ZmanArt007
Fish Keeper and Filmmaker
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2009
- Messages
- 526
- Reaction score
- 248
- Hardiness Zone
- 5a
- Country
I woke up this morning and went out to check the pond because we got 1.5 inches of rain, and what do I see? My largest male koi, 12+ inches, taking advantage of my little 9-inch butterfly female!
These two, who I believe spawned together last year as well, have been at it all morning, with the rest of my school following close behind to feast on the fruits of the poor little mother's labors. I put some spawning mops that I had made years back in to hopefully catch some of the eggs, which worked fairly well
some eggs on the spawning mop made out of yarn.
these poor eggs were spawned above the water on a rock, and they are too sticky for me to return them to the water without moving the huge boulder
I am fairly sure it is very late for koi to be spawning, but because I was slow to reconstruct my pond this year after the old liner sprung a leak, the fish have been in the pond for less than a week. The water in the pond is colder than the indoor take that they were living in, so I wonder if the change in temperature fooled them into thinking it was spring.
Only these two spawned, with two small 6-inch males attempting to get in on the action with the butterfly female, most-likely unsuccessfully. None of the goldfish were spawning, and my larger female seemed uninterested in spawning or eating the eggs, which puzzled me.
By the time I took pictures and video, they had slowed down some, probably finishing up. This is the first time I have been able to clearly observe who the father and mother of the fry are, so that makes me quite happy. One downside is that I already have too many solid-colored metallic koi, which both of these parents are, so hopefully they have some variety in their genes that will give me other colors. Hopefully many of them inherit their mother's long fins as well
This little fishy was born last year, and I believe him to be the child of this same pair. He has the coloring of his papa and the long fins of his mamma.
this is where I am placing the spawning mops.
I'm placing the spawning mops in the upper little pond above the waterfall. The fry might not stay up there when they hatch, but at least the eggs will be safe from being eaten. My pond is not very established this year, so I might have to try and feed the fry myself..something I've never really done successfully. So that will be interesting.
These two, who I believe spawned together last year as well, have been at it all morning, with the rest of my school following close behind to feast on the fruits of the poor little mother's labors. I put some spawning mops that I had made years back in to hopefully catch some of the eggs, which worked fairly well
some eggs on the spawning mop made out of yarn.
these poor eggs were spawned above the water on a rock, and they are too sticky for me to return them to the water without moving the huge boulder
I am fairly sure it is very late for koi to be spawning, but because I was slow to reconstruct my pond this year after the old liner sprung a leak, the fish have been in the pond for less than a week. The water in the pond is colder than the indoor take that they were living in, so I wonder if the change in temperature fooled them into thinking it was spring.
Only these two spawned, with two small 6-inch males attempting to get in on the action with the butterfly female, most-likely unsuccessfully. None of the goldfish were spawning, and my larger female seemed uninterested in spawning or eating the eggs, which puzzled me
.By the time I took pictures and video, they had slowed down some, probably finishing up. This is the first time I have been able to clearly observe who the father and mother of the fry are, so that makes me quite happy. One downside is that I already have too many solid-colored metallic koi, which both of these parents are, so hopefully they have some variety in their genes that will give me other colors. Hopefully many of them inherit their mother's long fins as well
This little fishy was born last year, and I believe him to be the child of this same pair. He has the coloring of his papa and the long fins of his mamma.
this is where I am placing the spawning mops.
I'm placing the spawning mops in the upper little pond above the waterfall. The fry might not stay up there when they hatch, but at least the eggs will be safe from being eaten. My pond is not very established this year, so I might have to try and feed the fry myself..something I've never really done successfully. So that will be interesting.
