About Nutramare

Nutramare has made its mission to develop animal nutrition products based on the latest scientific research findings. All Koi products are therefore nutrient-optimized and adapted to the natural needs of your Koi.

Transparency is our top priority. Our founder David Otto has been working in the feed factory as a recipe developer for several years. The high-quality Nutramare Koi feed is developed on the basis of his experience in the feed factory.

 

The Nutramare Principles

  • Quality
  • Regionality
  • Scientificity
  • Transparency

We are Nutramare:

Nutramare Founder

The founders David Otto (right) and Sebastian Magolz (left) founded Nutramare GmbH in 2018. In the beautiful Hanseatic city of Rostock, they develop science-based products to improve animal nutrition in the long term.

 

Our common task

Product development for optimal animal nutrition based on the latest scientific findings

 

Our founding story and Nutramare philosophy

Since early childhood, I (David Otto) have been fascinated by Koi and all types of fish. Parallel to my studies, I had the opportunity to work as a feeding consultant in aquaculture and as a specialist consultant in pet shops. Together with the basics of animal nutrition that I learned during my agricultural science studies, I increasingly questioned the range of Koi food available in stores.

Thanks to my very accommodating professor, I was given the opportunity to examine the Koi feeds available on the market as part of my bachelor’s thesis. During this time, I carried out laboratory analyses of various Koi feeds to determine their composition and whether they met the requirements of animal nutrition. It turned out that all of the feeds examined did not meet the requirements.

This realization gave rise to the idea of ​​developing better Koi food. So I decided to found the company Nutramare with my long-time school friend Sebastian. Since then, he has been responsible for software development and business management tasks.

 

Intensive research as a basis

In the first year, we were able to invest our time in the scientific development of the food thanks to an EXIST start-up grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. We were also able to use the resources of the University of Rostock. As part of the grant, we were provided with rooms, laboratories and considerable material resources for research. This enabled us to carry out breeding experiments with several hundred Koi. From the very beginning, we received intensive support from the Koi importer Dennis Seidel.

Even at this early stage, it was important to me to take a scientific approach to developing my own Koi feed. In keeping with this, I specialized in animal nutrition during my master’s degree at the University of Rostock. There, I carried out feeding experiments on fish (plant-based performance enhancers) during my master’s thesis. This research laid the foundation for the use of the special herbal mixture in Nutramare feed, which supports health.

 

With creative ideas in the feed factory

Driven by further ideas for improvement and therefore increasing demands on production, I expressed special requests to our Koi360 specialty feed factory. Since our Koi360 recipe was already my own development, the feed factory offered me a job as a recipe developer and scientific advisor, which I accepted on a part-time basis. This gave me the direct opportunity to produce any imaginable feed myself. I am also directly involved in all research and further developments and carry them out myself.

Through this cooperation, I came to the company FIM Biotech GmbH during a project (aquaculture feed trial) and together with them I developed the Nutramare Active Clay as a water additive.

 

Advantage through transparency

With the experience I gained, I was able to gain a deep insight into the production and trade of fish feed and had to realize that unfortunately a lot of things are very opaque and concealed.

Therefore, with Nutramare, we have set ourselves the goal in 2021 of bringing transparency to animal nutrition and preparing the topics surrounding feed (feed production, ingredients, trade, feeding, etc.) in an understandable, scientific and objective way for the hobbyist. We want to convey the mechanisms and background from the perspective of the feed factory and a scientist in order to give customers the opportunity to evaluate their feed themselves.

Our philosophy is to offer needs-optimized food made from the highest quality raw materials with additional health promoters, but without unnecessary carbohydrates. Because high-quality raw materials and an appropriate amount of food are crucial for a healthy diet.

For more information on animal nutrition, see the Nutramare Guide .

 

Continuous Research for best feed quality

Nutramare has made it its mission to continuously conduct its own research and to check the latest research results. Only additives that have been successfully researched are included in the recipe.

Koi feeding with Koi food Nutramare Koi360

 

David Otto at Koi pond

 

For the Nutramare Koi360 research, more than 1500 kg of feed was fed to Koi. The effects of the feed on the following parameters were investigated:

  • Growth
  • Feed utilization
  • Fish health (organ fatty degeneration, obesity factor and susceptibility to disease)
  • Color development
  • Water pollution
  • Behavior in the water

 

Own research series with Ogata Japankoi

For the research series, Koi measuring 10-12cm were imported from the Ogata Koi Farm. Standard Koi were deliberately chosen because this quality level represents the Koi most commonly kept. In addition to the pure growth tests, color measurements are carried out on Gosanke using a colorimeter in order to document the color development.

 

David Otto during feeding trial with Koi food Nutramare Koi360

Successful studies for high-quality products

 

In this scientifically based study (12 months) with Nutramare Koi360, very good feed utilization, strong growth (from 12-15 cm to 35-45 cm) and color intensification were confirmed. Fatty organs did not occur.

 

Development and growth of a Benigoi

 

Growth and color development of a “Benigoi” within 12 months of cold wintering, fed with Nutramare Koi360. Left before, right after.

We are constantly working on improving our products. We are currently conducting research series on the following topics:

  • Feed utilization
  • Pre- and probiotics
  • Secondary plant substances
  • Carotenoids
  • Montmorillonite
  • Feeding and automation technology
  • Alternative protein sources