Koi Breeding

Breeding Koi

Koi breeding is a fascinating but can sometimes be quite hard since Koi fish grows quite large and because you will have to have good parents to produce quality Koi offspring.. This article is meant to explain some essential aspects in the breeding of Koi fish. All the described facts are very important so please don’t mind the order in which they are written.

The first consideration when breeding Koi is to get suitable fish. High quality Koi will produce the highest quality offspring and you will have to choose the parents after which kind of offspring you want in regards to coloration and pattern. Only a very low percentage of the fry in the large batches will become high quality Koi regardless of the quality of the parents. High quality parents will however produce a higher percentage quality fry. It is recommendable to try and keep the bloodlines of you Koi type clean to produce high quality Koi fish.

Another aspect that should be taken into consideration while choosing the indented parents is the age of the fish. As this effects the quality of the egg shells. Young Koi females produce eggs with very thin shells which might not survive; older fish on the other hand can produce eggs with to hard shells that the sperm can’t penetrate them. The best age of a Koi that is used for breeding is 4-5 years although successful breeding might be possible with fish that are up to 15 years old.

The chosen couple should be separated from other fish of the other sex for at least a month during which time they are kept well feed to get them into spawning condition. Koi breeding is often best done with pairs of fish but you can use 2 males to a female while breeding Koi. You should however never use more than two males since they may become too aggressive and hurt the female if more than two males are used.

The best time of the year to breed Koi if it is done in out doors is different depending on where you live in the world it is however recommendable to use a time of the year when the temperature difference between different times of the day is as smallest. Koi breeding are most likely to be successfully during a full moon since this helps trigger the fish to spawn.

Koi Breeding Tank

You will have to decorate the aquarium so that there are suitable breeding areas present for the Koi fish. The materials selected to be used for spawning should be totally submerged and safe to the environment. There are many synthetic Koi breeding materials available in the trade but most professional breeders still prefer the natural ones and think the produce better results. An example of a good natural breeding material is Water hyacinths which are a plant that can be great for building suitable spawning places with. Water hyacints can carry parasites and will have to treated with special substances like Dipterex to eliminate all possible parasites before being used in a Koi breeding setup. Water hyacinths might also attract dragon flies. While these insects are harmless, their larvae can attack and kill the Koi eggs and fry. It is recommendable to use nettings on top of your breeding pond if you breed your Koi outdoors to protect them from predators. It might also be beneficial since they sometimes like to jump and netting prevents them from jumping out of the pond. A benefit that makes the use of nettings on your pond a beneficial choice regardless of whether you keep and breed your Koi indoors or outdoors.

The pH level in the tank is not that important in regards to getting the Koi to spawn but will effect the quality of the fry. A neutral water is to be preferred as acidic water causes the fish to get good red color but weak black color and an alkaline water will cause good black color put weak red color.

The good Koi breeding pond should have a round shape and around 1,000 gallons / 3800 L of fresh and chlore-free water. The water will if Chlorated have to be treated with Clorox or another equivalent to remove the chlore before being used to breed koi. The water should be kept standing for three days before adding fish. The water should be aerated using some strong water pumps. A strong current or a splashing waterfall adds to the aeration but can have a damaging effect on the spawning.

The male will try to push the female against the pond walls and other objects to force the eggs out of here during the spawning. He fertilizes the eggs once they are released. If two males are used they often push the female from each side to get her to release her eggs. One spawning results in many thousand sticky eggs that adhere to anything they touch. It is good to keep a watchful eye on the spawning since the male sometimes injures the female in which case you will need rescuing.

The parents will eat their own egg and fry so the It is recommendable to move the male and the female to different tanks and to give the female a chance to rest after the breeding. The female will still smell like spawning and males will keep trying to spawn with her if you are kept in tanks containing males. This can often lead to the males hurting the female. The spawning smell will have vanished after about 24 hours. The male will also have to recuperate since he otherwise might become infected with a diseases and fungus

The fry will survive on their yolk sac their first day but will after that need to be feed 4-5 times a day for the following 3 months. Suitable food includes infusoria and algae (supplement food only) and later newly hatched brine shrimp. As the fry grow you can start switching them over to regular Koi pellets. Make sure that you keep the water in good condition as the frequent feedings put a large strain on the water.

It is often almost impossible to raise all the fry in a spawning and it is recommendable to only raise half the fry or to move half of them to another pond since the breeding pond as described above otherwise becomes too crowded. It is also recommend to sort the fish after quality as they grow and only keep the fry of higher quality.

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