Male/Female

[Brady Brandwood]

Hi Tom,

From the photo the Koi looks male,... the body line and the coloration,... but once in a while we get a Koi that is basically "neutral" or undecided,... and can literally go either way as it matures,... not often.

At 2 years old, you may find out for sure by May.

Best Wishes,
Brady

[ranskye]

whats that got doitsu or something..
i couldnt say if its girl or boy from here. i like it though.
try get a real close up of the vent. vents only protrude when the female is pretty good to go with eggs, i forget the term thats used. think it starts with a P. it looks like its raised for about 3/4 a circle around the vent. picture a small rubbery clearish thin walled tyre being there..

so im thinking your pic wont likely show it well. my water has to be back on the rise (after winter temps of below 14 degrees c) it needs to get up to about 18 celcius before they show easily.
i dont know how it is for you but probably around 1 month before everyone tries to breed their first kois in your area you should find one of the signs.
ill ussually try and sex all my fish off early so i dont lose any eggs to unwanted spawning in the ponds, if i do it too early in the season i miss being able to tell on a fair few. i cut a fine line between getting a good sexing and losing a small percentage of my breeders to the first day spawning of the season.

[koifishgirl]

looks female to me.

[Tom C]

I tried milking it with no luck.

Here's a picture of it's vent.

[koifishgirl]

Have you got a koi that you know is a male? If so check it , the females vent is round and the male are somewhat long.

[ranskye]

id say that one be a female, dont know how the dealer could say by the nose anyway. note its full roundish belly and the 3/4 raised ring around its vent.
she would be a girl by my reasoning.
no bumps on the fins or cheeks, no milt yet still a big belly and the raised ring on the vent..id say you got what you wanted.

[ranskye]

actually with that one i probably wouldnt have went as far to have to squeeze it looking for milt becasue of the belly size and vent shape.

[koifishgirl]

Testing,testing testing

[Tom C]

I hope your right with it being a female. I have a few large males in a tank and the vent does look a little different. I also pulled up a few female and it look like some of them. I should know for sure once spring comes around. After pulling it today, I do think it might be a female. It seems like the belly is getting bigger.

Tom

[koifishgirl]

Good luck Tom I hope its a female to. It sure looks like one. The pic of her vent shows she is a female by a trained eye so I dont think it is in question anymore.