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#1
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Koi Spawning
My Koi appear to be spawning. I've never noticed this behavior before
as they were probably too young. I found clear small balls floating on the top of the pond in clumps. I removed them the second time I saw them to a separate container (the first time I left them and they appeared to be eaten). Are these fertilized eggs, or did I remove them to soon? How do you know the difference between fertilized and non-fertilized eggs? |
#2
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Silly me. I think what I scooped up was actually Koi semen. 30
minutes after I put it in the container, it was dissolved. It looked like foam when I first scooped i tup. |
#3
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Koi eggs are generally not found floating out in the pond. The female is
pushed against the side of the pond, plant pots, plants, rocks, or whatever is handy to help her expel the eggs. The eggs, at least once fertilized, which is being done by the male during expulsion, are very sticky and will be stuck to the plants, rocks, liner, pots or whatever. They are generally a light amber color and cover everything. If the number of fish spawning is fairly high, there will be a coating of milt on the surface of the water that will be kind of whitish, and may be foamy. With high levels, it will have a very definite aroma, the smell of sex. If the fish have been spawning, there are very high levels of protein in the eggs and milt, and this will lead to very high ammonia levels, so be sure to check for ammonia and treat with amquel or similar. The ammonia will be taken care of by the filter bacteria within a few days, but nitrites will shoot up, and it may take weeks for them to come back down. -- RichToyBox http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html "Mike C" wrote in message oups.com... My Koi appear to be spawning. I've never noticed this behavior before as they were probably too young. I found clear small balls floating on the top of the pond in clumps. I removed them the second time I saw them to a separate container (the first time I left them and they appeared to be eaten). Are these fertilized eggs, or did I remove them to soon? How do you know the difference between fertilized and non-fertilized eggs? |
#4
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Mike C wrote:
Silly me. I think what I scooped up was actually Koi semen. 30 minutes after I put it in the container, it was dissolved. It looked like foam when I first scooped i tup. Exactly right! Spawning is one of the primary causes of foam in a garden pond. It _is_ a good idea to scoop out the foam. -- derek |
#5
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"Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Mike C wrote: Silly me. I think what I scooped up was actually Koi semen. 30 minutes after I put it in the container, it was dissolved. It looked like foam when I first scooped i tup. Exactly right! Spawning is one of the primary causes of foam in a garden pond. It _is_ a good idea to scoop out the foam. -- derek ========================= Because my ponds are netted that would be a real pain in the keester. It disappears in 24 hours on it's own. The first time they spawned several years ago I checked for an ammonia spike - there was none. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o |
#6
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Reel McKoi wrote:
"Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Mike C wrote: Silly me. I think what I scooped up was actually Koi semen. 30 minutes after I put it in the container, it was dissolved. It looked like foam when I first scooped i tup. Exactly right! Spawning is one of the primary causes of foam in a garden pond. It _is_ a good idea to scoop out the foam. Because my ponds are netted that would be a real pain in the keester. It disappears in 24 hours on it's own. The first time they spawned several years ago I checked for an ammonia spike - there was none. It's not a hard rule - and the bigger your pond the less likely it is to cause trouble. If ammonia never appeared, it's not a problem at all. But foam of any kind indicates a high organic load in the pond, and scooping it as it develops is the simplest form of control. If it was a real problem, then you'd want to consider a protein skimmer - which wouldn't be a problem with a netted pond. -- derek |
#7
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If I find the eggs, is it wise too remove them? My pond is fairly
small and I would imagine they would probably all be eaten otherwise. |
#8
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"Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Reel McKoi wrote: "Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Mike C wrote: Silly me. I think what I scooped up was actually Koi semen. 30 minutes after I put it in the container, it was dissolved. It looked like foam when I first scooped i tup. Exactly right! Spawning is one of the primary causes of foam in a garden pond. It _is_ a good idea to scoop out the foam. Because my ponds are netted that would be a real pain in the keester. It disappears in 24 hours on it's own. The first time they spawned several years ago I checked for an ammonia spike - there was none. It's not a hard rule - and the bigger your pond the less likely it is to cause trouble. If ammonia never appeared, it's not a problem at all. But foam of any kind indicates a high organic load in the pond, and scooping it as it develops is the simplest form of control. If it was a real problem, then you'd want to consider a protein skimmer - which wouldn't be a problem with a netted pond. -- derek Hmmm. I have a reef tank, and everything I've ever read about protein skimmers (I have two different ones) says that they don't work with fresh water. I haven't actually attempted to use one this way so I am just going by what I have read. Something about the surface tension being to low in freshwater. Now, if the water was really fouled up, it might work for a while. |
#9
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"Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Reel McKoi wrote: "Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Mike C wrote: Silly me. I think what I scooped up was actually Koi semen. 30 minutes after I put it in the container, it was dissolved. It looked like foam when I first scooped i tup. Exactly right! Spawning is one of the primary causes of foam in a garden pond. It _is_ a good idea to scoop out the foam. Because my ponds are netted that would be a real pain in the keester. It disappears in 24 hours on it's own. The first time they spawned several years ago I checked for an ammonia spike - there was none. It's not a hard rule - and the bigger your pond the less likely it is to cause trouble. If ammonia never appeared, it's not a problem at all. But foam of any kind indicates a high organic load in the pond, and scooping it as it develops is the simplest form of control. If it was a real problem, then you'd want to consider a protein skimmer - which wouldn't be a problem with a netted pond. -- derek ============ I don't think it would be worth the cost considering they only breed a few times in the spring. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o |
#10
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"Mike C" wrote in message ups.com... If I find the eggs, is it wise too remove them? My pond is fairly small and I would imagine they would probably all be eaten otherwise. ========================================= I removed the eggs this year. They were stuck to several bunches of parrots feather. Few survive if left with the adult fish. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o |
#11
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"Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... "Mike C" wrote in message ups.com... If I find the eggs, is it wise too remove them? My pond is fairly small and I would imagine they would probably all be eaten otherwise. ========================================= I removed the eggs this year. They were stuck to several bunches of parrots feather. Few survive if left with the adult fish. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o If you remove the eggs, they must be aerated in order for them to have a change at surviving. You can do this by using an airstone to run of gentle stream of air bubbles over the eggs. Oh, and keep the temperature steady. |
#12
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"George" wrote in message news7vce.27502$WI3.23874@attbi_s71... "Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... "Mike C" wrote in message ups.com... If I find the eggs, is it wise too remove them? My pond is fairly small and I would imagine they would probably all be eaten otherwise. ========================================= I removed the eggs this year. They were stuck to several bunches of parrots feather. Few survive if left with the adult fish. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o If you remove the eggs, they must be aerated in order for them to have a change at surviving. ## I did not aerate them. I dropped the parrots feather in 3 barrels and one 150 gallon kiddy pool. They hatched in less than a week. You can do this by using an airstone to run of gentle stream of air bubbles over the eggs. Oh, and keep the temperature steady. ## You can't do that outside in large tubs or pools (zone 6). -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o |
#13
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"Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... "Mike C" wrote in message ups.com... If I find the eggs, is it wise too remove them? My pond is fairly small and I would imagine they would probably all be eaten otherwise. ========================================= I removed the eggs this year. They were stuck to several bunches of parrots feather. Few survive if left with the adult fish. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o Here is a good article on spawning koi: http://www.akca.org/library/spawn2.htm |
#14
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George wrote:
"Derek Broughton" wrote in message ... Hmmm. I have a reef tank, and everything I've ever read about protein skimmers (I have two different ones) says that they don't work with fresh water. I haven't actually attempted to use one this way so I am just going by what I have read. Something about the surface tension being to low in freshwater. Now, if the water was really fouled up, it might work for a while. Everything you will read about protein skimmers says they're not nearly as effective in fresh water. That doesn't mean they don't work. Think about it. We've all seen foam at the bottom of water falls - often in cleaner water than we have in our ponds. Steve Meyer, who wrote about pond fish for years in AFM magazine swears by them for ponds. -- derek |
#15
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"Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... "George" wrote in message news7vce.27502$WI3.23874@attbi_s71... "Reel McKoi" wrote in message ... "Mike C" wrote in message ups.com... If I find the eggs, is it wise too remove them? My pond is fairly small and I would imagine they would probably all be eaten otherwise. ========================================= I removed the eggs this year. They were stuck to several bunches of parrots feather. Few survive if left with the adult fish. -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o If you remove the eggs, they must be aerated in order for them to have a change at surviving. ## I did not aerate them. I dropped the parrots feather in 3 barrels and one 150 gallon kiddy pool. They hatched in less than a week. You can do this by using an airstone to run of gentle stream of air bubbles over the eggs. Oh, and keep the temperature steady. ## You can't do that outside in large tubs or pools (zone 6). -- McKoi.... the frugal ponder... ~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o No, but you can do it indoors, in a small aquarium set up as an incubator. |
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