standard / butterfly mixed spawn

[koiguy1969]

has anyone spawned a standard fin and butterfly koi? what fry % were butterfly? did the fins maintan the length? or lose some? was the butterfly the male or female? i'm contemplating getting a butterfly cuz people (customers) ask about them every year... details.. info.. i need to know!

 

[HTH]

Found this and it looks like you should be ok with what you want to do. It is at least a start.

• Long-fin genes are dominant, so breeding the fish back to color would not breed out the long fin gene.
• Long-fin koi are robust and disease resistant.
• The fish could be bred back to color and many colorful lines of long-fin koi have been created at Blue Ridge Fish Hatchery.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Long-fin genes are dominant

I don't know why I never even considered this before, but this makes me very happy! I have gotten quite a few koi from the local chains that are sold as 'butterfly koi', however I am now into my third year with some of them, and am dissapointed to say that not a single one of them have the impressive fins of what I would consider a butterfly. On the other hand, I don't buy any fish at the local stores with the hopes of raising a show-quality fish... What I do look for is nice colors or features that I hope will be passed on to their babies. Based on the article you linked, I am even more hopeful that some of the fry will start showing the true butterfly traits that I was hoping for. Thanks for sharing!

 

[mrsclem]

I have had butterfly koi for years but when I went to buy more koi from my importer, he had Japanese long fins. The fins on these fish are twice as long as any of my butterflies. I'm hoping as they grow the fins will grow with them. My concern is that the fins seem very thin and delicate and could easily be damaged. Still trying to breed an all gin rin batch and see what I end up with.

 

[Farken]

Hey koiguy, this last hatch I had, the one female is a beauty butterfly, but the male was regular fin, I didnt keep the eggs seperate from the other 2 females but if i get 1/3 butterflies I'll let you know.

I think they are a beautifull fish, even though many "koi lovers" disagree.

 

[koiguy1969]

AN INTERESTING READ ON THE ORIGINS OF BUTTERFLY KOI..... http://www.pondtrademag.com/articles/ar-152/