Butterfly koi Help

[BrynHughes0203]

Hello Everyone looking for some advice so yesterday I bought a butterfly koi and put it in to our pond with the rest of the fish and all seemed fine, this morning I went out and noticed it was been chased? Or harassed by mostly goldfish and a couple of koi we are not sure if it's a female so maybe trying to breed? Or a male trying to show who's boss it has been happening all day so a few hours ago we netted it out and put it in to a small separate bay and small pump in with it but it's just been laying on the bottom for hours now so not sure if it's dying or it's just really stressed and tired and don't want to do the wrong thing we are going to call the place we got it from tomorrow and try and fine out what to do but any help would be appreciated thanks

 

[BrynHughes0203]

Short video of it being followed

 

[j.w]

and welcome @BrynHughes0203
Looks like they want to spawn w/her. She could tire out and need a rest. If they are now leaving her alone I would just let her rest.

 

[BrynHughes0203]

View attachment 142518and welcome @BrynHughes0203
Looks like they want to spawn w/her. She could tire out and need a rest. If they are now leaving her alone I would just let her rest.

We thought it was a she but dad moved her out of the main pond and (she) is now resting I guess but they were at her all day and she seems stressed or tired? But she hasn't moved for a few hours now just don't want to do the wrong thing it's the first fish I've bought for the pond would you suggest putting her back in ? Or leaving it for a few days ? There are a few lilipads and weed for her to lay eggs but just trust me to get a female thanks for your help tho

 

[GBBUDD]

Aggressive males can kill, in breeding i have had to remove a couple fish for this reason. And yes looks like breeding i have never seen an aggressive KOI outside of breeding

 

[mrsclem]

How big is this koi? She looks small for egg laying size

 

[j.w]

If the water she is in is the same water from the pond and the container is big enough and would be nice if it had a filter or aerator in it.Maybe some plants to hide in also then I think she would get a nice rest. When she looks better you can try and put her back in the pond and see how it goes.

 

[Lisak1]

yesterday I bought a butterfly koi and put it in to our pond with the rest of the fish

I am not trying to pick on you, and honestly we have all probably done the same thing, but any time you add a new fish to an established pond you are taking a risk of upsetting the balance. Quarantining the new fish is often recommended, but even that is no guarantee that the existing pond or fish won't affect the new fish or the new fish won't affect the existing fish. It's just the nature of a pond - you take a chance and it might be fine, or it might not.

You also need to assess whether your pond is big enough for koi. They grow big and fast!

I do think in this case you're seeing spawning behavior, but that can be very stressful to a fish. Add that to being caught, bagged, moved, and added to a new pond and things can go wrong very quickly.

Good luck with your fish - its a beautiful koi!

 

[GBBUDD]

One thing i use to do with my aquariums is to place a new fish into a confined area one where ALL the other fish could see and smell the new fish BUT they could not get to the new fish because of the plexi glass container . When i finaly released the fish the others were use to the new fish but were also use to not being able to harrase the new fish

 

[brokensword]

One thing i use to do with my aquariums is to place a new fish into a confined area one where ALL the other fish could see and smell the new fish BUT they could not get to the new fish because of the plexi glass container . When i finaly released the fish the others were use to the new fish but were also use to not being able to harrase the new fish

definitely a good idea, GB; similar to how they told us to intro new cats to the old cats. When I was more heavily into aquariums and tropical fish, I USED to quarantine but found the fish didn't do as well as just putting them straight into the aquarium; I definitely lost more fish quarantining. BUT! I also typically moved the furniture around so the resident fish had other things to think about than chasing a newbie.

And in the end, if you know fish and have some experience, you learn which fish to purchase and from where; if your source is reputable and you've had good experiences, they've basically done the vetting for you.

 

[poconojoe]

Spawning...the males are relentless.
I sometimes see two or three males chasing down one female.
The poor females get beat up badly sometimes.
The females sometimes get so exhausted, they burrow themselves in the plants for sanctuary.