Nooooooo! Billions of eggs.

[Janne]

Dealt with the algae problem! Lowered the phosphate levels. Had the bog cleaned and a foot of gravel removed. Planted in the clean bog. Got rid of six fingerlings. Have a place that will take the remaining nine after they have changed color. Water chemistry great. Yay! AOK! But no! Discovered fish frenzy this morning. Skimmer basket and filters COVERED with fish eggs. New plantings covered with fish eggs. Eggs by the tablespoonfuls in many locations. The fish are eating some with gusto. But, given that we had fry last year, some will escape them. HELP!! How do I get rid of all these eggs?

 

[mrsclem]

Don't feed the fish! I have the same problem with both ponds. Fry have hatched in one pond already. Both ponds overstocked before so now I really have issues. It seems like as soon as you remove some fish, spawn!

 

[seandelevan]

What species of fish are we talking about here?

 

[Tula]

I've thought about hanging cotton mops in the pond in hopes koi will spawn on them, the I can remove them from the pond......but it seems I never get around to actually doing it !

Each Sept. I lower the pond water and catch all surviving fry and either give them away, or take to a nursery that lets me put them in their pond.

 

[mrsclem]

What species of fish are we talking about here?

Mine are koi.

 

[WaterGardener]

I use spawning mops, homemade from yarn. The fish seem to really like using them. I have goldfish and they seem to be constantly spawning, 4 days in a row as of today. I leave the mops in for 2 or 3 days and let the fish eat as many eggs as they will. I try not to feed them on the days they spawn. Then I swap those used mops for dry mops and let the first mops dry out. It's a pretty constant thing in summer around here and I'm glad to see the end of it. If I had my wish, I would have separate ponds for males and females.

 

[mrsclem]

Looking to rehome my 2 brood females as soon as things get back to somewhat normal.

 

[Janne]

Koi - 11 large (14-18"), 3 medium (8 -12"); Goldfish - 6, less than 6", including 3 to be rehomed; 9 black fingerlings, waiting for new owner.

 

[Janne]

Mostly large koi

 

[Janne]

I use spawning mops, homemade from yarn. The fish seem to really like using them. I have goldfish and they seem to be constantly spawning, 4 days in a row as of today. I leave the mops in for 2 or 3 days and let the fish eat as many eggs as they will. I try not to feed them on the days they spawn. Then I swap those used mops for dry mops and let the first mops dry out. It's a pretty constant thing in summer around here and I'm glad to see the end of it. If I had my wish, I would have separate ponds for males and females.

That seems like good idea. I've scooped out a lot of white stuff with big bubbles. The mops would pick up that icky stuff. After all of these years (15), I've never experienced this situation. Have you instructions for how to make one of your spawning mops?

 

[Janne]

Mine are koi.

Mostly koi (14) and the fish that I'm trying to rehome.

 

[AlyssaFish]

I am sorry, since you seem to be a little unhappy about it, but your post made me laugh.

I don't have koi, but I do have goldfish and when I saw the fry last year, I couldn't help but feel for them and decided to save them (even though I knew I already have enough fish)! If I had seen the eggs, I might have been able to get rid of some of them the way you want to.

My solution this year is to keep the males and females in separate ponds. Much easier to do with goldfish than koi, no doubt. If only someone would invent a birth control water additive for fish...

Good luck!

 

[addy1]

I just don't feed my fish all summer, very few fry make it. Still have plenty of water room for them. I watch them on the cam go into a feeding frenzy when eggs are dropped.

 

[WaterGardener]

I found instructions online for making the mops. There are youtube videos as well. It's very simple. You just need some yarn and a large hardcover book.

I tie the mops to a long piece of parachute cord, two mops spaced some distance apart on each cord. I tie the cord across the pond so the mops hang down in the water. I keep 4 mops in the pond at all times since I have so many fish. They work well for goldfish. I don't have koi so I don't know how well they would take to using them.

I know you can buy spawning brushes for koi and I know several people who use those for raising their fry.

 

[Tula]

I found instructions online for making the mops. There are youtube videos as well. It's very simple. You just need some yarn and a large hardcover book.

I tie the mops to a long piece of parachute cord, two mops spaced some distance apart on each cord. I tie the cord across the pond so the mops hang down in the water. I keep 4 mops in the pond at all times since I have so many fish. They work well for goldfish. I don't have koi so I don't know how well they would take to using them.

I know you can buy spawning brushes for koi and I know several people who use those for raising their fry.

Do you have any pictures of this set up ?

 

[WaterGardener]

No, sorry. I doubt a picture would show much though, only the cord across the pond. The mops are in the water and they hardly show up unless someone is looking for them. And there are water lily leaves everywhere, so that makes them even less visible.

I should add that I untangle the mops after they have dried. They get pretty knotted up as they are banged around with the spawning.

I'll see if I can get a photo that might help, maybe later today.

 

[WaterGardener]

I got a couple of pictures yesterday. I put in new mops and photographed them before they got too wet and sank into the water. One string of them ended up on top of water lily pads, so I left them there until I got a picture. Those are pretty easy to see, but the other line is to the right of that one and is less obvious. I hope this helps.

 

[poconojoe]

We have our water hyacinths and water lettuce in one of those floating nets to protect their roots from the fish. The net is held in one spot by the water's edge to prevent it from floating where we don't want it. The fish were spawning and we noticed the floating net was full of eggs. Today they look like they're all gone. There are two frogs in that net now, one on top of the other. I don't know if the frogs ate the eggs or the rain we had dispersed them. We really don't need any additional fish anyway.