I don't know what the babies are

[Spartamets]

My fish have been spawning like crazy this year. Do they ever know when to stop? I ask this seriously: will they get a sense that their environment can't support more of them? I started with 3 koi, 4 orfe, 3 shubunkin, 2 comets, and 1 fantail. (I actually started with a few more than that, but a heron stopped by in May.) I have too many fish to count now. Many of the babies/juveniles look like they could be koi, which scares me. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that there are 40 new fish on top of the originals. And new batches just keep coming. The pond is very healthy right now (tons of plant filtration, bolstered considerably by a waterfall/stream combo with lots more plants). I also have a pressure filter/waterfall combo that is ready to be installed next year, after I get some electrical work done in the yard--and more time, as I ran out of gas for doing any more big projects this year after adding a patio and considerable landscaping to the pond area.

I am thinking of the multiplier effect here, and I envision my fish total easily exceeding 100 by the end of next year if the behavior doesn't change, and fast. It's been kind of mind boggling how quickly but continuously the fish total has climbed in the first year of this pond's existence. Is there anything I can do? On the plus side, the new fish are mostly all pretty awesome looking, and include at least 5 black ones, which are kind of strange but cool.

 

[Jhn]

No, they don't know when to stop. You can rehome them, many on here do.
I have the same mixture of fish (orfes, koi, goldfish), all reproduce in my pond. However, they are not the top of the food chain in my pond (turtles, bullfrogs, snakes, occasional heron visit) so many of the young don't see adulthood.

 

[Spartamets]

No, they don't know when to stop. You can rehome them, many on here do.
I have the same mixture of fish (orfes, koi, goldfish), all reproduce in my pond. However, they are not the top of the food chain in my pond (turtles, bullfrogs, snakes, occasional heron visit) so many of the young don't see adulthood.

Thank you for being the bearer of bad news. I think I'll try to work out an arrangement with my local pond shop. With what I have now and especially after I add the secondary filtration system, which will be substantial, I should be able to handle what I've got unless more than a couple of the young ones are koi. But if either there are more koi than that or they keep reproducing at anything like this rate, my pond will be pushed past its limit in two or three years. Are koi/goldfish hybrids at least smaller than regular koi?

Also--I see you're in Maryland. Do you think you might want some fish next year?

 

[addy1]

I don't feed when they are spawning, they inhale the eggs. So far this has kept my level of fish in a very good range.

 

[Usman]

it depends on food too , if u feed them high protein they will breed more and if u feed them more as whole they will spawn more , this is in case of goldfishes particularly. but ur problem is they are all mixed if u feed them less , the koi will suffer

 

[Spartamets]

These are all good tips and insights. Thanks. I got a ray of hope last night in the form of a bullfrog I saw lurking in the back of the pond. I'm taking a few days off of feeding the fish, which is hard for the koi (and my plants), and hoping that the frog will thin some of the young herd while the big fish will take care of any future fish. I haven't been hearing a frog and it looked pretty big, so I was a little surprised to see it back there. It needs to eat more of my fish, though.