more fish pics

[Meekaboo]

The first two pics are of Rocky. She got really banged up during spawning. Notice the damage along her spine, on her left side and the left front fin.

3rd pic is of Scaredy Spice (on bottom)

4th pic is The Twins.

 

[DrDave]

Mine spawned the first week of June, did this just happen? Are you sure it was from the spawn? My females had no damage afterward.

I hope Rocky recovers and heals without scars.

 

[Meekaboo]

Hey DrDave,
Rocky is doing good. I'm guessing the marks you see in the picture are as good as she's going to get. The damage was done quite a while ago (the resulting babies are about 2" long now). If you look at pics of my pond you'll see that its surrounded with rocks about 5"-10" deep from the surface of the water. There is also a space under the waterfall that goes back about a foot and is about 8" down from the bottom stone of the waterfall where the fish can go under. There are small rocks scattered under there.

After watching them spawn, I figure that she got a little rambunctious and maybe flipped herself up onto the rocks and got herself stuck between two. Maybe this happened under the waterfall which would explain the marks along her spine. Looking at her front fin, it appears that it was torn in a nice straight line, which makes me think it was stuck between rocks. The spot on her side was terrible. Maybe that is from the fin being stuck and her flipping around trying to get free. It was really raw looking.

If anyone else has any theories on what may have happened to her I'd be glad to hear them.

P.S. When I previewed this message before I posted it I noticed that it was too wide to fit on my screen. I couldn't figure out how to fix it. :confused2: So if you guys see it too wide also, I'm sorry.

 

[DrDave]

The width was fine for my computer. Your photo software should have a resize option in the EDIT menu. I generally make mine 500 to 600 wide before publishing on Forums.

I won't have any sharp rocks inside my pond for several reasons. Liner and fish. I don't want either harmed.

So when was your spawn? I'm curious to know if the first week of June is when everyone can expect the event. I know it is tied to water temperature. I monitored mine daily and after it hit 70 degrees, I knew it wouln't be long. Well after a month of that, I threw in 40 water hyacinths and the koi went crazy laying eggs. My baby koi are now up to 2", but I alos have some runts that are only 1/2".

 

[Meekaboo]

Hey DrDave,

I honestly can't remember when they spawned. But I find it interesting that you say it's temperature related. I'll have to moniter it next spring and maybe keep a record.

As to sharp rocks, I have no "sharp" rocks in my pond. They are all smooth round ones of various sizes.

I really appreciate your imput and questions. I have always had a very laid-back attitude towards my pond but lately I'm wanting to know more about the "hows" and "whys".

 

[w00005414]

I read in the interpet guide to koi book that they will spawn when the temperature rises in the Spring (I want to say up to 68 degrees but can't remember) and also when the water is really clean. I do 10% water changes every 10 - 14 days or so and would notice the water would get sudsy the next morning from them spawning, the clean water must have triggered it. The koi got pretty big his year and ate up most of my water hyancinths so they didn't have too many places to lay the eggs. I have two 5 inch goldfish that were born in the pond and just tonight I noticed there were about five or six smaller fish, about 2 inches in size. In July I caught one of the baby goldfish and put it in a breeding net in my indoor tank and he is growing pretty steadily, he is about 2 inches long.... As soon as he gets a little bigger and gets some coloring I'll let him loose in the tank!

 

[DrDave]

Mine spawned the first week of June. They laid their eggs in the string algae and water hyacynth. The water temperature was a stable 70 degrees for a week before.