 |  FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS is formulated by veterinary surgeon Lance Jepson to improve the well-being of your koi. Author of one of the first books devoted purely to koi health (Koi Medicine, published in 2001) Lance felt that much could be done to raise the health of koi by improving their diet. To this end a high quality koi pellet was researched and developed to provide koi with all their energy and growth needs; but he didn't want to stop there. Therefore, unlike any other koi diet today, these pellets also include the nutraceuticals chitosan and grapefruit seed extract (GSE) to make a food different from any other. Developed with the help of partners long experienced in the koi and aquatics business, the benefits of KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS are now available for your koi. Below are some of the most Frequently Asked Questions about KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS. Read them. Check out the references if you like. Then you'll see why we think your koi should be KENKOU KOI. A.What is chitosan and why use it? Chitosan is a product made from chitin, the material that forms the exoskeleon (or shell) of many invertebrates such as shrimps, crabs and insects. It has been shown to improve the natural defences of carp (Gopalakannan and Arul, 2006) and has known anti-bacterial properties (Raafat et al 2008). B.What is grapefruit seed extract and why use it? Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) is a product derived from grapefruit (Citrus grandis) pulp (that's what is left after your breakfast grapefruit juice is extracted!). GSE is rich in bioflavonoids such as hesperidin, naringin and hesperetin. Following extraction and further treatment a quaternary ammonium chloride, known as diphenol hydroxybenzene, is produced. This is the most active compound in GSE and is very similar to benzalkonium chloride, an industrial anti-bacterial product - only it's much safer. A large body of literature has now developed over the last decade or so to support the anti-bacterial (Reagor et al 2002), (Heggars et al 2002) and other beneficial effects (Garg et al 2001) of GSE. We at KENKOU believe that this product can be beneficial in maintaining the health of your koi. C.Why add spirulina? Spirulina is a blue-green alga rich in natural colour-enhancing carotenoids that can improve the colour of your koi (Gouveia et al 2003). In addition spirulina may have other added health benefits (Watanuki et al 2006). D.Why such small pellets? Carp evolved to feed largely on small invertebrates such as insects (e.g. bloodworms), crustaceans (like daphnia) and plant material (Sibbing 1988). However koi do not have teeth like we have. Instead, once they've taken in food it is passed to the back of the mouth where they have a set of teeth (known as pharyngeal teeth) that grind food particles against a thickened area in the roof of the mouth (often known as the carp stone). The gap at the back of the mouth where this occurs has been measured to be around 4% the body length of the fish (Sibbing 1988). If food particles are bigger than this they require extra 'processing' by grinding the food down to the right size. This grinding produces waste, which is expelled out through the gills and into the surrounding pond water thereby placing extra strain on your filters. This is why our pellets are small. Koi from around 10cm (4 inches) upwards should be able to benefit from KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS. Remember big koi are designed to eat the same as small koi - only more of it! E.Why the low phosphorus level? KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS has been formulated to be low in phosphorus. Fish need phosphorus in their diet. It's an integral part of their bone structure, but feed too much and it is passed out in the faeces as waste and becomes - not to put too fine a point on it - algal fertilizer. That's why KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS contains a low phosphorus level of 0.8% (compare this with other koi foods). F.How often should I feed my koi? Feeding fish is as much an art as a science so we at KENKOU recommend that you feed to the condition of your fish. Water temperature probably has the most important effect on the amount of food eaten by your koi on a day-to-day basis. One study (Garciaa and Adelman, 1985) showed that the daily food consumption in carp varied from a low of 3.87 mg of food per g of fish wet weight (0.39% of wet body weight) per day at 14°C (during April) up to 40.75 mg/g (4.08%) at 26.5oC, in August. As a rule we would suggest that at temperatures of 15oC (59F) and over, feed small amounts several times a day. If they're looking thinner than you'd like, increase the amount of feed offered or increase the number of feedings per day. If they're too fat, reduce the amount of food. It's that simple. Remember however, that KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS is a concentrated food and so your koi will need less than you think. G.Why do some of the pellets sink? KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS is a floating pellet, but throw a handful to your koi and you'll notice a small number begin to sink almost immediately. This is intentional because not all koi will feed from the surface. Left long enough all of our pellets will soften and sink but if you're feeding correctly they rarely get a chance! H.What happens in winter? Once the water temperatures start to drop to around 10oC (50F), feed sparingly if your koi still seem hungry. Below 10oC your koi are likely to stop feeding, and if this happens, so should you (feeding your koi, that is!). I.Is KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS a treatment? KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS has been formulated to help maintain the well-being of your koi and so, as long as your koi are feeding, our food will help them deal with whatever life throws at them. Unlike some other companies we make no bogus medicinal claims - it's easy to say that your product treats this disease or prevents that disease. In truth lots of things affect the risk of ill health - water quality, temperature, previous exposure to disease, stocking densities…trust me, we could go on (and on, and on). However one universal truth is that sound nutrition underpins health. Therefore at KENKOU we recommend that you feed your koi on KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS for at least one month before you judge the true benefits of our food - in fact, the longer the better. J.Can I feed KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS to goldfish? Koi and goldfish are closely related - they can even interbreed to produce hybrids! Their nutritional requirements are also very similar and at KENKOU we've tested our food as much on goldfish - both the common goldfish as well as fancy breeds - as we have on koi and we're impressed with the results. But then that's how it should be. Why should goldfish miss out on the benefits that their larger cousins get from KENKOU KOI PREMIUM HEALTH PLUS? So - why aren't your koi KENKOU KOI? References Garciaa L. M. and Adelman I. R. (1985) An in situ estimate of daily food consumption and alimentary canal evacuation rates of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L. Journal of Fish Biology. Volume 7, pp 487-493 Garg A., Garg S., Zaneveld L.J.D.and Singla A.K. (2001) Chemistry and Pharmacology of the Citrus Bioflavonoid Hesperidin. Phytotherapy Research. Volume 15, pp 655-669 Gopalakannan A and Arul V. (2006) Immunomodulatory effects of dietary intake of chitin, chitosan and levamisole on the immune system of Cyprinus carpio and control of Aeromonas hydrophila infection in koi. Aquaculture. Volume 255 pp179-187 Gouveia L, Rema P., Pereira O. and Empis J. (2003) Colouring ornamental fish (Cyprinus carpio and Carassius auratus) with microalgal biomass. Aquaculture Nutrition. Volume 9. pp123 -129. Heggars J.P., Cottingham J., Gusman J., Reagor L., McCoy L, Carino E., Cox R. And Zhoa J. (2002). The Effectiveness of Processed Grapefruit-Seed Extract as An Antibacterial Agent: II. Mechanism of Action and In Vitro Toxicity. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Volume 8, Number 3, pp. 333-340. Raafat, D., von Bargen K., Haas A. and Sahl H-G. (2008) Insights into the Mode of Action of Chitosan as an Antibacterial Compound. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Volume 74. No 12. pp 3764-3773 Reagor L, Gusman J., McCoy L., Carino E. And Heggars J.P. (2002) The Effectiveness of Processed Grapefruit-Seed Extract as An Antibacterial Agent: I. An In Vitro Agar Assay. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Volume 8, Number 3, pp. 325-332 Sibbing F.A. (1988) Specializations and limitations in the utilization of food resources by the carp, Cyprinus carpio: a study of oral food processing. Environmental Biology of Fishes. Volume 22. No 3. pp 161-178. Watanuki H., Ota K., Tassakka A.C.M.A.R., Kato T. and Sakai M. (2006) Immunostimulant effects of dietary Spirulina platensis on carp, Cyprinus carpio. Aquaculture. Volume 258 pp157-163 |
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