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  • Results 1 to 13 of 13

    Thread: How do I make babies?!

    1. #1
      masood is offline Junior Member
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      How do I make babies?!

      In the seven years I've kept koi, they've only attempted a spawn once. Our pond filtration wasn't capable of handling our pond capacity so I never really gave a **** about cleaning and water changes. But recently I've decided to give it another try. I have 3 25cm koi in a 10000 litre pond. And I've recently started backwashing since I've heard that can helpclear up pond water(i have a bottom drain).
      What I want to know is, how can I create the right conditions for koi to spawn? Some general advice would really be appreciated.
      I'd so much love to see my pond teeming with koi fry

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    2. #2
      cindy's Avatar
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      Welcome to the forum.

      What has changed on the filtration? How old are the fish?

    3. #3
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      There are a number of things that will help, but your koi may be to young yet. Typically, the koi need to be in their third or fourth year before they are sexually mature enough to spawn. Factors that affect spawning of mature fish are time of year, phase of moon, and lots of fresh water. They typically spawn just once a year, so it happens in the spring when the water temperatures are rising, for those in the northern hemisphere, late April, to mid July would be most likely, so I think based on that you are past the breeding season this year. I usually found spawning happening with the full moon. A major water change gives them a nice clean bed and they have to mess it up. I have seen koi release eggs at shows where they are put into all new water.

      When they do spawn, you will find the pond smells of sex, and has a lot of foam on the surface. The older koi will gorge themselves on the eggs, eating as many as possible. The milt is high protein, the eggs are high protein, and the high activity of the fish consumes a lot of protein, and the protein becomes ammonia, which becomes nitrites, both of which are toxic, so major cleanup is highly advised. I have vacuumed the eggs from the pond and either moved them to another hatching tank or destroyed them to prevent as much as possible the damage to the water quality. I have raised several batches of fry and gotten lots of culls and only one or two keepers. Not worth the trouble, but I guess we all have to do it at least once.
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    4. #4
      Matt24's Avatar
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      One key to getting them going is something good for them to stick their eggs to. Aquatic plants work if you have them. If not, artificial plants, spawning brushes, or frayed nylon rope can help get them going. They also like changes such as a 20-30% water change, rain, or a weather front.

      And of course you need at least one male and at least one female. With only three, there is 25% chance that they are all male or all female, unless you already know for sure.

      Matt

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      masood is offline Junior Member
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      Until recently I had 8 five-year-olds(two were aged 7 at least) before seven died(i dont know their exact sizes, but. I know they were almost as long as a pitchfork shaft). Currently I have onemature(what I think is a male) and another two which I can't tell their genders which seem close to maturing(if not mature already.) I've started doing water changes and I'm going to check if clearing out the bottom muck will clear the water up(im planning to do 10% changes every second week). I've also gotten some duckweed recently which I'm hoping will help keep the algae in check.

    6. #6
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      I've also bought fifty koi fry( which I'm hoping won't turn out to be a loss) and I'll see what I get from there(they're 2months old)

    7. #7
      masood is offline Junior Member
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      I know one fish is at least three ir four years. The other two might be close to two years

    8. #8
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      Hi Masood, 10000 litre is about 2222 gallons so not a lot of water for that size koi and number of koi especially if your filter system can't cope? I am puzzle by adding more koi to a system that can't cope! Will make things better NO! My advice for what it is worth is to sort out your filter system to cope with number of koi at present and any future stocks. Otherwise you just will be building up problems until there is a major problem, which is just a matter of time. Spending time and money on an effienct filter system is money well spent, spending money on adding koi to an inadequate system is just wasting your time and money and will kill your koi! Once you have a good filter system that is coping well, then your koi will be more likely to spawn as they require the optimum water conditions to ensure that their fry survive. Koi will not spawn if the conditions are not right, 90% of those conditions are met by water quality and water temperature! I think the fact that your koi aren't spawning is because they are struggling to survive in poor water quality! You also need to trickle fresh water in to the pond. Once you sort out the filter system the water quality will rise and the koi will spawn naturally. Provided you have 1 female to 3 males and something to lay their eggs on but don't expect to leave the fry in your main pond. The adults will simply treat them as a tasty snack one or 2 might survive if you have plants in your pond. Were they can hide. Fry need to be at least 75mm in size so that adults don't eat them. Hope this helps.

    9. #9
      masood is offline Junior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by niceshowa View Post
      Hi Masood, 10000 litre is about 2222 gallons so not a lot of water for that size koi and number of koi especially if your filter system can't cope? I am puzzle by adding more koi to a system that can't cope! Will make things better NO! My advice for what it is worth is to sort out your filter system to cope with number of koi at present and any future stocks. Otherwise you just will be building up problems until there is a major problem, which is just a matter of time. Spending time and money on an effienct filter system is money well spent, spending money on adding koi to an inadequate system is just wasting your time and money and will kill your koi! Once you have a good filter system that is coping well, then your koi will be more likely to spawn as they require the optimum water conditions to ensure that their fry survive. Koi will not spawn if the conditions are not right, 90% of those conditions are met by water quality and water temperature! I think the fact that your koi aren't spawning is because they are struggling to survive in poor water quality! You also need to trickle fresh water in to the pond. Once you sort out the filter system the water quality will rise and the koi will spawn naturally. Provided you have 1 female to 3 males and something to lay their eggs on but don't expect to leave the fry in your main pond. The adults will simply treat them as a tasty snack one or 2 might survive if you have plants in your pond. Were they can hide. Fry need to be at least 75mm in size so that adults don't eat them. Hope this helps.
      Thanks for the criticism. I did realise that it was silly to add extra fish. The pond isn't really mine, but I'm trying to improve what I can where I can. I'm looking forward to improve the filtration as soon as possible.

    10. #10
      niceshowa is offline Senior Member
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      Mechanical filter like a Sieve or Drum and then Biological media. Don't think that a big filter is the answer! "I had a big filter with brushes under decking which just stored the crap and caused problems!" I now have a smaller filter system with a sieve and biological stage which is far, far better. Koi Produce vast amounts of waste that needs to be removed form the system, how you do it is up to you. It is not how big the filter it is but how efficient it is that counts but you can't over filter water!!!! (I stand to be corrected!)

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    11. #11
      masood is offline Junior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by niceshowa View Post
      Mechanical filter like a Sieve or Drum and then Biological media. Don't think that a big filter is the answer! "I had a big filter with brushes under decking which just stored the crap and caused problems!" I now have a smaller filter system with a sieve and biological stage which is far, far better. Koi Produce vast amounts of waste that needs to be removed form the system, how you do it is up to you. It is not how big the filter it is but how efficient it is that counts but you can't over filter water!!!! (I stand to be corrected!)
      Would anacharis help? I have a canal in my pond which flows to my main pond. Maybe I could stock that with some plants and pea gravel? Its about 18-20 inches deep.

    12. #12
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      If the anacharis is where the koi can get to it, it will be consumed in very short order. We encourage as many as possible to not put gravel in the ponds, as they tend to trap all kinds of debris that then decomposes in the pond, releasing ammonia and potentially releasing the very toxic hydrogen sulfide gas.
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    13. #13
      masood is offline Junior Member
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      Thanks!

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