Found a tiny baby koi in my koi fish pond

[SallySeagull]

Today I got really exited to find a tiny koi fish in my koi fish pond. I looked for more but it seems that’s he’s the only survivor. I moved it to a large pot that has typha plant to avoid it being eaten by the bigger fish. Is what I did okay? Do I need to feed it or it would find food in the pot?

 

[mrsclem]

It's probably not the only one! The babies are really good at hiding so they don't get eaten. You may find you have a lot more once they get larger and start coming out to eat.

 

[JRS]

Welcome to the forum! It is always neat to see the first spawn. May very briefly be ok in the pot but not enough info to say really. Are you thinking about letting it get bigger and putting it back in the pond? Any further information on your setup, pictures or fish size would help us give more educated advice.

 

[j.w]

@SallySeagull
You can give it a bit of tiny flake food or grind up some of your koi food. Not much tho as the food will mess up the water if left to rot in there.

 

[SallySeagull]

Welcome to the forum! It is always neat to see the first spawn. May very briefly be ok in the pot but not enough info to say really. Are you thinking about letting it get bigger and putting it back in the pond? Any further information on your setup, pictures or fish size would help us give more educated advice.

Thanks! Yes I’d love to see it grow and put it back in the pond! But I’m clueless on how to take care of it. Hope these pics of my pond and the tiny fellow (about 1 cm long) help. I live in a hot climate, 30-45 degrees centigrade

 

[SallySeagull]

View attachment 157237
View attachment 157238@SallySeagull
You can give it a bit of tiny flake food or grind up some of your koi food. Not much tho as the food will mess up the water if left to rot in there.

Thanks

 

[SallySeagull]

It's probably not the only one! The babies are really good at hiding so they don't get eaten. You may find you have a lot more once they get larger and start coming out to eat.

I hope so! Thanks

 

[JRS]

Thanks for the pics. Very nice setup. With all those plants and rocks on the bottom, I would agree with mrsclem, there are likely a lot more unseen babies. See how the one you found does in the pot. You may have more babies than your system can handle as they grow if there are more. A common issue on the forum with well tended ponds.

 

[SallySeagull]

Thanks
You’re right! I found another tinier one but couldn’t catch it to put it in the typha pot with the one I found earlier. I crushed a small palette and threw it in the pot, hopefully the little one feeds on it. I have 11 koi fish about 6” tall in my pond. Do you think it’s too much for the size of my pond? btw, do you have any idea how to get rid of mosquitoes around the pond? I can’t sit near the pond without being bitten by them.
Thanks

 

[GBBUDD]

Dragon flies and bats are fantastic bug eaters.
But if your breeding skeeters in your pond . It could be as simple as you need to get some circulation in your pond if the water is moving around the mosquitos will not survive

 

[Laaf]

I leave baby fish in the pond. Survival of the fittest. I obsessively crawl around the pond edges on my hands and knees looking for them when they are eyelash sized! I understand wanting the baby in a safer place. But at some point you have to put it back, and it will not be familiar with the pond environment anymore. I think it is fine to keep it in the separate pot longer to see how it is growing for your observation. But it is also fine to put it back in the pond. If you have seen 2 there may be another 100 hiding. Most will not survive to adulthood.

 

[SallySeagull]

Dragon flies and bats are fantastic bug eaters.
But if your breeding skeeters in your pond . It could be as simple as you need to get some circulation in your pond if the water is moving around the mosquitos will not survive

I have an electric filter with uv light and a chiller, since I live in a hot climate. How can I attract dragon flies?

 

[SallySeagull]

I leave baby fish in the pond. Survival of the fittest. I obsessively crawl around the pond edges on my hands and knees looking for them when they are eyelash sized! I understand wanting the baby in a safer place. But at some point you have to put it back, and it will not be familiar with the pond environment anymore. I think it is fine to keep it in the separate pot longer to see how it is growing for your observation. But it is also fine to put it back in the pond. If you have seen 2 there may be another 100 hiding. Most will not survive to adulthood.

Thanks! I think I’ll take your advise and return it to the pond and hope for the best.

 

[GBBUDD]

The answer is water movement... adding circulation will benefit the pond in many ways and give your fish a playground

 

[SallySeagull]

Thank you so much