Dog food?

bettagurl

bettagurl

Colby's Pincher (24X)
Aug 5, 2006
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I spoke with my koi breeder (though I haven't gotten many from him) and he says he feeds half dog food half koi pellets.

He said they grow faster and have darker coloring, produced more healthy offspring and live just as long as the rest (he's been doing this most of his life).

Anyone have thoughts on this? the fish he has brought me are very healthy and beautiful.
I know a bit of an idiot friend of mine kept a map turtle she fed dog food, and his "feeders" who stole most of it got about 5" in a few months.
 
Well... I cant imagine it would be that BAD for them. Dog food is basically various protein sources (meat, bone meal,by products) and filler (wheat, corn, other grains). That isnt that different from koi food. I'd be willing to try it, and see if it is good.
 
I gave them a bit... They attacked it... It was a fishpile. lol
I softened it in warm water so it would sink and be easy for them to eat.
 
I don't know, I follow the rule that Dog food is for dogs, koi food is for koi. Call me crazy.
 
The only thing that makes it "dog food" is the lettering on the package. If I put "koi food" in a bag and wrote "dog food" on it, who could prove me wrong?

There's really not much of a difference between the two. Just meat and grain. Once it's processed, I'd imagine it doesn't make much of a difference. My only concerns with dogfood would be that too much of it may foul the water, but depending on the size of your pond, that may not matter at all. Also, I'd stick to his recomendation of 50/50 or less, as I would think Dog Food has more protein in it, and you wouldn't want to stress out your fish's kidneys by feeding 100% dog food.
 
Desperately trying to find this particular article... Basically the gist of it was how dog food is entirely too fatty to be fed to fish, and that the (oscars) that were fed all showed advanced cases of fatty liver disease when necropsied. Another thing, goldfish and koi have poor digestability of land based carbs and protiens, another reason to avoid feeding dog food. Whatever food you decide to feed, I'd check the protein percentages, ash percentages, and such, and compare it to a respected brand of koi food. If the only differences between animal feeds are the names on the packages, someone better alert all the scientists who study domesticated animal diets, as their jobs have just been made obsolete.

Here's a good primer of goldfish/koi nutrition.
http://thegab.org/Articles/GoldfishNutrition1.html
 
maybe it was just his way of saving money? idk lol
 
I agree with Vicious and Inka. The forumulation of a good quality diet is based on the animal's (or fish's) metabolism, nutritional needs, environmental factors, and digestion. I wouldn't imagine that feeding large pond fish the same food we give an irish setter would be well advised. (Even in low percentages.)

Even high quality dog foods contain animal protiens, high carbs, grain, and ash/fillers that really aren't suited for fish. I'd take the advice you received from your breeder friend with a hefty grain of salt, bettagurl.

A lot of parents raise their kids on nothing but junk food and probably think there's nothing wrong with that. People throw in hot dogs and french fries to pond fish in public parks all the time... and they're quite happy to gobble it up. That still doesn't make this a good practice for the best welfare of the fish.

You should really investigate this further before following your friend's advice.
 
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I also know koi breeders who feed the small kibble sized dog food pellets in the koi food mixture but they mix 1/4 dog kibble bits 3/4 koi pellets not 1/2. they have beautiful fish so i dont think it's so uncommon. sometimes i give my goldies a little of my tea cup chihuahua's kibble bits as a treat maybe once a week. And the snails sure seem to like it alot when any pieces do make it to the bottom of the tank.
 
Although the fish may get excited about it, I would definitely put it in the "junk food" category. Deep in the junk food category. I don't know a single reputable breeder, koi or goldfish, who uses dog food. Mainly because most of the content is indigestible - land based proteins and grain filler. The protein content is much too high for carp, and since it's land protein, it's not suitable for any fish. Dog food doesn't contain enough plant matter either, and it lacks the proper vitamins and amino acids for processing. It's certainly not something I'd recommend including as a regular part of the diet. I wouldn't use it even as a treat, but I suppose as an occasional treat I don't see much harm in it.
 
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