4. Spawning – Spawning usually takes 1-3 days after introducing male koi to the female koi. It can take place anytime of the day. But some of it happens around 3 am. Sometimes spawning can be triggered by temperature changes, changes in water conditions, new koi mate or water pressure changes. During this time female will occasionally stop and clean an area where she deposits her eggs. To actually spawn, your female fish will run through the spawning substrate, attracting the attention of the males, who will then follow in close attendance. After a few minutes, the female will release batches of eggs into the substrate and the males will release clouds of milt to fertilize them. When they finish spawning, the females hang their head down and the other fish will become less excited.

Note: Water Conditions: Koi will spawn when the water temperature reaches around 19 degree Celsius and no other pollutants are present in the water.

5. koi Eggs – Remove eggs as soon as they are laid to prevent parent from eating them. Move the eggs to another tank for hatching. This should contain water with approximately the same temperature as the spawning pond and should be oxygenated. It does not need to be filtered. Another option would be to transfer the parent to another tank. Fertilized eggs will hatch within 4-5 days. Koi fry will seek shelter and hide in any cover they find. The spawning ropes are ideal for this.

6. Koi fry Feeding – The fry needs adequate supply of live, natural food in order to survive and grow quickly. Proper growing on pond environment is the surest way to provide good supply of daphnia and infusoria, on which the fry will develop. Avoid artificial food for at least six to eight weeks as it can damage gills and will likely pollute the growing pond.

7. Koi Growing – After one week, you can transfer your fry into much a bigger mud pond. Fry normally reach 3-5 inches in 3 months. Factors which will affect growth rates are – temperature, food supply, volume of fish and variety. If you don’t cull you may end up with a lot more babies, but they will be very much smaller than desired. The growing on environment is also important since baby koi don’t grow well in manmade filtered ponds because of lack of natural food and the pond became easily polluted.

8. koi Culling – This part is what I’m really interested in. To cull successfully you must know the koi variety, good eyesight and body structure. There are also few basic principles that should be followed. For example. Utsuri and showas should produce black fry, and later develop red and whites spots. You should separate fry that are not black. With kohaku/sanke fry tends to be orange or orange and white. Any pure white or black should be culled. The ideal age for culling is 8-10 weeks old before you can see what koi pattern/color you’re looking for. As the fish get larger, cull out any with missing fins, deformities or two heads. You can also cull several times in the season. Culling is important to reduce numbers to ensure that the fish will reach a reasonable size and quality by the end of the season.

Hope you learn from this blog. Thanks for reading and happy koi keeping……

Yesterday, I was feeding my koi’s in their ponds where they usually hold their swimming exhibition and noticed that two of my beautiful female kuhako koi’s moved unusual and some of my male koi’s chased after them. I immediately got my fishnet and checked if they were sick and needed their medicine. When I gently rubbed their belly I noticed that some fluids came out and their genital (papilla) opening were big and swollen. From there I already knew that my koi’s were already ripe and ready to produce egg.

1. Sexing – First you need to determine the female and male koi. Females are more rounded than male. Male fish pectoral fins tend to be larger and more pointed than those females but this is by no means always the case. During the breeding season, male fish can display a rough surface to the gill plates, again however, not always. One way of determining is to net the chosen fish and gently rub the lower abdomen wall with your thumb towards the vent. Male koi will show signs milt from the vent and females will release eggs.

2. Parent Pairing – you can choose any variety you want for as long as the materials are all adult to have a successful spawning. Always remember that male genes tend to be dominant in any pairing. You can also watch video or ask some of koi breeders regarding what kind of koi variety that produce quality koi. Here is a video that shows best pair for koi breeding .Watch this..

3. Koi Spawning – in spawning the male and female koi they should be placed in the ideal pond that has 2x3x1 meter deep and use a spawning net in your main pond, use removable nests so that you can easily transfer and grow-out in a wider pond and remain others with the parent fish. You can also use tank in spawning. Some breeders inject the parent fish with hormones to induce ovulation and then placed into fiber tanks line with nest.

To be continued……

Variety: Showa

Owner : Mr. Michael Caumban

September Koi Collection

Variety: HI-Utsuri

Owner : Sir. Chase Tinio

August Koi Collection

Kuhako

Owner: Allen Roy C. Acebedo