What do you all do with your baby koi fish?

[addy1]

i told you all we have a ton of baby koi, well the sun is out and the ice has melted. here is a couple pictures of some of the baby koi trying to get some sun.

Wow, those suckers were busy last year!

 

[mrsclem]

You could build a larger trap. I built a box from pvc pipe and covered all sides but one with mesh. Lower it into pond with food in it and then upright it- instant holding tank! I have a 3x3 and a 5x5 for my large pond.I was able to capture all my koi last year that way.

 

[Tula]

I was lucky last year, to rheum mine with a neighbor who had his pond wiped out by a blue heron. He told me at the end of the summer that he doesn't need anymore, so really hoping, I don't have many this year.

I can't imagine re-homing thousands of small koi....what can one do? If all options are exercised, do folks consider humane euthanasia? Just curious.

 

[MitchM]

I was lucky last year, to rheum mine with a neighbor who had his pond wiped out by a blue heron. He told me at the end of the summer that he doesn't need anymore, so really hoping, I don't have many this year.

I can't imagine re-homing thousands of small koi....what can one do? If all options are exercised, do folks consider humane euthanasia? Just curious.

I suggest stop feeding the fish.
That can be a tough decision to make.

.

 

[Tula]

That makes sense, survival of the fittest ...but as you say, a tough decision. So far, I've been fortunate to find homes for mine....hoping my koi are hungry, till after spawning this year!

 

[Smaug]

I suggest stop feeding the fish.
That can be a tough decision to make.

.

If that's the best decision that can be made then I suggest we should all give up pond and koi keeping as its simply to cruel to not feed.

 

[addy1]

When mine start chasing I quit feeding, the fish have a lot of stuff to feed on in the pond. They inhale the eggs, keeps the fry load down.

 

[Tula]

@addy1 , I will try that this year. I don't know the sex of my koi, but apparently it's a mixed brood

 

[Smaug]

When mine start chasing I quit feeding, the fish have a lot of stuff to feed on in the pond. They inhale the eggs, keeps the fry load down.

That method I can agree with.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I see ads on the local craigslist for pond fish. If you are comfortable doing that maybe you can find homes that way.

 

[addy1]

I see ads on the local craigslist for pond fish. If you are comfortable doing that maybe you can find homes that way.

They are miserable hard to catch, I prefer to just keep the fish load down. So far it is working. I do not put in spawning mops or anything to help with spawning / egg survival.

 

[sawlog]

we will be pumping our pond out later this month. netting all the babies is a pain in the butt. I guess we will see how many we can sell. very good money if we sell a lot of them.
we have a very low fish load, 11 fish in 20,000 gallons of water. I think that is part of our problem. not enough fish to eat the eggs.

 

[mrsclem]

I use Craigslist and local newspapers to sell mine but I usually only have a couple dozen. This year I have almost 100 I year old fry to rehome.

 

[teeemkay]

When mine start chasing I quit feeding, the fish have a lot of stuff to feed on in the pond. They inhale the eggs, keeps the fry load down.

That's a good idea. I'll try that this year when they start doing their Flipper imitations. They put on quite a show for our barbecue on Memorial Day last year...the big orange one went airborne a couple times.

 

[KayC]

I wish I was closer to you guys. I would buy some from you. Can you ship koi?