What Human Food Can Koi Fish Eat? (Foods & Feeding Tips)
Koi fish need high protein foods with about 35% to 40% protein. Koi fish likes to eat human food and can be supplemented with human vegetables, fruits, meat, and sometimes grains.
Their food type depends on their age, size, and season. Koi fish love vegetables, fruits, meat, and cereals. So, let’s dive into the topic and find what human food koi fish eat.
Vegetable Human Food That Koi Fish Eat?
Carrots
Koi fish love to eat carrots, but boiled carrots are preferred over raw carrots. You can boil and then cut carrots into small pieces before serving.
If you prefer to serve raw carrots, then make sure to grate carrots first. If f you serve raw grated carrots, you might need more cleaning of pond water.
Carrots contain a significant amount of vitamins, and minerals, especially vitamins A, K1, and B6, with biotin and potassium.
Overfeeding carrots is not a very good idea, as many koi fish owners do not recommend them, and your fish may face severe health issues.
Pea
Peas are a good option for feeding koi fish, but it needs a proper process before serving. Firstly, Peel off and boil the peas. Secondly, remove the outer hulls and serve just the inner soft portion to koi fish.
If you are using frozen peas, you can keep them in the microwave for a few minutes, remove the outer shell, and put them in the pond water.
Serve peas in small quantities as these are starchy and may cause blockage in the digestive tract. Avoid serving raw and hard peas, only serve cooked and soft portions of peas to koi.
Peas have great nutritional benefits, and peas act as a laxative also. So if you are serving peas, koi fish can defend themselves from bacterial infections by flushing them out.
However, peas are a bit starchy food, so an excessive serving can cause more carbohydrates for koi fish, which can decrease the energy level of koi fish.
Spinach
Koi fish loves to eat leafy green vegetables, i.e., spinach. Spinach is easy to feed, and you need to wash some leaves and pour them into water.
It is recommended by many koi fish owners, especially when you want to switch from pellet food to human food. Spinach keeps koi fish cells more healthy and more active. You can also prepare store-like food by using spinach.
It is full of many minerals and nutrients, especially vitamins A, C, and K, and several antioxidants. It is suitable for koi fish as it’s not a starchy vegetable. Spinach is a favorite food for pet fish, but it should not be served more often.
Broccoli
You can feed broccoli to koi fish after cooking them quickly in two ways. Boiling or by steaming for 7 to 10 minutes will soften the vegetable for the fish.
Broccoli can be served in segments, or you can make small chunks and put them in the water pond. It will boost koi fish health. Also, pet fish will remain fresher and actively swim all day. But Avoid giving raw broccoli to koi fish.
Broccoli is loaded with vitamins and minerals while being low in carbohydrates. As koi fish needs fewer carbs, so it’s the best and safe food for koi fish.
Excessive amounts of broccoli can cause diseases that can be lethal, but there is no direct danger. It is an excellent diet with moderate portions.
Lettuce
Koi eat lettuce too, and there is no harm in serving some leftover lettuce in small pieces to your koi fish. Lettuce can be fed uncooked but in small pieces.
Lettuce is packed with vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate, as well as different minerals, such as calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, and potassium, but it’s more filling than a nutrient. It is naturally low in sodium. It is also low in fiber.
Lettuce is not too good for koi. The downside of lettuce is that it may fill up your koi stomach while not providing them with much nutrition.
So don’t feed lettuce in large quantities. Particularly iceberg lettuce doesn’t have as much nutrient content but is high in moisture.
What Fruits Do Koi Fish Eat?
Watermelon
Watermelon is one of the favorite human foods that koi fish can eat. Koi fish love to eat watermelon because it is soft and juicy.
But at the start, when they are not familiar with the texture, they will run away from it. To serve watermelon, make small pieces of fruit and remove all seeds, as seeds can be harmful to koi fish.
Watermelon is a combination of fiber and water, which is considered best for fish health. It will keep your koi fish active and swimming all day.
Watermelon is easy to digest for koi fish, so it’s considered safe for koi fish. It is full of vitamins and minerals. In hot summer, watermelon is a good food to treat koi fish.
Oranges
Oranges have a soft texture, so koi fish love to nibble them. Just make segments of orange and then put them directly into the pond.
Koi will eat the soft inside pulp of the orange and leave the skin. Remove the skin from pond water to keep it clean and healthy. Otherwise, you can remove the skin of the orange and put small chunks in pond water.
Oranges provide vitamin C and some carbohydrates. Oranges are good for koi fish, but not on a regular basis. Once or twice a week is good for them.
Oranges are safe for koi fish if you are providing them in moderate portions, but excessive feeding can cause digestion problems because of the carbs in oranges.
Banana
Bananas are soft and easy to consume. You can serve bananas to koi after peeling off and cutting them into small chunks. Put chunks into pond water, and koi will love to eat these floating chunks.
Bananas contain a lot of vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, and fiber. All these nutrients will give more energy to koi fish for swimming the whole day actively.
Sometimes bananas can cause constipation in koi fish. Limit overfeeding bananas as they contain a significant amount of carbs.
Grapes
Koi loved to eat grapes, but you need to train koi to eat this delicious treat like any other food. You must remove seeds before serving, as seeds are hard to nibble. It would be best if you can remove the skin of grapes, and only pulp is best for serving.
Grapes are a good source of vitamins. In addition, it’s high in water content which makes it a good food option for koi.
Grapes are good for koi fish to release pressure and improve their immune system. But excessive feeding can cause some digestion issues as well.
What Nonveg Do koi eat?
Shrimps
They like to eat shrimp. Serve shrimp in several different ways. You can give them after pouring some garlic powder on the shrimp. Buy on Amazon
You can also serve frozen pre-cooked popcorn shrimp, and they love it. Shrimps are an excellent treat for koi fish. Big koi fish can swallow raw shrimp as well.
Shrimps are a good source of protein for koi fish, and they do not harm koi fish. However, it would help if you kept in mind that overfeeding any food a fish can be dangerous to their health and swimming capability.
Chicken
Proteins are essential for the growth and health of fish, and chicken is another food full of proteins.
Therefore, it is necessary to fully-cooked chicken and cut it into small pieces before serving. Raw chicken pieces should not be served to fish to keep them healthy.
It had no harm to koi fish if served occasionally. But keep it once in a while as animal meat also contains saturated fats, and fats are not good for koi fish.
Limit the excessive serving because processing terrestrial animal proteins are sometimes difficult for koi fish.
Fish meat
Koi fish can eat other fish that are smaller in size and fit in koi fish mouths. For example, if koi fish and goldfish are in the same water pond, koi fish will eat small goldfish, which fit in their mouth.
They also swallow fry of other fish as well as their own. You can also give them cooked or raw fish chunks to eat.
Fish meat is very nutritious for them with full of vitamins and minerals. There is no harm but keep the portions moderate.
Beef
Beef is not much recommended for koi fish but if you want to serve it, give it after cooking and cutting it into small chunks.
Koi fish enjoys small pieces of cooked beef, and you should not serve raw beef to koi fish. Therefore, beef serving must be very occasional.
Beef is full of proteins, and also it contains saturated fats. It also includes some saturated fats so overfeeding beef can cause some diseases and slow the movement of koi fish.
Other Human Foods That Koi Fish Eat
Bread
Bread has two variants white Bread and whole wheat bread. Both can be served to koi fish but have a different impacts on koi fish stomachs.
White Bread is hard to digest, and it includes bleached flour that can harm koi fish. Koi fish loves whole wheat bread served with honey. Whole wheat bread uses whole grains, so it’s full of vitamins, minerals, and dietary.
However, white Bread has few nutrients. It contains yeast, so it tends to expand more in the stomachs of the koi than whole wheat bread does. As a result, white Bread can cause constipation for most koi fish.
Usually, Bread is not a good choice by koi fish owners because of its impact on the fish’s stomachs.
Rice
Rice (preferably whole grain) is a portion of delicious and healthy food for koi, especially when you transition from regular pellet food to human food. Avoid feeding koi raw rice and pasta. Instead, boil them first without using the use of salt.
After they are cooked nicely, rinse them with cold water and then serve. You can preserve it in the refrigerator for a couple of days. If you want to make rice more delicious for your koi fish, add a little honey, and they will love it.
Rice, like other grains, is full of nutritional value for koi fish. But as rice contains carbs, so overfeeding can cause some diseases and slow digestion. If you want to see your koi fish healthy and active, serve rice occasionally.
Cereal
Koi fish can eat cereals like corn flakes, wheat flakes, bran flakes, oat flakes, puffed rice, muesli, and cheerios.
Cereals are very healthy for koi, but you need to cook them correctly to make them soft. So koi can eat cereal and digest it easily. But low-sugar cereals are more recommended for koi fish.
Cereals contain a good amount of vitamins and minerals, which are very healthy for koi fish if given in moderate portions. Cereals are also low in nitrogen which makes them fully active and energetic.
Overfeeding cereals must be avoided as all cereals contain complex carbs and serve carbs in a limited portion to koi fish to prevent diseases.
Last Words
Many fishkeepers wanted to share their foods with their adorable fishes but did not know whether they could share them. Many people have asked on online platforms what human food can koi fish eat.
You should not feed your koi fish human food if there is a prediction of a storm. As koi fish need more oxygen for the digestion of food and during storms and rains, oxygen levels in the air dip down, so that is not a good time for fish feeding.
Small koi fish eat small food and vice versa. So koi fish can be fed 3 times a day but one time a day in cold water and just for 5 minutes.
