Are the mini-pellet size koi foods, such as that made by Blue Ridge Hatchery or Blackwater Hatchery OK to feed to goldfish as part of their staple diet???

Oliver

Different koi foods contain different amounts of protien and other ingredients depending on the season. Some is "growth" food, some is for fall, etc. If your fish are pond fish - enduring changing seasons, there is no reason why they cannot be just fine on the appropriate "season's" type of food.

The one problem with koi food is that it is almost always floating food. Koi are surface feeders, mostly. Most goldfish do better if fed from the bottom. If your pond fish are single tailed, streamlined athletes (as I think they are) they should be ok on the surface food, too. The deep bodied/barrel shaped fancies do the worst on floating food.

I feed koi food to my goldies - even the floating kind. I cook it up with veggies and put it into a gel such that it sinks. The nutrition in the food is great. I just want a sinking food.

I have always fed them floating food, although sometimes a portion of what I am feeding does drift down. They seem to have no problem grabbing either.

Oliver

It's not so much the "grabbing" as it is the actual digestion of the floating food. Eating floating food requires intake of air along with the food and could cause intestinal problems for deep bodied fish due to their compacted organs. This can lead to bouts of swimbladder problems along with constipation.