Following on from my last blog post about the JPD food range, this post will look into the benefits a little closer...

Koi Food is undoubtedly one of the most talked about topics in our hobby, especially
when Summer time arrives and hobbyists want to feed heavily and grow their koi ! Assessing which food to buy can often be a mine field.

Finding out what makes up the Protein level is of huge importance. Protein levels deriving from high quality raw ingredients like white fish meal gives us the most nutritious, are most natural and contain the highest percentage of amino acids required for koi. Protein levels that derive from vegetable proteins for example simply do not contain the necessary amino acid profiles to fulfil Koi requirements. Other raw ingredients such as Krill Meal, Shrimp meal, Fish Oil etc. are used in combination with white fish meal to maximise the high quality protein level.

When reading the back of a food label, you will see a crude protein percentage, generally speaking what you won't see is what percentage of this protein is actually white fish meal, krill meal, soy meal and/or vegetable proteins. One way of assessing this is to look at the "Ash" content. The Ash content is calculated by incinerating the food, essentially the "leftovers". The percentage of Ash calculated is the amount of food that the koi can't physically digest from the food. Quality White Fish meal, Krill meal etc gives us very low ash levels. Low Ash levels show a very high digestibility rate, maximising the nutrition gained by the food. When the Ash content is high, this shows a lower amount of food digested, and higher waste levels.

Here are a few comparisons taking into account Protein levels and Ash content. The foods below all use high quality ingredients, however some of the foods use a higher percentage of high quality ingredients. It's clear to see the percentage of higher quality ingredients in the JPD food range, shown by the lower Ash content.

The entire JPD range is enriched with Vitamin C and E. Vitamin C is very important in the health of the koi. Unlike humans, koi (along with many of animals) can actually produce Vitamin C within their body. The levels of Vitamin C can fluctuate due to environmental factors, disease and stress. By supplementing their Vitamin C levels we are actively giving them a helping hand. Stress free fish with supplemented Vitamin C levels will display superb white areas that are bright and pure.

Vitamin E works in much the same way, but this Vitamin aids muscle development. With sufficient Vitamin E levels, koi will not simply lose weight, and vice versa they will maintain a strong body conformation.

These two Vitamins combined increase the metabolism of the koi. Which in turn increases the digestion process and immune system.

Another important factor when choosing which food to look for is how it affects water quality and clarity. The extremely high manufacturing standards of the JPD food range is evident, not only in the ingredients used in the food, but the way in which it holds it's form in water.

In this test, 5g of food was added to 165ml of water. The first photo shows the beginning of the test, the second photo shows how the foods have faired after 15 minutes in the water. The third photo shows the food after 30 minutes. Of course food shouldn't be left uneaten on the surface for 30 minutes, but even after 15 minutes you can see the colour of the water noticeably changing in the Hikari test sample.

On my next post we'll look into each food in more detail !