# koi spawning?



## pimpedrsrage (May 12, 2006)

well i have had koi for almost a year now, or well i should say 2 years but i have had the koi that i have now for almost a year and wanted to know how big they have to be to have babies and also does it happen during a certian time of the year? if u look at my sig u konw what size fish i have, and i do not know how to tell if they are male or female but i'd imagine the odds of having all males or all females would be pretty slim.


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## pimpedrsrage (May 12, 2006)

oh and also when the fish mate do they need to be the same size or can they be like 4-6" in size difference? i guess i have never heard anything bout that or read up on anything about size difference


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Here is a link to a good article on breeding koi.

http://www.olympickoiclub.org/koicare/breeding.html


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

Just so you know that many koi that big are a little cramped in a 600 gal pond.


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## pimpedrsrage (May 12, 2006)

thanks fish doc i will check out that website...seems like i tried searching something bout koi spawning or breeding and all that came up was books that i had to purchase...which was a last case scenerio

bito-believe me i would have a bigger pond but my back yard does not allow it...one thing is im running a filter and pump that circulates the water 4x per hour. tahts the key to a pond is filtration and thats one thing i have upgraded over the years


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

It doesn't matter the fish probably won't breed in those cramped(to them) conditions. that pond is good for about 2 decent size koi. Your filter has absolutely nothing to do with it.


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## pimpedrsrage (May 12, 2006)

thank you bito for ur helpful information


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

no problem


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## pimpedrsrage (May 12, 2006)

whats the rule of thumb on koi inches per gallon? what im tryin to figure out is how many gallons of water are needed per inch of koi?


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

I can't remember but there is a 500 gal minimum that will hold 3 small koi (they like to school) then it's something like 5gal for every in of fish minus tail. (with the fish at their max size). There is also a rule for a good koi pond to be 9'x9'x4' for good viewing and the 4' depth keeps the fish warm in the winter.


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## mr.dark-saint (Aug 16, 2005)

pimpedrsrage - Your system would be better off for goldfish. 600 is a good quarantine size holding tank or temporary housing at best. Since, most fish will grow I like to do my math according to "MAX" size. Say "A" fish will max out at 10 inches at full adult (plus or minus at the end of the day. Besides it makes the math easier:lol: ) 10 inch fish multiplied by 5 gallons per inch at the low end of the calculation (10 gallons is better). 10 X 5 = 50 so 50 gallons (or 10 X 10 = 100). For larger growing fish like koi I'd go with 10 gallons per inch (eventually if not more).


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

If you could you might be able to expand your pond a few thousand gallons. I'll be the first to tell you I'm no expert. Last summer I got the idea to build a pond after going to Mandrin House where they had an indoor Koi pond. I went to the local library and picked up a book on them so everything I'm telling you came out of that book and varoius online articles. Most good Koi ponds are in the 10,000g range. A lot of people have 5-6000gallon to keep a few koi in.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2006)

I'll say this and then let the experts pick it apart. Not only do we breed cichlids in my fishroom but in the summer time we (my kids and I) breed Koi... Our main KOi pond that houses close to 100 koi is atleast 5000 gallons. when we breed our koi we place a select female from our stock along with two males from our stock into a 110 gallon watering trough... By morning we will have eggs and within a week free swimmeers.. The best way to tell wether a koi is male or female is to look at the from a top view. The males will be more slender and the females will look alot wider in the belly region... Pimper, it looks as though you have a some that are of breeding size.. I have heard that koi will breed at 12 inches or more so I am assuming that is near adulthood for koi? As for the size difference in males and females when they breed yes there can be considerable size differences, infact one of our females is close to 24 inches or better and our males are around 14-16 inches so size doesnt really matter to t he females aslong as the male has plenty of milt!!! As for the size of tank and whether the fish will be cramped? Well just about every fish we have in the hobby is gonna be cramped I guess!! Filteration is very key to a healthy koi pond!! One thing to remember that if your koi do spawn your water will smell very very FOUL!!!! Seriously!!! My koi breed in may, june and july...
I hope this helps you some,
Mark aka Cichlid_Mania
If your bored look at my auctions! http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?disp&viewseller&Cichlid_mania


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