Oh my they have only been in the pond 2 days

[Telion]

I was just trying to wrap my head around having and taking care of koi...now this

I will tweak my reading topic now and in the meantime any advice is great advice and do I block the skimmer or just let nature take its course? @GBBUDD I think you cursed me with that statement as it certainly has and now look lol.

 

[Lisak1]

I'd let nature have her way - unless you want 75 to 7 million more fish?

We stop feeding ours until all signs of spawning are over.

I'm not surprised they spawned - any kind of change seems to set them off.

 

[Telion]

I'd let nature have her way - unless you want 75 to 7 million more fish?

We stop feeding ours until all signs of spawning are over.

I'm not surprised they spawned - any kind of change seems to set them off.

Is there a reason you stop feeding, is it so they have less energy?

How long is it if any survive before you can tell what kind they are or whose kids they are lol?

 

[addy1]

Is there a reason you stop feeding, is it so they have less energy?

Nah they are hungry and eat the eggs. I do the same with my shubbies.

 

[addy1]

congrats fishy Dad! Now you have a gazillion koi!

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

WOW, @Telion I agree at this point you should let nature do what it's going to and you may still end up with some babies but at least it'll be a learning experience!

 

[Telion]

congrats fishy Dad! Now you have a gazillion koi!

Hahaha now if I can what I paid for each of mine out of each of them I will retire early. I might be paying it forward for a few people faster than expected.

 

[Telion]

For the eggs in the skimmer is it inhumane to not try to save them. I need a quarantine tank anyway. But then again if they grow and I can't sell or gift them I would have to rehome them some how and I am not so sure that's even legal and I don't want people fishing for koi oh my.

 

[addy1]

For the eggs in the skimmer is it inhumane to not try to save them

Your decision. People eat fish eggs all of the time (not me!)
I know I lose fish eggs into the skimmer and pump, I don't worry about it.

 

[GBBUDD]

Fish head, fish head, rolly poley fish head, fish head, fish head, in my soup

 

[GBBUDD]

you should stop feeding them especially now because the koi will eat the thousands of eggs a cat fish or a single blue gill/ sun fish do a great job at that to . but the reason I suggested you limit the feeding before was because your pond is new it's not cycled as yet, and even if it was you just added a lot of fish all at once even a established pond in our size i'd think the recommended amount of fish at any one time 8" or better would be no more then three. By LIMITED feeding the waste they generate will lessen and thus give the bio a chance to catch up to the fish load. remember I said the first occupants of any tank I considered sacrificial to get the bio load established well I am pretty sure you'd like to avoid the sacrificial part . ASK MITCH FOR HIS OPINION ON THIS or any long term fisher

 

[GBBUDD]

did you see one fish chasing another around the pond and like wraping it's self around another ? the chaser like us is the male and the chased is the female. or does one fish have what looks like nibbled on fins

 

[GBBUDD]

Is there a reason you stop feeding, is it so they have less energy?

How long is it if any survive before you can tell what kind they are or whose kids they are lol?

take some eggs and place them in a bundle of window screen keep it in the pond and see what you get. I do have a lot of baby fish that survived the parents feeding on them and I know the parents both orange and white but one was a butterfly. I'm not worried about over population I did add a cat fish and if they do keep surviving i'll just add a fish trap very effective and have fish head soup

 

[Lisak1]

Yup - when ours spawn, you'll see one female being chased, two or three males doing the chasing and the rest of the gang following along behind snacking on the eggs. We've only ever had two koi fry survive, which is fine as we don't need any more big guys. Every year we think "phew! No goldfish babies!" and then the following spring see the telltale 2" black ones - a few make it every year. The first year we had babies we were so excited... now, not so much.

 

[Telion]

you should stop feeding them especially now because the koi will eat the thousands of eggs a cat fish or a single blue gill/ sun fish do a great job at that to . but the reason I suggested you limit the feeding before was because your pond is new it's not cycled as yet, and even if it was you just added a lot of fish all at once even a established pond in our size i'd think the recommended amount of fish at any one time 8" or better would be no more then three. By LIMITED feeding the waste they generate will lessen and thus give the bio a chance to catch up to the fish load. remember I said the first occupants of any tank I considered sacrificial to get the bio load established well I am pretty sure you'd like to avoid the sacrificial part . ASK MITCH FOR HIS OPINION ON THIS or any long term fisher

Very true, it was just such a good deal on some beautiful koi that I could not afford normally so I am taking the shot. Yah we have also been feeding them a limited amount for the reason you suggested. But when it was shared specifically because of spawning I considered that a new and different reason and want to know why. We do actually have one catfish it was gifted with our koi as a cleanup fish. Had no idea till now what he was going to be cleaning up lol.

Since we needed to pick up a quarantine tank anyway we found a cheap used 65 gallon tank that we can use for survivors if we decide to try to keep a few of them.

As for the spawning event, I didn't they all seemed very civil the schooled at times and paired off at other times but nothing traumatic or dramatic like what I am reading.i saw my platinum ogon flash against another once and it concerned me for a split second as I was worried about it having a skin irritation.