Koi fish, in general, are very good eaters and seem to be insatiable, making it quite easy to bulk up their size and get them big, beautiful, and healthy.
Fortunately, if you are looking into keeping butterfly koi, you can feed them essentially the same diet as the rest of your koi. Butterfly koi grow rapidly and look stunning with their trailing fins but are essentially very comparable to their ornamental koi cousins in many ways.
Let’s take a look at some of the best butterfly koi food options to help you find the perfect meal for your stunning new friends.
What are Butterly Koi?
As an impressive type of carp, butterfly koi are controversial due to not being bred in the same way that ornamental carp are.
These koi were bred for the first time when a batch of ugly, brown fish with long finds was found in drainage ditches in Indonesia.
A group of businessmen from New York brought some back to sell but failed aside from a dozen purchased by Blue Ridge Hatchery. The Blue Ridge breeders then bred the carp to some of their ornamental koi for years, breeding out the ugly color and keeping the long fins.
Due to this, traditional breeders view butterfly koi as not koi at all and do not deal with them. They are mainly popular in hobbyists and pond owners who purchase for the appearance, not history, of their fish.
The Best Butterfly Koi Foods
There are tons of amazing koi foods online that can be used for butterfly koi, as well.
Let’s take a look at five options and see what makes them such a great fit for koi and butterfly koi alike.
Any list about butterfly koi would be incomplete without listings from the brand that started it all: Blue Ridge. Blue Ridge has been a consistent producer of amazing quality fish products, especially for koi and goldfish that are kept in outdoor ponds and enclosures.
As a whole, they have an expansive range of products that make for a great option to meet all of your koi’s needs. This is expanded upon by their ethical approach to ensuring all of the foods they make have high quality, amazing ingredients to ensure growth, coloration enhancement, and general immune and health support within the koi fish in the population.
This is extended to butterfly koi, as they can benefit greatly from the addition of the nutrient blend that Blue Ridge includes in their products.
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If you are looking for a product that is affordable but still provides a nutrient-dense meal, this TetraPond product is a perfect fit! As a brand that has been trusted within the aquatics industry for decades, Tetra caters to a ton of different subspecies, including koi and butterfly koi.
These products are also some of the most readily available, meaning you can easily stock up in-store if the need arises and you cannot wait for shipping or easily seek out other blends if you want to give them a try, as well.
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Another multi-species food, Laguna’s All Season Goldfish and Koi Floating Food is a fantastic product with a great nutritionally balanced base that works perfectly for butterfly koi.
The easy to digest formula means it will not clog the water up with gunk that can cause clouding and bacteria growth and also indicates that the fish can more easily consume the food and get enough nutrients from it.
A great medium pellet food, Laguna All Season food is perfect for having on hand if you want to promote good growth and base health in your butterfly koi without extra supplements and extra food items. Plus, it is relatively affordable, too!
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Hai Feng products are often regarded as some of the best due to their high nutritional content and easy to digest nature.
As a whole, this is great food with a lot of health-boosting ingredients to assist in curating massive growth.
Butterfly koi’s trailing fins grow larger when they have access to good quality food so this could make a pretty big difference in the overall quality and size of your koi’s fins, as well.
You cannot go wrong with this fantastic, professional-grade food. Plus, it is easily digested which promotes proper nutrient absorption and prevents cloudy or dirty water since the digestion process decreases the amount of waste created.
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A bit of a less widespread brand but still amazing, Microbe Lift’s Legacy line is amazing for promoting growth and energy for movement and activity.
If you really want to see those stunning fins, this food is perfect for getting them moving around and active so you can totally enjoy the haunting beauty of the butterfly koi.
As a basic meal, this is a fantastic daily food product, too, that will add a good base for any additional supplements you may choose to use, including those for color or immune support.
This is a solid food product that definitely deserves a lot more recognition considering just how fantastic it truly is.
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Beauty and Growth
Butterfly koi are very hardy and similar to their cousins, the ornamental koi. Butterfly koi are technically not koi fish in the traditional sense but can eat the same types of foods as their relatives.
Any of these products would be fantastic for supporting the growth and coloration of your butterfly koi and their stunning namesake fins. Regardless of which you pick, selecting a good food and supplement routine is key in ensuring your koi are healthy, happy, and thriving.
If you need assistance further, you can reach out to an aquatic vet or breeder to get some feedback on what exactly would best benefit your unique koi varieties and subspecies. Good luck!
