SPAWNING AND KOI FISH

Usually when the water temperature is somewhere between 54 and 60 degrees your Koi fish in your pond will begin to spawn.  Beginning in late spring and early summer you will notice tiny white bumps on some of your Koi's gills.  Don't be concerned, as Koi fish will develop these tiny white bumps and some even have brighter colors as they ready themselves to play their spawning and mating game.  During the spawning process, you will notice that females will look slightly pregnant because their ovaries are billowing with literally thousands of eggs.  You can purchase these healthy Koi shown at left from Live Acquaria.com.  Their fish are guaranteed to arrive healthy and have a 14 day warranty.    

A frantic morning chase around the Koi fish pond will begin as spawning males try to convince the Koi females to lay their eggs.  In spawning, the female Koi fish will usually lay her eggs on an underwater plant, or if your pond is lined with algae, you will notice eggs on the algae.  To complete the spawning,  once the eggs are laid,  the male will fertilize them with his sperm.  About a week later you will begin to notice babies, also known as fry hatch from the eggs.  They will usually spend the first day of their lives hanging onto the side of the pond or to the plant life absorbing the nutrition from their egg sacs.

Since your fry are very susceptible to predators and pond insects as well as to their own parents after spawning, you might want to move them into an aquarium before they hatch.  You can purchase a spawning mat to put on the bottom of the pond and remove it to the aquarium when you see the Koi eggs on its surface.  The fish spawning incubator shown at right, will increase the hatch rate of your koi by allowing a protected area for your fish to lay their eggs.   It contains a soft spawning material that will protect deleicate eggs.  After the eggs are deposited, you can turn the spawning incubator inside out to protect them from predators and increase the hatch rate.

Feed your new Koi fry a high protein diet such as daphnia, brine shrimp or easy to eat flakes. Once the spawning fry have reached an inch or two you can add them back to your pond and watch them grow.  After spawning, your new Koi fry are colorless, but as they mature they start to develop their color patterns.  If you are new to the Koi fish hobby, spawning can be fun to watch.  I know it was for me.  The koi super food shown at right is a high protein fish food with white fish meal, krill and shrimp meal.  IOt is fortified pond fish food with Vitamins C, E, D3, plus biotin.  This fish food contains calcium and other minerals for healthy development of all pond fish.  It contains 40% protein content plus b eta glucan for overall health and growth and is the perfect fish fod for young, rapidly growing fish or spawning fish with highter protein needs.