Question about females during spawning

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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
 

DrCase

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could you keep her in the pond and separate her with a screen or something
It might give the males time to get used to her
 
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I have been breeding koi for 6 years now and my observation say 3.5 Inch koi is about 4 - 6 months old on the average.

Male koi can be ready as early and as 12 months depending on how fast they have grown. Females usually take at least two years.

When I started in the hobby all my koi were 3.5 inches and they did not spawn on their own until they were three Spring seasons in my pond.

It might be a territorial thing. When I introduce a small koi into my pond it usually hides two to four months before joining the heard.
Add some rock formation hiding places where it can take shelter.
 
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The screen idea might work. I'll have to try it, or something like it. All the males are older fish, except one and we don't have a koi breeder around here, so I can't exchange any for females. We normally end up buying our Koi from PetSmart or PetCo.

Wow, only 4-6 months old. I guess I didn't realize she is that young. Except for one, all the males are 2 to 5 years old. They have the white little dots on their head area and front fin, so I know from what I read that they are ready to fertilize. Thanks for the information.
 
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Koigal50 said:
I have been breeding koi for 6 years now and my observation say 3.5 Inch koi is about 4 - 6 months old on the average.

Male koi can be ready as early and as 12 months depending on how fast they have grown. Females usually take at least two years.

When I started in the hobby all my koi were 3.5 inches and they did not spawn on their own until they were three Spring seasons in my pond.

It might be a territorial thing. When I introduce a small koi into my pond it usually hides two to four months before joining the heard.
Add some rock formation hiding places where it can take shelter.
I was thinking she was young too. I know I did not see any spawing activity or females getting eggy until they were 2-3 years old. Perhaps the best thing is to isolate but allow the males access to the female with the screen in between as Dr. Case suggested.
 

Koilady

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Hi Ann. We used to remove our breeders to another pond but this one year, we put two males and a female into our 13,000 gallon pond. The males were beating up on her so badly that I wanted to remove her from the pond. We couldn't catch her so we just watched them continue to spawn. These Koi were Japanese imports and when they were done spawning, we were able to remove the female to another pond. She ended up with a crooked back and never spawned for me again. She also became very thin and she died about five years later. That's why I spawn my Koi in smaller ponds so that I can remove the female if she is too weak to continue.
I should also tell you that these Koi were spawning so hard that eggs were spewed onto the fence and grape leaves about 3 feet from the edge of the pond.

Your's Koily, Lorraine
 

addy1

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I noticed my post to trade some of the male koi in on some more females to balance the ratio ir even turn it to more heavily was completely ignored.... Lol.
laughing...............prefer a heavy male to female quota!
 

addy1

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I suppose some people might. However, having a higher female count could be life saving to them. Also, if I recall correctly, the females are more valuable long term because they get bigger and obviously, are the egg producers.
Me not the fishies....................

Yep more females fishies less male fishies gives them a better chance.
 

koiguy1969

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JUST MY OBSERVATIONS. as a small breeder/ dealer of koi,(used to do goldfish varieties too). goldfish will participate in the spawn at 1 year old (next season after hatching) pretty much regardless of size. Koi usually at 10" - 12" is a starting point. both male and female. altho i have had an 8" female produce eggs. just a smaller number. now participating and actually producing eggs and/or semen may be two different things.
as far as eggs making it to hatching, females are every bit as guilty of eating eggs as any male. i watch them spew eggs and immediately turn around and chow down. not missing a beat!. but with koi, males and females alike, too small to spawn, will follow and wait to see the eggs flow, and immediately feast on them.
after hatching the fry resemble bug, (mosquitoe) larvae and are fair game for anything that can fit them in their mouths. by 1" , they're pretty safe from the other, larger koi.
*just a comment on the females being the egg layers... those eggs arent any good without the males fertilizing them. eggs are no good without sperm, sperm is no good without eggs! making neither any more valuable than the other.
 
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