My Fish are Going to Spawn Soon.

[ZmanArt007]

Hey everyone!

It's been awhile. I'm back in my hometown for the summer since the semester ended, and I'm pretty sure my fish are getting ready to spawn. My largest female looks like she's going to explode. I can explain farther, but being a filmmaker, I prefer using videos to show things. Here is my planned set up for when the fish spawn:

I'm still trying to find some food for the fry. There's not a lot of brine shrimp salesmen here in Nebraska. Anyway, I'll keep you updated with what happens.

Thanks!

-Zack

 

[CountryEscape]

Great video, obviously a "filmaker"! How are the spawning mops created? Looks like you used soda/water bottles, but what is wrapped around them? The mop head, I assume? I tied my mop heads to a string on the edge of the pond, but like your idea to have them free floating in the pond, too. Good luck with your pending spawning! My goldfish spawned (one of them did anyhow) about 2 weeks ago, but have not seen any others do so since then.

 

[ZmanArt007]

How are the spawning mops created? Looks like you used soda/water bottles, but what is wrapped around them? The mop head, I assume? I tied my mop heads to a string on the edge of the pond, but like your idea to have them free floating in the pond, too.

Actually, it's just regular yarn draped over it and zip-tied. I used koikeepr's example here: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/cheap-diy-spawn-mops.3754/ but I used bottles instead of cork.

I was right, they spawned this morning. I will upload a video later.

 

[ZmanArt007]

They spawned! Here is a video update:

 

[CountryEscape]

Will be fun to watch this thread and see how many babies you get! You do know that the goldfish and koi could have intermingled, right? Either way, sounds like you are a pro, and know what you are doing. My goldfish spawned, I watched the action, and the "eaters" were right there with the female and males fertilizing her eggs. I put a string mop in the area where they spawned just in case a stray egg or two hatches, the fry may fine refuge.

 

[Dave 54]

Zack well done on becoming a parent my friend and I love the adaptions to another idea for spaning mats .
However are you in danger of loosng the eggs in the holding area you have them in simply because it is far to shallow [we pray not] but it may be a problem in the near future ?
Our QT tank /breeding tank is all of 3ft in depth and has its own filter, venturie, 15 UV-C to cover these eventualities powered by a blagdon 2000 wet or dry pump.

Dave

 

[ZmanArt007]

Update:

It's been cold here. I'm not sure the eggs are going to make it through. I threw an aquarium heater into the pool but I'm not sure it is enough. Will keep you updated if anything develops.

 

[CountryEscape]

It got really cool here, too, nights right around 50, but relief is in sight! 70's by Fri., and 80's this weekend.

 

[ZmanArt007]

So, they made it! I've found at least 20 of them. They aren't free swimming yet, I'll feed them tomorrow.

 

[CountryEscape]

Woohoo, congrats! Looks like the cooler weather didn't hinder them totally then. Will be fun watching them grow now.

 

[mrsclem]

Glad to see your fry made it. Mine spawned on Monday and the n the snapping turtle moved into the hatchery! Still have fry in there and it seems like a lot of fry in the pond. Hopefully you will have lots as well.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Well here's an update for you guys. I have probably a hundred fry swimming in the pool now. They all seem healthy and happy. I also added some more mops with eggs into the pool. The current fry might eat the hatchlings, but they will still have a better chance than the actual pond.



It's too soon to tell colors, but you can definitely tell the difference between the light and dark base colors. The majority seem to be dark in color. I hope these are koi, but I'm starting to worry that they might be goldfish.

 

[Dave 54]

Zman if you notice in your video it is raining hard , from what we know about koi spawning it normally occurs at this time.
But in saying that I may well be off the mark [not having bred ourselves before now , not until we get the QT unit set up for fry] .
What are you feeding these little guys by the way my friend?


Dave

 

[ZmanArt007]

I have fed them egg yolk flurry and crushed food and they are getting along fine.

Here is an interesting discovery. Some of the fry appear to have long bodies but compound/fancy tails.



I have one Oranda, one Moore, and one Ryukin, and 7 or so common/comet goldfish. Is it possible that I may have accidentally made a poor man's version of Wakin goldfish?

 

[CometKeith]

Zack, Good luck with your fry. They sound really interesting!

 

[ZmanArt007]

My fish spawned AGAIN! This time it was almost definitely the koi because there were a LOT of eggs, and the water is gross and bubbly. I put the eggs with the current fry, but I might put them in a new pool, not sure.

 

[mrsclem]

Zack- mine spawned exactly two weeks apart! I'm trying to get all the fry from the first spawn out of the main pond into the lily area but I keep finding more. I put the eggs from the second spawn into a 150 gallon stock tank. I'm not sure what to do once they hatch as the first fry are now 3/4" long and I'm sure will eat the smaller guys. this is the first time I have been able to actually hatch out the eggs in a separate area and monitor them. My underwater camera died yesterday so the fry camera is gone. Fun watching them grow! I'm thinking your first batch may be a hybrid mix of koi and fantails. Good luck with the babies!

 

[ZmanArt007]

I'm thinking your first batch may be a hybrid mix of koi and fantails. Good luck with the babies!

I'm not sure about that, there are plenty of goldfish in the pond that could have caused the long body and the fancy tail. I'm pretty sure that today was the first time that the koi had spawned, as there were lots of eggs and they destroyed the water quality. The other two spawns have been more subtle and clean, which in my experience is usually the case with goldfish.

I think I'm just going to let these eggs hatch with the current fry and hope for the best. Right now there are fry from the first two spawns together. There is a definite size difference but the littler ones are still making it okay. Hopefully the bigger ones are just good at being non-hostile.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Well, the first batch of fry are now about two weeks old. Here are some photos. I made sure to catch some of the fancy-tailed monstrosities to show how they are developing. There bodies are still long and straight, but they do seem to have slightly fatter bellies than the single tailed ones.




You can see some color developing. Most are brown or yellow. Some of them are still completely clear, which is odd. I'm guessing they will turn out white or a lighter-based calico.

In other news, the koi eggs have hatched. There are quite a few little guys hiding around the nursery pool. I'm not sure how maybe have been eaten by the goldfish fry, though. I can't really do anything now but wait and hope some of them make it.

 

[Tula]

Very cool! I love the interesting tails on the bigger ones....almost look like miniature propellers