Our founder, Kim Sheridan, is the caretaker of an enchanted kingdom of rescued fishes (koi and goldfish). They have their own sanctuary ponds and enjoy a 100% healthy vegan diet boosted with plenty of fresh plant foods and algae, including spirulina and chlorella. They often arrive at the Fish Refuge terrified and in very poor health. With lots of love and TLC, they become vibrant, long-lived, ecstatic beings who live harmoniously with one another. We humans could learn a lot from them!
The Fish Refuge
What do our vegan koi and goldfish eat?
ADULT koi and goldfish:
Breakfast: Tetrapond Spring & Fall Diet. Unfortunately, this food is not organic, but it is made in Germany so it is non-GMO. We’ve been told the vitamin D is a vegan source. The reason this food is used all year round is because it’s the only commercial fish food we’ve found that doesn’t contain fish-meal or other sources of animal protein.
Lunch: Chlorella tablets and spirulina tablets, alternated daily.
Snacks/Treats: Shredded nori or occasional fruit.
Dinner: Organic peas or other veggies. Pond clay is mixed in with their peas a couple times per week.
They also suck the natural algae that grows in the pond, but there isn’t a ton, since their pond is mostly indoors and algae requires sunshine. They snack on the pond plants, but it’s difficult to keep enough plants in their pond for it to be their primary diet, as they eat them all up too fast!
BABY koi and goldfish:
Breakfast & Dinner: They graze on the natural plants and algae in the pond. We make sure there are always plenty of edible plants in their pond. The babies are in a separate pond from the adults until they get larger, so that they don’t get sucked in the filters of the adult pond, which are too large for babies. It’s easy to keep enough plants in the baby pond for them to eat, as the babies are still quite small.
Lunch: We alternate, every other day, between chlorella powder and spirulina powder (they are too small to eat the tablets).
(For years, Compassion Circle has wanted to come out with an organic vegan fish food. Sadly, that has not come to pass.)
