Koi Pond Spawning | How Do I Know If I Have Male or female Koi?
For the average pond keeper, differentiating between male and female Koi is no easy task. The task is a bit easier come spring time, however, with the onset of the mating season.
The task of identifying whether or not your baby Koi is male or female is almost impossible until he or she is mature enough to breed.
In the Koi world it is the female Koi that are larger than their male counterparts. In competitions it is usually female Koi that win the silver ware. Too bad fellas...
This is a generalization however because the size of a Koi depends upon several factors, including:
- Pond size
- Koi diet
- The number of fish in the pond.
For professional Koi breeders, and those buying and selling Koi it is very important to be able to identify whether a particular Koi is male or female.
During the breeding season, male Koi carp will often exhibit small white bumps on their head, unlike their female counterparts.
During spawning the female Koi will release her eggs, ready for fertilization by male Koi. These eggs will need something to attach to.
In the ideal Koi pond then there will be submersible pond plants, to which the eggs can adhere (stick).
Unfortunately many professional Koi ponds don't contain plants. This is because Koi often uproot plants in their search for a meal or snack.
Any eggs that don't attach to plants will more than likely be eaten by Koi, including their parents.
So what exactly does the Koi pond owner, wanting to breed his Koi successfully need to do? The first thing is to ensure that there is at least one mature female and two willing male Koi participants.
The next thing to do is to provide an alternative place for the eggs to cling to; if your pond doesn't contain submersible aquatic plants that is.
An excellent product is a spawning brush.
These soft fibrous brushes are an excellent alternative to aquatic plants.
Place the spawning brushes one on top of the above the other at the edge of the pond. This will allow the eggs, released during spawning, which takes place in the early hours of the day somewhere to attach to. Spawning make take several hours.
Once spawning has finished, you will need to remove the spawning brushes, and place them in a separate holding area, away from the hungry parent Koi and other pond inhabitants.
A simple way to create a holding area is to attach a fine floating mesh to a piece of expandable polystyrene. This will keep the eggs safe from harm.
Be careful to ensure that the holding area contains filtered water of the same temperature as the main pond. Hatching normally takes between 3 to 6 days.
Remember: Don't place the new fry back into the main pond until they are large enough to survive, without being eaten.
If you decide to purchase spawning brushes, make sure that you don't get them confused with pond filter brushes. They look similar but serve a totally different purpose.
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Happy Pond Keeping
Sean
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