Anyone have any advice on breeding Koi Carp?

I am thinking about breeding Koi Carp. I have kept them for a number of years and have a fair size pond with about 30 fish. I have noticed a couple of little babies this year but had nothing else. How difficult is it to start breeding. Any advice would be great.Anyone have any advice on breeding Koi Carp?
Make sure you get Koi that ARE breedable. Some are produced to be sterile for strictly pet / show purposes. You have to find a reputable breeder that will sell you true breeders.Anyone have any advice on breeding Koi Carp?
It's actually fairly easy to get them to breed. You will need a second pond, or a sectioned-off portion of your main pond that the big koi cannot get to, or they will eat all your eggs. And, if you want to do some selective breeding, you'll have to have a place where you can put your pairings/matings, too. This is really easy to do, though - just get some above ground swimming pools that are at least 3 feet deep and 500 gallons. If you are in the northern hemisphere, you may be able to find some on clearance for *cheap* since it's the end of summer.





Then, to stimulate breeding, you need an eggbearing female (they are usually at least 12'; long or more, and fat, like a football!) and a fertile male - slimmer, and usually 10'; long or more, a water change, and warmer water. I usually wait until the pond's water has hit the upper 60's - usually by about the end of May/early June where I live (USDA zone 5). Then I do a major water change - like 30-50%. The influx of the new water is generally what stimulates breeding.





This could be achieved also by moving the selected ';couple'; (usually one female and two males are best, though, so that the female doesn't get too beat up) into your breeding pond. If they're going to spawn, they should do it within 48 to 72 hours of being moved. You can tell they are spawning because the female will be racing around, with the males in hot pursuit, trying to nudge up under her belly. This stimulates her to release her eggs, which she does by flipping her tail up and out of the water. At the same time, the male releases his sperm to fertilize them.





You should have some breeding balls, spawning mops, clean (never-used) household string mop heads, or water hyacinths where your koi are spawning so that the eggs have something to stick to (and they are VERY sticky). Then, once they're done spawning (usually 12-24 hours is sufficient), you can either remove the spawning medium to a different pond, or return the parents to your main pond. Just keep them away from the eggs, because there is nothing koi like to eat better!





You should be prepared to do another major water change since the excess milt (sperm) in the water can cause your ammonia levels to skyrocket, leading to filter crash. And don't be alarmed if your parent fish won't eat and/or just lay around for a day or two after spawning - all that activity wears them out! Just take care of your water quality, and the fish will take care of themselves.





As for hatching fry - inspect the eggs (initially they look like grains of coarse salt, changing to resemble tapioca over time) after 24 hours and remove, if you can, any that are gray, opaque, or fuzzy - these were not fertilized and will invite fungus that may attack your fertile eggs (which will be clear). You can also add dilute malachite green do ward off fungus, too.





It can take anywhere from 48 to 96 hours for the eggs to hatch, depending on water temperature and quality. The warmer the water, the faster they hatch. Be careful not to let the water get above around 76-77 F degrees, or your fry may have a higher chance of being deformed.





Once your fry hatch, you can feed them with daphnia (water fleas), baby brine shrimp, or even egg yolk diluted in water and poured in. As they get older and their mouths get bigger, you can actually feed them fry food. You should feed them, ideally, five times a day until they are at least an inch or two long - maybe a month or two. Rate of growth will be determined by water quality and temperature. Since you are feeding so much, it is important to make sure your water parameters are pristine - plan on a sizeable water change every other day or so.





You should also be prepared to cull your fry ';herd'; every other day or so. Get rid of any that are deformed - they likely won't make it, anyway, and just add unnecessarily to your bio-load. In addition, I generally cull any all-black koi (unless I am trying for ';crows';) as the likelihood that any other color will develop on an all-black fry is very remote.





Once your babies are around two inches long or so (if you spawned in June, they should be that size by late September/October) you can put them in your main pond and your big fish will leave them alone. Any earlier than that, and you risk the parent koi mistaking the fry for a food source like insect larvae or something. I have seen adult koi accidentally slurp up fry and spit them out again with neither party any the worse for the wear, but I would not guarantee that this will always happen....





The most important thing I can stress to you for a successful breeding is water quality, water quality, water quality! Invest in a good testing kit, and strive always to keep your ammonia and nitrites at zero and your nitrates at less than 20 ppm. And keep your fry pond, especially, well-aerated.





Hope this helps. Good luck - and let me know how you make out!