Wheat Germ Koi Foods part 1

[Chris Neaves]

Good Day to every one,

I was browsing the internet (which I do not have too much time to do lately) and came across this forum and the thread on Wheat Germ Koi Foods.
I hope the following article will answer the questions that were raised about Wheat Germ Koi Foods.

There is no such thing a “Wheat Germ” Koi Food. There are koi foods with Wheat Gem in them.

I believe the term “Wheat Germ” has developed into a commercial branding much the same as “High Growth”. There are obviously commercial reasons for this. From a commercial point of view if you tell your customers not to feed in cold weather then you suddenly find there are no koi foods sales, what do you do? Create a “winter food” …. Having said that Wheat Germ – the better brands - are very good koi foods. But hear me out please …..

I do manufacture a koi food so I base my statements on my research into the formulation of koi foods and the practical aspects of actually manufacturing a koi food.

Wheat Germ Meal in its raw state is much cheaper than other protein sources such as fish meal and good quality soya meal. Why Wheat Germ koi foods are more expensive than ordinary koi foods escapes me.

In its raw state Wheat Germ meal analyses out at about 29% protein. It is high in oils and has a fair amount of certain vitamins. As pure wheat germ meal cannot make up 100% of a formulation it becomes interesting as “Wheat Germ” koi foods usually have around 32 – 34% protein. How did they get to that level of protein?

When a koi food formulation is created the actual needs of the animal are taken onto account. The actual needs of carp – more widely researched and documented than koi – are well known. Computer programs are then used to input what the koi actually needs. Against the actual requirements the data on various raw materials and ingredients that are available are also added.
Each ingredient has been scientifically analyzed and each protein, energy level, vitamin, mineral, lipids is known. The computer quickly calculates the desired levels of every thing needed. You then increase or decrease levels of specific things such as individual vitamins, specific amino acid levels etc. Before computers this was done by hand and took hours for each adjustment.

The first thing in a koi food formula that is needed is energy. Without energy protein cannot be utilized for growth nor the vitamins or minerals. The fish uses energy to breathe and pump the blood around the body etc. So we turn to available sources of energy. These are usually carbohydrates and lipids (oils).

Carbohydrate is freely available and relatively cheap. Carbohydrate is also critical in a koi diet as it not only provides energy and binds the nutrients but it has some essential nutrients. Fish foods without carbohydrate produce less growth than diets containing carbohydrate. Sources of carbohydrate are plant materials such a corn, wheat etc. The amount of carbohydrate needed by a koi is also known. (and by the way thee is nothing wrong with corn provided it is highly refined and white corn).

Lipids, a very concentrated source of energy, are usually sourced from marine oil. The inclusion rate in different koi foods varies – greatly. Lipids are a very important source of energy and if not present in reasonable levels the koi will begin to utilize some of the protein for energy instead of growth and cell replacement.

The reason why lipid levels are low in some koi food is simple – extended shelf life. The oils in koi foods are the part that will become rancid over time. There are many ways of delaying this process but not all are cost effective.

So we have our energy sources but there is a little more. Firstly the level of lipids is important and a minimum level of 5 – 6% is good. Trout feed has around 16% lipid which is too high for koi and often results in poor skin luster. Carbohydrates have another very important function in koi foods – they are the medium used to deliver the nutrients to the gut of the koi in an aquatic environment. Think about that statement for a while … it’s not so easy to deliver nutrients to the fish in water with out everything dissolving and polluting the pond. You could use artificial binder but you want the nutrients to be released in the gut.

Kind regards,
Chris

Part 2/.... protein - to follow

[Chris Neaves]

Wheat Germ Koi Food - part 2/...

Protein is the most expensive part of the diet. Protein is essential for the growth, health and well being of the animal. There are many protein sources; even corn gluten is high in protein. Corn and other carbohydrate sources have very little protein. Koi cannot absorb protein as such. The protein enters the gut and is broken down into amino acids. The amino acids are absorbed through the wall of the gut, transported to every cell in the body and then rebuilt into the cell as protein. So the level of each amino acid is important – relevant to what the particular animal needs.

There are animal protein sources and there are plant protein sources. These are the same amino acids but in different proportions and levels. There are no different amino acids in plant protein than animal protein. It’s the different levels and in some cases the lack of certain amino acids that results in the variations. Wheat Germ is only about 29% protein and it is low in some amino acids and lacks some amino acids required by koi.

Plant protein sources are not more easily digested than animal protein. Their protein is bound up in the cells structure which is quite difficult to digest. However, when koi foods are processed they are cooked and this cooking makes plant and animal protein (and carbohydrate) more easily digestible. Think of cooked and uncooked porridge in the mornings ….
I have not been able to find any reference that states that wheat germ is more easily digestible than animal protein. The only reference I can find states that wheat germ is more easily digestible than other plant protein sources. It’s not difficult to leave out the word plant and change this to more easily digestible than other protein sources. (another marketing ploy?)

In a koi food formula the vitamins and minerals are critical. The level of the vitamins and minerals are of the utmost importance. The vitamins and minerals are literally the spark plugs that make everything work. Without them the koi will suffer deficiency symptoms, not grow, become ill and will die at a young age.

Each raw material you use as some vitamins and minerals in them. During the extrusion process some of these substances get destroyed. So when a koi food is formulated you aim for a certain level of vitamins and minerals after the extrusion. The amount of destruction is known so a vitamin and mineral pre-mix is added at specific levels to the food before it is processed.

Good koi food will have elevated level of vitamin C, A and E for example. (there are others). Vitamin C has proven health and recuperation benefits. Vitamin A is closely associated with the skin and Vitamin E has metabolic functions and is also a great natural anti oxidant. (Remember the lipids go rancid over time when exposed to the atmosphere). To get to high levels of vitamins and minerals is not cheap.

Then there are a few other things added to the cooking pot …. Colorants to make the pellet appeal to the koi keeper, anti moulds, toxin binders (if you are lucky), substances that attract the koi to eat and colour enhancers if you want to use them.

As components such as fish meal have around 62% in their raw state we have to dilute this down to the requirements of the animal. In the case of koi around 35 – 40% protein is required. Soya also has a high protein level. The other major ingredient in koi food is carbohydrate.

So if we imagine that the small additions to the formula such as the vitamins, preservatives etc remain constant the addition of protein sources and the subtraction of carbohydrate (and visa versa) will directly affect the levels of each.
The higher the protein level the lower the carbohydrate level.

In an analyzed koi food with a protein level of 40% there is about 30 – 32% carbohydrate. As you lower the protein level (decrease the amount of protein raw material) the amount of carbohydrate increases. You still have to get back to 100%

As pure wheat germ has only 29% protein and there will be around 35% carbohydrate in the pellets something else will have to be added to get to final product to 34% protein. So a “Wheat Germ” koi Food will have around 15 – 18% wheat germ meal, 35% carbohydrate and an animal or plant protein source + the other bits and pieces.

The greatest influence on a koi existence is probably temperature (closely followed by oxygen levels in the water). Temperature directly influences the metabolism of the fish. As temperature rise the metabolism increases. As temperatures decrease the metabolism decreases.

The appetite of our koi decreases as temperatures decrease. This is because the metabolism is decreasing. It’s the bodies natural way of saying – no thank you I am no hunger because I do not need any more food. The nutrient needs of the body become less and less until the fish stops feeding. The nutrient needs of the body become less and less as temperatures decrease. You can over feed a pond but you cannot over feed a koi.

The important point is – nothing changes – energy and protein is still needed, vitamins are still needed. The same enzymes are in the gut. Th eonly difference between summer and winter is that less nutrients are required until the koi stops feeding.

If you have been feeding protein levels of say 36 – 40% and during winter you change to a koi food that is “more easily digestible” and has a low protein level – what has actually happened? Firstly you do not need a “more easily digestible” food source because the bodies nutrient needs are much less. And secondly as you decrease the protein level you increase the energy level i.e. carbohydrate level. As koi are cold blooded and their metabolism is governed by water temperature they need less energy at lower temperatures. Where is the logic to increase the carbohydrate levels? Carbohydrate is easily stored as fat when not utilized.

Is it not logical to feed the same food year round but simply reduce the frequency and quantity as the temperature decrease – to the point of stopping feeding in cold water temperatures?
Would it no be more economical to feed a “high protein” food of say 38 – 40% protein but feed less. Would you prefer to feed a low protein koi food which in reality is a high carbohydrate pellet? (this is what is not being told to you)

We have sent a number of koi foods for analysis over the years. There are a lot of very good koi foods on the market but there are real nasties. These cheap imports advertise 36 – 38% protein. (but often sold at high process). However, after lab analysis it was found that many of these foods contained ………. 16 – 18% protein and 65% carbohydrate.

I do believe that the food debate in koi keeping is healthy and good for the spread of knowledge. Koi food is but one of the important elements in koi keeping.

There were a few other points I would like to reply to in the Wheat Germ Koi Food thread, but lets see if there are any questions I can assist with that may answer them.

Kind regards,
Chris

[Jackie Ramo]

Chris thanks for taking the time to post such an informative thread.

I think one of the foremost questions koi keepers have is the melamine being found in pet and animal feed and the long term affects it may have on our fish. I believe there was at least one koi food that contains it, to increase the protein measurement. This may be more critical if I read your post correctly in that we should be looking for a higher protein food.

For myself I tend to feed the same mix of foods (more than one brand in the mix) all year. In spring and fall I feed more worms, bugs and shrimp than the rest of the year. I think of whole foods being easier to digest than processed foods.

[Terri]

Chris, welcome to Koi Reflections and thank you very much for your informative posts!

Do you feel that protein level requirements are age specific? I would think high protein foods fed to young koi (fry/tosai) would be important for growth/development. What are your thoughts on high protein (38% or higher) for older fish?

[Chris Neaves]

Hi,

Wheat or corn gluten imported from China was identified as the source of problems in the pet industry here in South Africa and in the USA (and Canada?)

It was of great concern to the pet food manufacturers and it took a lot of research and expense to discover the cause. The pet food manufacturers suffered great losses as they withdrew thousands upon thousands of bags of pet food once the source was identified.

The source of the problems was discovered to be melamine. A plastic powder that was added to the gluten to fool the quality tests into showing a higher protein level than there was actually. We do not know if the people who did this were aware that it would cause harm to our pets. This means they got better prices for their products.

We have one lab here that has a test for melamine in pet food. I will contact them and find out the costs of testing some koi foods. What do you think the symptoms of melamine toxicity would be in a koi food? In dogs and cats it was kidney failure. Please mail me privately with the name of the koi food that suspected to have melamine in it.

Is there any evidence that there was a koi food that contained melamine or was it a rumor?

In my opinion a higher protein is far more beneficial for koi than a lower protein. There are many arguments either way but consider this – the literature for protein levels for koi are sourced from carp farming. Keeping cost to a minimum is critical. The levels of protein quoted are often the minimum to sustain growth and in mature fish the minimum to maintain basic health. Carp do not have the skin luster we so desire in our koi. Carp do not have colour patterns to develop and maintain. Carp are invariably brought up in mud dams which have microorganisms freely available to supplement the diet.

Would we like to feed our koi more protein or more carbohydrate? Obviously we would choose protein. So if we use a high protein pellet we can control the amount of protein (nutrients) they get by limiting the number of feeds and the quantity – if we want and dependant on temperature. As each pellet is fed you are also feeding carbohydrate. The lower the protein levels the higher the carbohydrate level in the pellet. Too much carbohydrate can result in the fatty deposits around the internal organs.

Variety in the diet is important even though pellets are very easily digested. Your worms and bugs etc – high protein sources.

Do not worry about solid poo that I some time seen in the pond. Firstly your filter should be able to cope with everything thrown at it and secondly the solid poo you occasionally see is often related to the binders in the food.

Protein levels and age – again this comes from carp farming where supplying the minimum is paramount. In fry a very high protein is good and can be utilized. So 45 – 50% is used. Whilst scientists have found you can sustain mature carp on 32% protein we do not have the research to draw on for koi. But again koi are different from carp. The ingredients have a direct bearing on skin luster for example. Think of a mature carp body shape – they invariably have pot bellies. You can feed less of a high protein diet and get better results because you are feeding more nutrients. This could work out more cost effective.

Kind regards,
Chris

[Jackie Ramo]

So far it is just found if fish food used for farming fish, not koi

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/transcripts/transcript053007.pdf is the link I found tells who the US manufacturer's are, this is different that the China one in cats and dogs.

[Jackie Ramo]

A fellow I know feeds his koi cooked rice. Do you think this is a good idea even in winter?

[Terri]

Whilst scientists have found you can sustain mature carp on 32% protein we do not have the research to draw on for koi. But again koi are different from carp. The ingredients have a direct bearing on skin luster for example. Think of a mature carp body shape – they invariably have pot bellies. You can feed less of a high protein diet and get better results because you are feeding more nutrients. This could work out more cost effective.Hello Chris, would you be so kind as to expand on the above comments? I'd like to hear more of your thoughts on this.
For example:
Why/How koi are so different than carp?
What bearing does the protein level (source of protein even) in the pellet foods have on skin ' lustre ' and colour ?