Earlier this summer I quickly learned that my fish were spawning. At first I thought it was bullying, but after watching some videos I determined it was spawning. Sadly, I have a high male population and they were running the females hard and even though I would bring the females in and give them a few hours of rest, most of the females passed away. Recently I bough 2 new young koi to put in place of the 3 that died.
For the first few weeks things were fine, but temperatures were also very low. Yesterday and today temperatures have went up into the 80s and I am starting to see spawning again. However, I believe one of the new koi is the only female in the pond, giving a ratio of 1 female to 6 male. The 6 males are chasing her, pushing her against the edge of the pond, on the rock below and trying to flip her onto the plants. (This is how one died earlier this spring, it was flipped onto a hyacinth overnight).
However, she is a young female, probably only 1 or 2 years old, approximately 3.5 inches long and she does not have a swollen belly at all, so I don't believe he will lay any eggs, no matter how much they chase her. So I was just curious if this is common, for them to chase such a young fish who is not ready to lay eggs. They are wearing her out with all their chasing, and since its 6 males that are 5 inches or longer they are hitting her pretty good. I finally brought her in and put her in my 1 gallon tank for now, as I don't have a larger one (my Q-tank is in use for another koi). Any suggestions on how to get them to leave her alone? I really don't want her to stay in a 1 gallon tank, but I don't want to put her outside to be run to death.
Thanks,
~Ann
For the first few weeks things were fine, but temperatures were also very low. Yesterday and today temperatures have went up into the 80s and I am starting to see spawning again. However, I believe one of the new koi is the only female in the pond, giving a ratio of 1 female to 6 male. The 6 males are chasing her, pushing her against the edge of the pond, on the rock below and trying to flip her onto the plants. (This is how one died earlier this spring, it was flipped onto a hyacinth overnight).
However, she is a young female, probably only 1 or 2 years old, approximately 3.5 inches long and she does not have a swollen belly at all, so I don't believe he will lay any eggs, no matter how much they chase her. So I was just curious if this is common, for them to chase such a young fish who is not ready to lay eggs. They are wearing her out with all their chasing, and since its 6 males that are 5 inches or longer they are hitting her pretty good. I finally brought her in and put her in my 1 gallon tank for now, as I don't have a larger one (my Q-tank is in use for another koi). Any suggestions on how to get them to leave her alone? I really don't want her to stay in a 1 gallon tank, but I don't want to put her outside to be run to death.
Thanks,
~Ann