Nutrition
Blue Ridge Koi & Goldfish Mini Pellet Growth Formula Koi & Goldfish Food
  • 1/8-inch diameter pellets
  • Special vitamin and mineral blend to promote healthy fish
  • The pellets float in the water
  • Encourages healthy growth
Check Chewy Check Amazon

4. Best for Young Koi: Hikari Usa Inc AHK06242 Wheat Germ

Your young koi will benefit greatly from the Hikari Usa Inc AHK06242 Wheat Germ. The Hikari wheat germ koi food formula is an easily assimilated, highly digestible diet. It is suitable for baby koi because it has been created to fuel their energy levels and provide them with the right nutrition to grow and develop into healthy adults.

This food is great for winter feeding because it contains a good portion of wheat germ kernel with a 4% protein content and added vitamins and minerals to support your koi’s immune system. Another bonus to these floating pellets is that they will not cloud your koi ponds’ water! However, some koi owners did mention that the fish food caused algae to grow in both ponds and tank water. A build-up of algae may not be something that you may want to deal with. 

It has been made from carefully selected vegetable proteins, natural fats, and essential vitamins and minerals for a high-quality staple diet that can be fed during the cooler months. Although this is a smaller volume of koi pellets for a higher price, it is definitely worth the quality it has to offer for growing koi fish!

Pros and Cons of the Hikari Usa Inc AHK06242 Wheat Germ

ProsCons
This is a great food option for young, growing koi fish.Some reviewers mentioned that the food cause algae to bloom in their tanks/ponds.
The formula contains wheat germ kernel with 4% protein content to help your dish grow.
The food is very easy to digest for your fish.
Best for Young Koi
Hikari Usa Inc AHK06242 Wheat Germ
  • Easily assimilated
  • Great for winter feeding
  • Added vitamins and minerals
  • High-quality staple diet
Check Amazon

What to Look For in the Best Koi Fish Food

Providing your koi fish with the best food possible is the best way to ensure that they grow to a healthy side and maintain their beautiful coloring. It is important to select a formula that is made with high-quality ingredients and that has appropriate amounts of protein. However, choosing the right fish food for your koi can be difficult considering how many options there are available. In order to make the decision-making process easier, we’ve narrowed down the most important factors to look for when choosing the best koi fish food. 

These factors include: 

  • Rate of decomposition 
  • Nutritional content 
  • Color enhancement 

Below, we’ve gone into more detail on each of these factors:

Rate of Decomposition

This simply refers to the rate at which the food decomposes once it has been exposed to water. Some foods will take longer to soften and start to crumble in the water, whereas other foods will rapidly start to dissolve and lose their nutrition over time if your koi do not eat the food quickly enough.

You want to choose a food that does not deteriorate too fast once it has been placed in the water. This is so that your koi fish can have a chance to eat the food and still retain the nutrition that would otherwise have been dissolved in the water. Choosing a portion of food that does not dissolve quickly in water will also help benefit your pond’s water quality. This is because it means less food is being introduced into the water column and then creating waste.

Nutritional Content

This is a very important aspect to consider when it comes to choosing the right food for your koi fish. The nutritional content will consist of the food guaranteed analysis which is the percentage of protein, fat, and fiber the food has along with the types of ingredients contained in the food.

You want to look for a food that contains very few fillers which only helps to bulk up the weight of the food but has little to offer koi fish in terms of nutrition. If you find that the fillers (starchy, carbohydrate-rich ingredients) are listed within the first few lines of an ingredients list, then you can assum that the food is full of fillers and not worth buying. You want a food that contains beneficial ingredients for koi such as wheat germ, fish oils, linseed oils, spirulina, and other animal or plant-derived proteins and fats.

Color Enhancement

Koi are adored by fish keepers for their striking coloration. With this in mind, you want to take into consideration the color-enhancing benefits and ingredients the food has to offer. This is why you will see a lot of koi foods labeled as ‘color enhancing’ or have other fancy names such as ‘vibrance.’ This is a good indication that the food contains some sort of ingredients such as spirulina, krill, or shrimp that helps to improve and maintain a good coloration in koi.

Color-enhancing foods can also help make your koi’s red, yellow, and white colors more vivid once they have been eating the food for a few weeks. These foods will not directly change the color of your koi, but they are great at helping to make it more attractive.

The 3 Different Types of Koi Fish Food

When it comes down to choosing koi fish food, there are plenty of options available. In fact, there are three different types of food. Each one of these has its own pros and cons. It is helpful to know the difference between them so that you can choose the best one for your fish. 

The most common pros and cons include:

  • Flake food — Affordable. Comes in a variety of different colors. Has a long shelf life. Dissolves easily in water which can create poor water quality. Usually made of cheaper ingredients that are not high quality. 
  • Gel food — Contains concentrated high-quality ingredients. Easy for koi fish to consume. You have control over portion sizes. Must be prepared before feeding. Needs to be refrigerated. 
  • Pellet food — Usually contains higher quality ingredients. Easy to feed your fish with. Long storage life. Can be expensive.

About the Author

Sarah is a writer at A-Z Animals primarily covering aquatic pets, rodents, arachnids, and reptiles. Sarah has over 3 years of experience in writing and researching various animal topics. She is currently working towards furthering her studies in the animal field. A resident of South Africa, Sarah enjoys writing alongside her pets and almost always has her rats perched on her shoulders.

Koi Fish Food You’ll Actually Want To Use — Reviewed FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) 

How can I make sure my koi fish stays vibrant in color?

In order to keep your koi fish looking vibrant in color, it is important to provide them with a proper diet. It is important to look for fish food that has proper nutrients and color enhancers. There are specific ingredients to look for that help boost colors such as spirulina and carotene. Some of the best times to feed your koi a color-enhancing diet is during the summertime as this is when they grow the most.

 

How often should I feed my koi?

Koi fish should be fed once a day. However, you should not feed them more than they can eat in a five-minute period. The amount of food you should feed them will often depend on the season and the overall temperature of the water.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us? Contact the AZ Animals editorial team.