Guide Into Breeding Koi
Monday, July 4th, 2011If you’re reading this article you probably have some experience with keeping Koi already. As you know, Koi are rather large fish and if you’re interested in breeding Koi, then you’ll need a very large tank or pond (and obviously, you’ll need a male and a female Koi).
Not every Koi is the best for breeding. You’ll want healthy Koi with good genes and if you’re trying to breed Koi of a certain color, take the color of the parents into account; it’s basic genetics, but many people forget this in their haste to breed their Koi.
Breeding Koi with success is also dependent on the age of your Koi. If your fish are too old, then the female may produce eggs which are less viable than those of a younger fish. The female Koi must also not be too young, since they will produce eggs which are protected by a very thin membrane and may not be strong enough to survive.
The ideal age for breeding Koi stock is between four and five years old.
These fish will produce the largest quantity of viable eggs and the strongest fry.
After deciding on the fish which you want to breed, you’ll want to take especially good care of them for a month or two to prepare them for breeding. Keep the female and male Koi separate during this time and feed your Koi well. Usually one male per female Koi is fine for breeding, but if you’re not prepared to take any chances with spawning, you may want to have two males per female. However, it should be kept in mind that if there is more than one male, they may become aggressive towards each other – so take care in you are breeding Koi if you will be using this method.
Koi seem to spawn the most readily during a full moon and under consistent temperature conditions.
Make sure to do your breeding at a time of year where relatively constant water temperature can be guaranteed and if at all possible, time your efforts for a full moon.
Breeding Koi is most easily done under controlled conditions; optimally a round tank which holds a minimum of 1,000 gallons and is well aerated as well as temperature controlled.
The spawning process is a little lacking in the romance department: the male usually forces the female against a surface to squeeze her eggs out. The female will then release thousands of eggs which stick to any surface they touch. The male will then fertilize the eggs with his sperm.
You’ll want to remove the adult Koi from the tank after this process is complete. Adult Koi are not quite perfect parents and will occasionally eat their own eggs as well as the young fry once hatched!
Give both of your new Koi parents a little time alone to rest and recover after spawning. They’ll need about a day in separate tanks – the male Koi is at risk of infection following spawning and the female will still give off the spawning scent; this can lead to her being accosted by other male Koi during this time.
The fry will be able to live off of the nutrients from their yolk sacs for the first day. Following this, make sure to feed your young Koi four or five times a day for the next three months -growing Koi have very healthy appetites.
If you already have a Koi fish or want to start a Koi hobby. Be sure to go to Mikel Mcsuche’s site http://www.koifishpondkeeping.com to get his free email course on koi care.




