I have done a few big water changes on my outdoor koi tub the last couple days, to get the gunk out from winter. it was pretty clear yesterday so i could see the fish again. today i checked it and its was all muddy, mucky and stunk like fish. so i checked the filter bag on the air lift and it was covered in what looked like light green bubble algae. i started picking some off. and then it hit me. they are eggs. my koi are having a rights of spring fest.
So i got hold of Walt, my koi buddy, and he said i could hatch them. so i filled a 20 gallon round rope handled tub , in the kitchen with koi tub water, and moved the bag into it . the bag also had about a half cup of loose eggs in it, so dumped them in too. added a sponge filter i used for the clown fish tank and a spiral light/reflector over it to grow the green water. and we shall see. Walt says they should hatch in a couple days. then let them eat the green water and golden pearls micron size food.
if they all hatch, im gonna have a lot of little koi. then do a lot of culling to keep the nicest ones if the grow a bit. see their colors. They have been in that tub for 4 years now. i guess they got tired of waiting for me to build the pond for them. now i’ll need an olympic pool sized pond.
hey, ken,
My koi spawn every year, really messes up the pond. so far i haven’t seen any crazy sex in the pond this year.
the males nearly kill the females chasing them around the pond and eating the eggs as fast as they are laid.
i have 2 from two years ago eggs that have made it to adulthood and are about 10-12 inches now.
it’s really tough to tell if theyre gonna be nice when they’re small. lotsa luck.
yes, thats why you take the eggs out of the pond. they might be all gone by morning. my bud has raised thousands of them from a single hatch. he uses some artificial spawning grass, like plastic pom poms . they lay the eggs on them, and then he puts the pom poms in another tub to hatch. i should get a bunch. but we shall see. not that i need them though. sheesh, I still got to dig a pond. my 5 remaining 14 inch koi are still in a 110 gallon tub. made it through winter again.
[quote=“kaptken, post:3, topic:4161”]
yes, thats why you take the eggs out of the pond. they might be all gone by morning. my bud has raised thousands of them from a single hatch. he uses some artificial spawning grass, like plastic pom poms . they lay the eggs on them, and then he puts the pom poms in another tub to hatch. i should get a bunch. but we shall see. not that i need them though. sheesh, I still got to dig a pond. my 5 remaining 14 inch koi are still in a 110 gallon tub. made it through winter again. [/quote]
no that’s why you lkeave them in the pond. otherwise you get a ton of mutts that aren’t decent looking, or you have to cull them. i don’t need any more fish in the pond. let em have fish eggs to eat. good food. no ugly babies.
Ken have a friend in Downingtown that may want a few if you need to cull the heard.
Just let us know when you’re ready to dig the pond. I’m sure for a case of PBR we could get a few young (ian) strong (bill) intellignet (you) directorial (me) club members to come over and dig a big hole in your yard.
To be honest I’m taking the hardest part of the whole job. I have to ensure the beer stays cold, and that you guys have it available when you’re done. If it gets too late in the day you won’t be able to have any as you’ll have to drive soon. So I need to motivate, control, consume, and forsee all potential pitfalls.
Directional Guy may need help so I volunteer to be Directional guy’s administrative assistant. Its a big job. He will need some one to keep track of time and inform him of appointments and consumpsion levels.
I dont know. may be a false start. i got a lot of eggs in a tub in the kitchen. but i dont think they will hatch. looks like they are getting fuzzy with fungus. i read some last night, i maybe should have treated their water with malachite green to keep the fuzzies off until they can hatch. but still waiting to see.
What type of water flow do you have going across the eggs? I’m guessing the parents laid there because it was the spot in your bucket with the most flow.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:14, topic:4161”]
Well you still need the pond so let us know when we can start digging. And by “we” I mean Ian and Bill.[/quote]
got a sponge filter in the middle of the tub. good circulation. naw, the parents lay eggs anywhere they can stick them. pump, hose, filter sock, tub wall … they dont care. then they eat them. they dont tend them. they just need water in the 60s to hatch. so far nothing. might not be fertelized, or they got too cold the first night outside… i collected them the next morning. but it got down to low 40s that night.