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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

baby koi

12 years ago

I had three baby koi born last year and it's fun watching them grow. They are getting so big so fast. I had a massive fish kill in May when we lost our power and my surviving koi were very stressed. They only lived because my SIL rented a generator for me, but my favorites died. They were at least 20 years old. Today at the pond I noticed a very tiny fast little koi not even an inch long.., maybe 1/2 inch. Would this be a fish from a spawning this year? I hadn't realized they had spawned.Or would this be a last year's fish?

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Comments (8)

koijoyii
12 years ago
Hi Lily:

My guess would be that they are baby koi. I had a huge spawning last summer and ended up with about 300 fry. I still have some of them in my pond because they are so difficult to catch. Congratulations grandma. lol

Jenny
User
Original Author
12 years ago
I know the five inch ones are koi and by the coloring the tiny one is too, but could he be from this year's spawning at 1/2 inch?
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Yes I agree with sleepless. I have a koi pond with approximately 10 large koi fish. I also have small mosquito fish swimming alongside them. Chances are, a few baby koi will survive, because koi fish do not intend on eating other fish do to their peaceful nature, BUT koi fish will mistake smaller fish as food! When I feed my koi, they oftentimes swallow mosquito fish on accident. If you have a spare tank and a proper filter, you could scoop some pond water into the tank and get it running. To get the babies out safely, I would either patiently try to scoop as many tiny fish I can with a net OR partially drain the pond to the extent where the babies are visible and easy to catch and the parental koi are not stressed about the condition. If you choose to leave the babies in the pond, their only MAIN danger would be being snacked on by their parents, but they will not starve, so feeding is not necessary. Either way, u will loose some babies, but it would be a good experience for everyone. To answer the second question, MOST likely, you will get orange and white colored fish. But if they are sun burnt or are suffering from stress or malnutrition or any other environmental factor, they may slightly change their color tone. Another possibility is that your parental koi fish is carrying a recessive trait (color in your case), and happens to pass it directly to their offspring. In that case, you may get yellow or black koi. I think this will be interesting and I, personally would like to know if they really are koi fish babies or not. Please update your findings when you get the chance to. :) Cat
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Koi are usually colored when they hatch as opposed to goldfish who aren't except for shubunkins which are also colored.
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My Koi have always been born brown. Around 10 - 18 months, they all change color to orange, whites sometimes with varying shades of yellow. A few have stayed orange, but most are multicolored. Originally I didn't know anything about raising Fry, but first I learned that they are born brownish and turn as they age. I had no idea until I looked in my pond and saw what looked like "guppies" swimming around. I had no idea that Koi fry are generally brown. BUT recently I have read that only goldfish stay brown until a year or so old. Does this mean when I originally bought my first Koi, they were Goldfish and not Koi? I've had hundreds over the years and none have changed color at less than 6 months of age. But all have changed by the time they are about 14 months. They have all matured to the bright orange and white, typically seen as Koi. None have ever looked like goldfish. They are kept in outdoor ponds, not warmed during the winter. But there is always an antifreeze unit during the winter so the water will not freeze. I have several aerators in each pond, and two waterfalls. I have only lost a couple of the Fry when they have gotten into the filters. I have lots of areas that have hiding places in the ponds and spawning areas. I had 6 adult Koi but I don't know their sex other than "Big Daddy". He is the first that lets me know breeding season has started. He's about 20 inches. The other adults range in size from 6-10 inches and are 2-5 years old. My present hatch of 200 or so are all 9-10 months old and starting to get their orange colors now. I separate babies to their own pond when I first see them, usually 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. I read some remarks that other folks have a low survival rate of 20% or so. I have had nearly 100% survival other than the two that were caught in the filter. Why is that? Is there a type of Koi that is more hardy than others?
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koijoyii
12 years ago
When I noticed my koi last spring (after my water cleared) that's how big they were. Their colors were just starting to get brighter. I know most goldfish are born black or brown and change later, but koi are born with their colors. They usually get more vivid with age. Some even change their coloring with age.

Jenny
nkm56
12 years ago
To answer your question, at 1/2 inch, yes, the baby would be from this year's spawning. I just gave away five 1-inch babies from this year's spawn a couple of weeks ago.
User
Original Author
12 years ago
Nancy..how in the world did you catch them? This tiny guy zips along so fast, he's a blur. I don't want to catch him..but am hoping his parents don't make a meal of him.
nkm56
12 years ago
What happened was, when I noticed the fish were spawning, I removed my water lilies from the pond, because I really didn't want any eggs to hatch, and plants are where they want to deposit the eggs. So I removed them and set them on the ground for a few hours so the eggs would dry out. Then I put the pots into a large tub of water where I already was keeping a miniature lily.

Anyway, fast forward a few months. The spawning ended, and the lilies went back into the pond. But I left a miniature lily in one of the tubs that had not even been in the pond, so I was maintaining the water for it. I was adding a mosquito dunk one evening when I saw a little orange fish flitting to and fro. Parting the lily pads, I found four more of varying colors, teeny-tiny little guys.

In the tub, they were easy to catch, but it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to catch your little guy. You might try a minnow trap, but that's the only thing I know to suggest.
User
Original Author
12 years ago
Spotted another little guy, not as pretty as the first one. They are so tiny but swim like a rocket.
nkm56
12 years ago
Your little guys might surprise you! Some of the ones I thought were the ugliest as babies turned into some mighty pretty adults!

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