FOOD ADDITIVES Color enhancing koi foods can be very expensive. Many can be detrimental to optimum color if used improperly. Feeding color food, high in spirulina, to young koi in low light, low temperature, or high doses, is said to cause or accelerate the breakdown of the Hiban or red patches in some young koi. Overfeeding color food, high in spirulina, can cause bleeding of the red into the white. Another substance that produce color improvements better suited for younger koi is krill, rich in the pigment astaxanthin, a carotenoid shown to improve exterior coloration of ornamental fish. Krill contains on the average 100 to 300 parts per million (ppm=mg/1) of this carotenoid. Krill is also high in protein. Crab shell powder from 100% red queen crab shell is high in chitin and has shown to improve bone structure. Top Japanese breeders have added crab powder to their mud ponds for years. Crab shells contain chitin (chitosan), a polysaccharide, which has been found to have an acceleratory effect on wound healing. Bee propolis is believed to accelerate healing and provide anti-bacterial and anti- viral properties. Continue to  Page 2 Email us  and we will be glad to assit you.