Koi Breeding

[ECW]

I went outside today to look at my koi and through the water hyacinth and water lettuce I see a couple two to three inch baby koi! What a surprise! Stoked that they bred and some of the babies survived! Wasn't even trying to breed them and had no idea they were going to breed so easily in my pond. Is it really that easy to breed koi?!?

Anyways they are two to three inches (about the size of normal feeder comets) and I was wondering, for any of you who have experience, how old do you think they are? I'm guessing they found enough food from the insects (such as mosquito larve, etc), detrius, and baby fancy guppies in there as well as some of the flakes we throw in for the guppies. There are only a few though - Im guessing that the parents ate most of the eggs and babies - but i'm glad to see that some of the babies survived.

 

[joe jaskot]

Koi grow very fast. A 2" to 3" koi is approximately 2-3 months old.

 

[ECW]

Thanks. So... I guess they were born sometime in August.

 

[joe jaskot]

Thanks. So... I guess they were born sometime in August.

Don't know about koi in Hawaii, but in the lower 48, most koi spawn in the spring, usually late May - early June, when the water begins to warm up . Koi usually begin to spawn at 2 1/2 to 3 years of age, and will continue to spawn for many years. Sometimes koi eggs can be introduced into a pond by the addition of new plants which may have the eggs attached to their roots. Koi grow quickly and should reach 6"-9'" in length their first year.

 

[ECW]

hmmm... interesting. So they usually only spawn once a year? Is there a way to save more babies without separating the koi? I don't even know who the parents are. I am pretty sure that the eggs were not introduced in my pond and it was my koi breeding (2.5 to 3 years sounds about right for the age of my koi colony) because I haven't put any new plants in there for at least a couple years. I just keep throwing the water lettuce and water hyacinths away, they reproduce too fast!! Maybe I should be more carefull and look at the plants roots before I throw them away eh?