Too many babies

[Sharon M]

Hi folks,
I’m new to this forum and new to ponds.
I recently installed a 4800 gallon koi pond and a 4800 gallon turtle pond. Water’s fine, so far so good but after I added my first 4 imported from Japan smallish butterfly koi a month ago, someone up and had babies. I am not capable of “culling” them. Obviously I don’t want, nor do I have room for 100 butterfly koi. I don’t want to give them to a pet shop as feeders. Any good suggestions? I’m sure I have room for a handful of the orange, white, multicolor ones, but what about all of the ones who now look like plain ol minnows. Will anyplace around Atlanta want them?
Thanks, Sharon

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

koi = eggs lots of eggs, just like goldfish. I quit feeding mine in the summer so they inhale the eggs and babies.

Maybe you can post on craigslist or somewhere like that. @mrsclem gets rid of a lot of koi maybe she can chime in and tell you what she does.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! I know what you mean, and mine are goldfish. I could never raise them to sell, as I couldn’t do the culling part. Is there a public (or private) park or zoo, or anything like that? They might take some. Or check the local veterinarians — they might have koi customers.

 

[mrsclem]

Hello! You say your koi are small-how small? Are you sure these are koi fry?
You will get a lot of color variations and they will change-a lot!
I sold koi for many years, advertised on Craigslist as well as local papers. Had no problem selling fish but soon learned there are people who are dishonest so only sell to regular pond owners now.
My 2 big females spawned last month. I was able to capture a dozen 1/2" fry to put in lotus pond. Have not seen any swimming in pond- yet!

 

[Sharon M]

Hello and welcome! I know what you mean, and mine are goldfish. I could never raise them to sell, as I couldn’t do the culling part. Is there a public (or private) park or zoo, or anything like that? They might take some. Or check the local veterinarians — they might have koi customers.

That’s a great idea, thanks.

Hello! You say your koi are small-how small? Are you sure these are koi fry?
You will get a lot of color variations and they will change-a lot!
I sold koi for many years, advertised on Craigslist as well as local papers. Had no problem selling fish but soon learned there are people who are dishonest so only sell to regular pond owners now.
My 2 big females spawned last month. I was able to capture a dozen 1/2" fry to put in lotus pond. Have not seen any swimming in pond- yet!

i only had the 4 koi so they are certainly koi babies. They are more than an inch long now. When you say people are dishonest, what sorts of problems did you run into?

 

[Sharon M]

That’s a great idea, thanks.

i only had the 4 koi so they are certainly koi babies. They are more than an inch long now. When you say people are dishonest, what sorts of problems did you run into?

Here’s a photo from this morning. They’re about 4 feet down and are larger than this looks..

 

[Lisak1]

Wow! That's a LOT of babies! Congratulations!

Good luck with re-homing your fish. If you have a local pond builder you could check with them, too. They might have new customers who would love some free (or low cost) koi.

Did you actually see spawning? They aren't shy about it! In the future when you recognize the behavior you can just stop feeding your fish - they will devour most of those eggs and control the population ... usually! Some people have regular spawns where lots of babies survive... like @mrsclem . My fish will spawn 5 or 6 times a season and we will usually get two or three new babies a year.

Did you put any plants in the pond? That's another potential source of fish eggs.

 

[j.w]

@Sharon M

 

[Sharon M]

Wow! That's a LOT of babies! Congratulations!

Good luck with re-homing your fish. If you have a local pond builder you could check with them, too. They might have new customers who would love some free (or low cost) koi.

Did you actually see spawning? They aren't shy about it! In the future when you recognize the behavior you can just stop feeding your fish - they will devour most of those eggs and control the population ... usually! Some people have regular spawns where lots of babies survive... like @mrsclem . My fish will spawn 5 or 6 times a season and we will usually get two or three new babies a year.

Did you put any plants in the pond? That's another potential source of fish eggs.

I have a lot of water hyacinth and water lettuce so I guess I made them feel too comfortable and all the babies have a place to hide too. I don’t think I’d even had the fish a week before this happened. I asked the dealer when I got my plants and they came from a pond with only koi supposedly. I will definitely stop feeding if this happened again. My big guys are at a loss now. They just hang back at feeding time and wait for the frenzy to be over.

 

[mrsclem]

Again, how large are your koi? You stated you just got smallish koi from Japan. Koi don't spawn until 3-4 years of age. You definitely have fry! I no longer have floating plants, it seems to start spawning frenzy

 

[Sharon M]

Sorry, I thought you meant how big are the babies. The 4 I purchased 5 to 7 inches. So yes I thought they would have been too young.

 

[mrsclem]

They are so guessing the plants you bought had eggs on them!

 

[mrsclem]

That’s a great idea, thanks.

i only had the 4 koi so they are certainly koi babies. They are more than an inch long now. When you say people are dishonest, what sorts of problems did you run into?

Sorry I didn't get back to you on that. I have had several customers want to buy every fish I had- resellers! Others that say they have ponds but have aquariums. People that want a 20" koi to put in a 300 gallon pond! I sold 4 fish to a man who told me he was in the process of building his pond. Saw the fish on Craigslist the following year in a 55 gallon aquarium, bent spines from crowding! My fish now go to people who can prove that they can care for them.

 

[Tula]

Sorry I didn't get back to you on that. I have had several customers want to buy every fish I had- resellers! Others that say they have ponds but have aquariums. People that want a 20" koi to put in a 300 gallon pond! I sold 4 fish to a man who told me he was in the process of building his pond. Saw the fish on Craigslist the following year in a 55 gallon aquarium, bent spines from crowding! My fish now go to people who can prove that they can care for them.

@mrsclem , How sad to see them a year later with bent spines How do you learn if people are able to cake for your fish......pictures, conversation etc?

 

[Sharon M]

Oh that’s awful! I can see how that could happen. I want to be responsible about this. I just know I can’t keep them all and didn’t want to kill them - but better that than spending Their lives in an aquarium they can barely turn around in.