My Breeding Plan....

[poisonXvenom]

Hi, I've been addicted to the koi hobby for about a year now... It's spring and now I've decided to try and breed them~

Currently, I have a 3,000 gallon pond and a 1,000 gallon INTEX pool as the breeding tank.... The tank is circulated with the main pond's filtered water.

I plan to spawn a female Showa 17" with two 16~18" Kohaku Males in the breeding tank. I have spawning materials set up around the edges and plan to set up aeration and sponge filters...

I also have a 3yr old female Sanke roughly similar size but I don't have any other big males. However, I have around 5 (showa, sanke, kohaku) males around 6~8 inches. **Are these males sexually mature?**

Also, I've heard from locals that koi usually breed around late april from where I live...

So, my questions are:

1) What would I need to do in terms of placement.. Should I put the females in the tank and then introduce the males later? Or put them all together?
2) What is the best way to make them spawn, any tips?
3) If I do get eggs, should I stop the water circulation from the main tank ( about 500gph)
4) If my showa and kohaku's breed, will I get fry that are kohaku or showa, or both?:bowdown:
5) Do you think I should put the female showa and sanke with the 2 Big males and other small males. Or would it be better to just have the female showa with 2 big male kohaku's alone in the breeding tank?

I'll attach some pictures to give you an idea..

Please leave your feedback!

Thanks,
Danny

 

[DrDave]

Hi, I've been addicted to the koi hobby for about a year now... It's spring and now I've decided to try and breed them~

Currently, I have a 3,000 gallon pond and a 1,000 gallon INTEX pool as the breeding tank.... The tank is circulated with the main pond's filtered water.

I plan to spawn a female Showa 17" with two 16~18" Kohaku Males in the breeding tank. I have spawning materials set up around the edges and plan to set up aeration and sponge filters...

I also have a 3yr old female Sanke roughly similar size but I don't have any other big males. However, I have around 5 (showa, sanke, kohaku) males around 6~8 inches. **Are these males sexually mature?**

Also, I've heard from locals that koi usually breed around late april from where I live...

So, my questions are:

1) What would I need to do in terms of placement.. Should I put the females in the tank and then introduce the males later? Or put them all together?
2) What is the best way to make them spawn, any tips?
3) If I do get eggs, should I stop the water circulation from the main tank ( about 500gph)
4) If my showa and kohaku's breed, will I get fry that are kohaku or showa, or both?
5) Do you think I should put the female showa and sanke with the 2 Big males and other small males. Or would it be better to just have the female showa with 2 big male kohaku's alone in the breeding tank?

I'll attach some pictures to give you an idea..

Please leave your feedback!

Thanks,
Danny

1. Put the adult females and males together.
2. When May 1st arrives, toss in some floating plants or spawning ropes and do a partial water change, if they are ready, they will go for it.
3. Either harvest the eggs or remove the adults 8 hours after the spawn starts.
4. You will get a variety no matter what combination you put in.
5. Keep the smaller 6-8" out, they are not ready.
May and June are most likely for you, that is when mine spawn.
Set up some brine shrimp hatcheries and be ready to run them 24/7 for 6 weeks. I use 4 and harvest 2 each day for the live food.

 

[poisonXvenom]

Quick Question

Is there a trigger such as introducing a male to the female?

Or does it start producing eggs automatically as temperatures go up?

I'm asking this because I recently got the female showa and it doesn't look plump in the belly area at all? Maybe this is a male? I bought this from Kodama Koi and they classified it as a female.

 

[DrDave]

Maybe it isn't a female. How long is it? Also, just because they are female does not mean they can pop out eggs at will. When a female is ready, she usually is so fat, and it looks like she is going to burst.

 

[poisonXvenom]

It's 18 inches long....3 years old It's thE first attatched pic

 

[DrDave]

That Koi appears to be female, but that picture does not show any sign of eggs in her belly. If she had eggs and was ready, there would be a bulge on both sides.