Do koi fry eat other koi fry?

[CliffandJoann]

You bet they do. I took this photo in 2004 when I was testing the macro
feature on my first 1.5 mega pixel camera. I sure got a surprise when I saw the photo
for the first time. You can actually see the woo-be-gone expression on the little fry's face.
look at the top fish.

 

[j.w]

Poor babies but then if they didn't we'd be swamped w/ too many fish too many times! I just don't want to see it happening in my own pond...........they can do it behind my back

 

[DrDave]

I always isolate the big fry from the small for that reason.

 

[koiguy1969]

ITS TRUE THEY DO. but its usually only the first week, maybe a couple weeks..the larger ones are called "tobies" theyre the first born usually and get bigger by eating the smaller ones. some die from trying to digest ones that are too big to pass. i've pulled dead tobies with 1/2 a fish hanging out their anus....like DrDave said i segregate them as soon as any show any significant size differences.

 

[VanDiesil]

Carp in the wild (usually the "common" normal scaled type) will turn carnivorous during the year - especially after spawning. I have watched wild carp eating 3-4" long fish with abandon in some lakes, and even seen them caught on half seafish baits intended for carnivorous species such as Pike, Wels Catfish or Eels - all year round! Something to do with the mouth shape from what I have determined after speaking to a couple of authorities in the carp angling world.

 

[Koilady]

When breeding our Koi, we remove the breeders to a pond where they will spawn and then I put them back with the other adults.

Your's Koily, Lorraine

 

[lada]

How do I see the photo thank you new here I just bread what looks like thousands of koi and also think they are eating each other

 

[j.w]

@lada
You can't see the photo due to it being so old as the format has changed since then or something or other. Fish can only eat what they can get into their mouths so same size koi can't eat same size as they are I believe.

 

[WaterGardener]

Breeders separate the larger fry, called Tobies, from the smaller ones to prevent them from eating the smaller ones. You need more than one tank to raise them, sometimes several for all the different sized fry.