8 replies to this topic

[DrDave]

I will take some photos tomorrow of my newest addition and add it to this thread. In the meantime what have you done to create a nursery for your baby Koi?

[leeannecastro]

I put a large cooler next to my pond with a air bubbler in it. I can close the lid during the day and this keeps the water cool. I also can drain it easily and replace the water once a week. I put a few large rocks and hyacinths in there for them to hide. Once they get about an inch long, I toss them into the main pond and let them fend for themselves. The ones I didn't net out of the pond hang out in my bog. Those suckers are fast!

[Olee]

I have done nothing. They are swimming around happily eating the algae off the sides and off my plants. Should I be doing something special? Ther are about 50 of the little buggers. I hope I find someone to take them off my hands. I do not want to sell them on Ebay or anything like that. I may keep one or two but if someone doesn't take them off my hands or they don't get eaten, they may be helping my tomato plants grow.......

[mrsclem]

This is the first year of having koi that we have had a lot of babies make it. In 16 years we have only had 1 baby koi make it to maturity. Last year we built a playpen out of PVC and nettingto salvage our water lilies from the large koi and this year they used it as a spawning grounds! I had to go in and net 4 large koi out of the playpen! Needless to say, this year I have about 50 fry of koi and not sure how many goldies as they are black at this time and hard to count.

[Olee]

What seems to be the reason that they don't make it? How big do they get before you notice the attrition? Mine are now about 2-3" long and starting to show some color...

[DrCase]

Got any pics DrDave ???

[DrDave]

OK DrCase;
I know I promised. Here are a few shots of the still work in process Nursery pond. Notice the water in, is polished, with a filter pad that is changed daily. The drain is a shower drain that has a 1 1/2" adapter and abs pipe back to the pond. The small grill keeps the baby Koi in the Nursery and even though I don't promote skimmers, it does skim the surface scum and dust.

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[DrCase]

That does look good
Gives the fry a lot more room to grow
And the plants look like they like it to

[DrDave]

I'm hoping that they color up faster now that they are getting UV from the sun.