I recently received an email from a gentleman by the name of Julio who wanted some further information regarding breeding his Koi and other pond fish.
"Hi Sean:
I have been reading your advice for some time now and had good results in keeping my 500 gal pond free from algae and debris.
Now I have a question of another kind.
How do I go about reproducing my fish? I have some 20 koi and comet gold fish, mostly koi. from 12+ inches long to 5 inches long. The size determined by the date of acquisition.
My pond is concrete, square edged walls and bottom with pebbles in most of the bottom. Some aquatic plants in plastic containers, mostly water lilies, a tetra biofilter and tetra 500gph pump.
I tried planting hydrilla, easily acquired locally intending it to oxygenate the pond and , as it is planted at the bottom, serve for the eggs to adhere to its leaves and at the same time, serve as hiding place for goblins (baby fish). The problem is that the fish eat the hydrilla.
I do want the fish to reproduce!
I could use floating water hyacinths whose long roots could serve my purpose but for the problem of mosquitoes breeding at the bottom of their leaves.
What do you advise???"
My response to Julio!
"Hi Julio
It sounds like you have a great set up and good conditions for your Koi and other fish to breed. One thing that does bother me however are the pebbles at the bottom of the pond; these encourage areas for food and pond sludge to become trapped and generally encourage the build up of unwanted bacteria. The pebbles also make it harder to vacuum up pond sludge and other organic debris.
Anyway that isn't what you are asking. So here goes...
This might sound obvious but you do have a mixture of male and females I hope! Judging by the size of the Koi I would assume that they are mature enough to breed.
First things first I would like to point out that I am by no means an expert when it comes to breeding Koi but am aware of the basics, which I will point out for you in the following sequence of paragraphs. I also want to make you aware of the actual spawning process and it's pros and cons.
Breeding Koi is stressful to the female Koi
Far from being polite suitors male Koi are quite aggressive in their mating behaviour and will readily charge into and bash the females in order that they will release their eggs. Many female Koi are injured and become extremely exhausted as a result of the aggressive male Koi breeding behaviour.
The full article can be read at http://www.garden-pond-filters.com/Newsletters/Koi_breeding_advice.htm
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