What’s the difference between Hikari Koi Gold and Koi Spirulina?

Hikari has two food products that you can use to feed your pet koi fish.

You can take a look at this comparison guide at Aquarium Blueprints to see what are the main differences between the Hikari Koi Gold and Hikari Koi Spirulina.

Quick Summary

The Hikari Koi Spirulina offers more Crude Protein, Ash, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3 and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) when compared to the Hikari Koi Gold. On the other hand, the Gold version comes with more Vitamin E.

If you can only get one of these products, we recommend picking up the Hikari Koi Spirulina. In addition to offering more nutritional values overall, the Spirulina version will also provide better coloration for your koi fish when compared to the competition.

With that said, the Gold version is the only one out of these two products to come in a baby pellet size that you can feed to your koi fry.

Hikari Koi Gold vs. Hikari Koi Spirulina Comparison Chart

You can find our comparison table for the gold and spirulina versions of the Hikari Koi pellets below.

Pellet Sizes

When it comes to pellet sizes, the Hikari Koi Gold is the only one out of these two products to offer a baby and medium sized pellet.

You can take a look at the available sizes for both foods below:

Hikari Koi Gold:

• Baby Pellet: 1.7 mm to 2.0 mm
• Mini Pellet: 2.7 mm to 4.0 mm
• Medium Pellet: 4.0 mm to 5.5 mm
• Large Pellet: 7.2 mm to 9.0 mm

Hikari Koi Spirulina:

• Mini Pellet: 2.7 mm to 4.0 mm
• Large Pellet: 7.2 mm to 9.0 mm

Packaging Sizes

You can also take a look at the available packaging sizes for the Koi Gold and Koi Spirulina below:

Baby Pellet Packaging Sizes

Hikari Koi Gold:

• 22 lb. (10 kg)

Mini Pellet Packaging Sizes

Hikari Koi Gold:

• 17.6 oz. (500 g)
• 11 lb. (5 kg)
• 22 lb. (10 kg)

Hikari Koi Spirulina:

• 17.6 oz. (500 g)

Medium Pellet Packaging Sizes

Hikari Koi Gold:

• 17.6 oz. (500 g)
• 4.4 lb. (2 kg)
• 11 lb. (5 kg)
• 22 lb. (10 kg)

Large Pellet Packaging Sizes

Hikari Koi Gold:

• 17.6 oz. (500 g)
• 11 lb. (5 kg)
• 22 lb. (10 kg)

Hikari Koi Spirulina:

• 11 lb. (5 kg)

Main Benefits

When it comes to the main benefits, the Koi Gold is advertised to provide a healthy daily diet in addition to offering color enhancing properties.

The Koi Spirulina is advertised as a supplementary diet that provides aggressive color enhancing properties.

Both of these pellets are designed to stay afloat on your tank or pond water.

Feeding Directions

The feeding instructions are identical for these products.

If the water temperature of your Koi tank or pond is between 60°F to 70°F, then you can feed as much as your pets are willing to eat for up to 5 minutes at 1 to 2 times per day.

At temperatures warmer than 70°F, you can feed as much as your pets are willing to eat for up to 5 minutes at 2 to 4 times per day.

To prevent water quality issues, you may want to remove any uneaten pellets from your aquarium or pond after each feeding session.

Ingredients

You can find the ingredients used to make the Hikari Koi Gold and Hikari Koi Spirulina below (Note: the most prominent ingredients are listed on top for both of these pellets):

Hikari Koi Gold:

• Wheat flour
• Soybean meal
• Fish meal
• Rice bran
• Corn gluten meal
• Brewers dried yeast
• Spirulina
• Fish oil
• Garlic
• Dried seaweed meal
• Krill meal
• Mono calcium phosphate
• Choline chloride
• Vitamin E supplement
• L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C)
• D-calcium pantothenate
• Riboflavin
• Vitamin A supplement
• Thiamine mononitrate
• Pyridoxine hydrochloride
• Niacin
• Folic acid
• Vitamin D3 supplement
• Biotin
• Salt
• Disodium phosphate
• Ferrous sulfate
• Magnesium sulfate
• Zinc sulfate
• Manganese sulfate
• Copper sulfate
• Calcium iodate
• Red 3 (artificial color)
• Yellow 5 (artificial color)

Hikari Koi Spirulina:

• Fish meal
• Wheat flour
• Flaked corn
• Krill meal
• Soybean meal
• Spirulina
• Dehydrated alfalfa meal
• Wheat germ meal
• Brewers dried yeast
• DL-methionine
• Garlic
• Dried seaweed meal
• Astaxanthin
• Rice bran
• Choline chloride
• Vitamin E supplement
• L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C)
• Inositol
• D-calcium pantothenate
• Riboflavin
• Vitamin A supplement
• Thiamine mononitrate
• Pyridoxine hydrochloride
• Niacin
• Folic acid
• Vitamin D3 supplement
• Biotin
• Vitamin B12 supplement
• P-aminobenzoic acid
• Disodium phosphate
• Salt
• Ferrous sulfate
• Magnesium sulfate
• Zinc sulfate
• Manganese sulfate
• Copper sulfate
• Calcium iodate
• Blue 2 lake (artificial color)
• Blue 2 (artificial color)

Nutritional Values

When it comes to nutritional values, the Hikari Koi Gold offers more Vitamin E.

On the other hand, the Hikari Koi Spirulina provides more Crude Protein, Ash, Vitamin A, Vitamin D3 and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

The two pellets have the same approximate concentration of Crude Fat, Crude Fiber, Moisture and Phosphorus.

You can find a breakdown of nutritional values below:

Hikari Koi Gold:

• Crude Protein: min. 35.0%
• Crude Fat: min. 3.0%
• Crude Fiber: max. 5.0%
• Moisture: max. 10.0%
• Ash: max. 13.0%
• Phosphorus: min. 1.0%
• Vitamin A: min. 8,700 IU/kg
• Vitamin D3: min. 1,300 IU/kg
• Vitamin E: min. 1,200 IU/kg
• Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C): min. 190 mg/kg

Hikari Koi Spirulina:

• Crude Protein: min. 40.0%
• Crude Fat: min. 3.0%
• Crude Fiber: max. 5.0%
• Moisture: max. 10.0%
• Ash: max. 16.0%
• Phosphorus: min. 1.0%
• Vitamin A: min. 20,000 IU/kg
• Vitamin D3: min. 3,000 IU/kg
• Vitamin E: min. 620 IU/kg
• Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C): min. 440 mg/kg

Resources:

• https://www.hikariusa.com/koi_pond_folder/gold.html
• https://www.hikariusa.com/koi_pond_folder/spirulina.html