Hobbyists definitely want a close relationship with their pets. Giving food from your hands, aka “handfeeding” can be one of the best ways to bond with your pets. Interestingly, handfeeding can also be done on koi fish kept in aquariums. Of course, you have to know how to tame koi fish first so that they will eat their food from your hands. Keeping and taming koi fish certainly requires different techniques than dogs or cats. Don’t worry, the method is not difficult and can be applied by novice fish owners. Read the article until the end, okay…
Newly kept koi fish easily feel panic and fear when they see humans. Especially if the koi fish being kept are still small, they will swim aggressively. However, hobbyists can take some simple steps below to tame them.
1. Train Koi Fish to Do Handfeeding
First, you can train koi fish by doing handfeeding. If you are used to sprinkling food into the aquarium, you should try to change that habit. Try giving food from your hand to your koi fish. Hobbyists can do it gradually, don’t rush it.
2. Give Koi Fish Fasting Time
The first step does take a long time because the koi fish are still afraid. The solution is, you can give the koi fish a fasting time (not fed) for 1 to 2 days. When it’s time to eat after fasting, give them food again by handfeeding. Hungry koi fish will definitely want to eat their food even though the food comes from your hand.
3. Stay Calm
When feeding koi fish, avoid making movements that startle the koi fish. Koi fish that are startled will become afraid again so they won’t eat from human hands. Remain calm, stable and consistent so that the koi fish are tame and willing to eat food by handfeeding.
4. Keep Brave Koi Fish
There is nothing wrong with adding brave koi fish in the same aquarium as the koi fish you are keeping. The reason is, brave koi fish will influence the nature of other koi fish so that all koi fish in the aquarium will definitely want to eat food from your hand. Usually koi fish are plain or one color like chagoi karasi and others.
5. Keep Handfeeding if Successful
If the four methods above have worked, don’t stop. Keep training your koi for handfeeding so that they get used to eating from your hand. They also won’t be afraid if someone else tries handfeeding because they are used to it.
6. Interact with Koi Fish Often
Frequent interaction with koi fish will create a close relationship. Koi fish will also feel comfortable so that it is easier to become tame. Interaction is sufficient by giving food to koi fish.
7. Maintain Aquarium Conditions
Don’t forget the condition of the aquarium used to keep koi fish. Maintain the water quality so that it suits the needs of koi fish. In addition, make the aquarium atmosphere comfortable by adding a waterfall, fountain, or plants so that the koi fish feel comfortable. Finally, maintain the density of fish in the aquarium so that the number of koi fish is not too many or too few. Keeping a few koi fish in a large aquarium will make it difficult for the koi fish to tame.
Hopefully from the steps mentioned above, hobbyists can enjoy feeding their beloved koi more closely and tamely. The most important thing is to form a bond that the koi knows you are the owner and of course loves it by caring for it properly.
