Pond construction begins

[Bob Hart]

So now you 'are' a Koi breeder!

[koifishgirl]

Unexpected mother, Now I have got to get ready to cull from a mass spawn and Im not sure what I will come up with. Who knows I might just be able to keep one or two from the lot. Their are quite a few fry from this spawn and need to know when to start pulling the pond and about what to do with the tobies since I only have on pond full of water right now. I am trying to get another pond full but it may take longer than the time that I have. Any thought on what I need to do?

[Bob Hart]

What are the parents KFG? I probably missed a post somewhere, where you said what you put in there.

If you've got a few mixed Koi, you are going to have trouble deciding on what traits of what you see as small fry to keep.

[bekko]

You have some time Judy. Find a 10 to 15 foot seine with 1/4 inch mesh. Do not get over-anxious to try it or the small ones will be gilled by the netting or buried in the mud.

You may want to try one of those funnel traps (minnow taps) - sometimes they work, sometimes not. Use a little dog food or large pellets for bait and put it in shallow water where there is plenty of oxygen. You can also try a lift net (umbrella net) set in the corner where you normally feed them. Both are safe to use at any size.

-steve

[MikeM]

Congrats!

LOL ... this thread is truly becoming a soap opera of trials, tribulations and ...what will be next?

[koifishgirl]

Not a clue Mike what is in the cards right now. It has been a tough go so far. When you have never done anything like this you run a little scared, or at least I have. Im listening to you guys telling me what to do and sometimes I still dont do it, not saying that its not the right thing to do, I just know me if it can be done wrong I can do it


Bod since it was a mass spawn, Im thinking the only female that could have spawned was a Kohaku and a male Kohaku and a koi that I dont know what it is. Two males and one female I think. Im not sure though as their are other males in the pond but most of them I think would be to small, they were stunted in my main pond, If they could keep up with the others they may have got in the act but I dont think so. There could be another pair or two that are small and I mean very small females that may have spawned with the small males, I just have to wait and see what I come up with. I also have a crow koi that is a female and she could have spawned. I will say this that most of the fry are a very light yellow and the others look to be black. I have to many fry come to think of it for one female so there had to be a few that spawned. I thought koi had to be a least two years old to spawn and most of these koi I dont think are that old. Most of them are about 6 to 7 inch koi excluding the two Kohaku and the crow and the no scales koi. I will see if I can find a pic of the koi and maybe you guys can tell me what he is. He was in my main pond when the other koi where spawning and he showed no interest in the spawn and stayed out of it. So he may not have been in this one. Most of the fry look like Kohaku fry. Oh yes the male is a kikokuryu, someone has already told me what he was, ugly to. The female crow koi is black with a orange bellie and orange and black head she is a long fin koi.
The female Kohaku is small, I would say no more 12 inches, and the male I would say no more than 10. The kikokuryu is about a 16 inch male and the crow female is maybe 10 to 12 inches includeing fins. The female Kohaku is a two step and so is the male. They are from a hobbiest spawn and are good koi both parents came out of Japan and I need to find out the parent of these koi. A friend of the pet store owner here sold him his spawn and I was able to get three nice koi from him. They are a little small due to being raised in a lined pond but the fry should be ok right?

[jacovors]

Hi Koifishgirl,

Last season I had koi of 11 months old spawn and produce fry. So it is possible.
Never put male and female koi into one mud pond, they will spawn guaranteed.

[D@z]

Not so much the age as the size thats important. Koi need to be around 12inches for the reproductive organs to be physically big enough to spawn with any success.

[koifishgirl]

What color is Kohaku fry? Fry size _____ about how old so you think they are? Some are a little bigger ______ Most are light yellow and black Come on you breeders tell me something, even if its wrong. Oh buy the way, I forgot their is a Showa that could have got in on the action.


She is about this big

__________________________________________________ __________

Just could not help myself

I have learned the small koi can and will spawn, now Im wondering if the fry will be worth anything. If they will out grow their parent or if they will be about the same size. Most of the koi have been stunted and wondering if that will have anything to do with the size of the fry. Im having a little fun now watching them at the banks of the pond, It rained yesterday and I got my shoes so muddy had to change before work but I didn"t care. Im a new mom and so happy, now if I can cull the fry I will be doing good, thats going to be a hurdle for me. I willl want to keep em Im sure. Ice water right?

[Maurice]

If the water is warm and you have plenty of live food, I'd say about a week old from hatching, but could be 2 weeks if conditions are not right.

Get the right conditions and they could be bigger than their parents in 3 months. But it sounds as if you do not have big gene with those parents.
Yellow fry could be any of many, kohaku, yellow showa fry, yamabuki, early sanke fry. Yellow and black could be sanke, sanke x kohaku, this normally takes a couple of weeks to show.

Maurice.