Male/Female

[koifishgirl]

When I get my koi I am going to take a pic of vent so he can tell me what mine is for sure. Wont be long end of the month.

[koifishgirl]

the koi has been confirmed female , no milt and vent has been checked for sex . I am so happy even though she is small.

[gregbickal]

Great topic guys!!

Ok, here are two vent pictures. Taken under anestetic with clove oil.

The first one, is a 18" Nisai Nogami kohaku
The second one, is a 16" Nisai Hirashin Yamabuki

I think the Kohaku is Male, and the Yamabuki is female. Am I right ?

[gregbickal]

See above pictures

[bekko]

That would be my guess too - but its only a guess. When it is closer to spawning season, the female's vent will become a little swollen with hints of red around the perimeter, but the male's will not change. Has the yamabuki been fasting?

-steve hopkins

[gregbickal]

I am feeding minimal food as the koi are inside for the winter. Water temperature is hovering around 70F.

The yamabuki is the one I posted pictures of on another thread that had the pop-eye and the tail ulcer. I have been feeding anti-botic food, doing injections, etc.

I sure hope it is a female, then I will have a male and female to breed.

[bekko]

I completed a draft of a short article on sexing goldfish and koi for inclusion in our next club newsletter. It's on my website in case anyone is interested - but you have to promise to tell me about any mistakes you find.

http://www.raingarden.us/sexingkoiandgoldfish.pdf

-steve

[GCSpyder]

Hi Steve,

Very comprehensive information. Thanx much.

Cheers..

[ranskye]

no mistakes steve, pretty spot on. if you cant tell with all those tell tale signs then the fish is plain old out of good health or too young. good to see someone explaining that certain signs arent foolproof and to look at a few if not sure.
its funny but those goldfish really do have the stronger pec frame to hold the pimples out strong and more sturdy and pronounced along the body for further distance, often so obvious..ive got these boys that have it like a mean weapon, but kois on the other hand seem to be much harder to tell just by that.
sometimes youve got to get them in the light to show it (by eye) and not feel it by hand.
you can move it about reflecting the cheek in the sunlight to show them up as even though they may not be raised to the touch, they are sitting there still.

i was thinking the other day how i rememeber accidentally spearing a koi with an aluminium rod and finding it swimming round the next day with its belly open and it had eggs inside at only one year old, id never have known otherwise.

[ranskye]

oh and although im very very sure toms is a female im not sure about yours greg. i dont fully want to say, the pictures just not showing what i look for straight up.
straight up it does remind me of many fish that i just leave for another season. cause ive got more. i see why you want to know now.

can you see what i mean by the swollen 3/4 ring on the outside of toms fish and the plump roundish belly? it shows off soft female, like if i was a boy koi..my god...rrrrrrrrrrr.lol.joking.but shes a good example of a female.

your fish shows nothing of that at all, and certainly no belly fat.. id say leave your fish to condition up until breeding season, sounds like its had a hard time travelling somewhat.. fix it up, rest it, feed it, give it atleast 8 weeks and then look for it under a good light, check for the spots first or milt, before you even look at the vent again.
get into that habit first.

your fish on the right, though its a dark shot and shows no protruding dimension, does looks like it could accomodate that swollen u shape being female so theres some hope there, not that i want to make you hopeful on that though. i see why yous are thinking maybe female.
i know that sometimes girls show reddish around but i see that mostly after a spawning. like a sign of the eggs being through there already. a disturbance.. so im not looking at that redness (on the right) as being a sign at all toward female because thats a different redness present.
the one on the left looks similar to the one on the right in another way.
im showing how confusing it can be when young arent i.
good.
if i said what they are with any more certainty wed soon have a full time job sexing immature internet koi...hmmmm how much moneys in that ya reckon..
just leave em for now.
sometimes im surpised by a young fish that im about to throw back for next year and then some milt will show. like this good broad sanke that i had that i was fairly sure it was a young female from above, then it ooozed on the third squeeze, it actually looked like that vent a lot...see, ive said it now..it might be a boy greg...sorry bloke. lol.

im saying its not easy with underdeveloped fish.
i dont want to spoil it for you and make you buy a fish and then you not need have..its dark here now but youve made me want to go check out some of my more underdeveloped ones so i can compare and say with more certainty.
you know.. and be a hero but its the last week of spawning here though so i wont bother.