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Spawning
Koi and goldfish can and will spawn in your pond when the time and elements are right.
Gender can be difficult to determine, but females are normally larger with substantial girth to them. Make no mistake when the spawning months come, around in the early to mid part of the year, the females will be easy to recognize! They will have swollen bellies full of hundreds of eggs waiting to be expelled. When the fish spawn, you will see several of the thinner males chasing the females all over the pond, bumping and nudging their sides and stomach area.
The males are attempting to convince the females to release her eggs. She will deposit them on underwater plants like Parrot's Feather, Water Iris, Reeds, etc. Then he will release his Milt and fertilize the eggs.
The fertilized eggs are thrust into a very dangerous world mostly at the mouth of their cannibalistic parents!
If you don't want fry of the koi or goldfish - leaving them be will minimize any making it to adulthood. There will be fry that make it, but numbers will be kept in check. You can also remove all the eggs you find or add Gambusia minnows, which will turn on the small fry in place of mosquito larva.
Fry
Fry
If your intentions are to ensure the largest surviving percentage of fry, immediately take out the eggs so neither they nor the fry that will emerge in the days to come are eaten by hungry pond mates.
If you don’t have underwater plants for the fish to lay their eggs on, a brand new, no chemicals added, mop head makes a wonderful substitute. It’s much cleaner and easier to move once the eggs have been deposited. There are also manufactured spawning ropes and brushes that serve the same purpose.
Keep the eggs in clean, oxygenated water. Remove any eggs that have a milky solid look to them as they are infertile and as they decompose can effect water conditions and cause a water mold to spread to good eggs.
Once the tiny fry emerge they feed for days on the small egg yolk still attached to them. You will often find some of the fry grow larger and faster than others. These fry are called “Tobies” and they will often eat their smaller siblings!
In this image you can see a small fry in the stomach of a Toby!
Carlos Flannery
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