koi stages spawning breeding information akakoi.com

STAGES OF SPAWNING
This is the time that not only the breeding koi get excited but the novice as well, and maybe a little worried about their beloved koi being injured because of being chased and pushed around the pond. This is a normal breeding procedure.
Make sure that there is plenty of oxygen via air stones and that the pH is 7.
First the female sucks the breeding material while the male swims all around the pond so that he knows the limits and area that he can move in. When she is ready to lay her eggs, she swims in and through the spawning material. This excites the male and he begins to chase her. As they start to swim faster he pushes her towards the material with his nose, this builds into a frenzy of chasing and pushing the female over the material, butting her on the side for her to release her eggs. As soon as she starts to release the first spurt of eggs it gets really rough as the male can push her sideways and even lift her out of the water! Then they settle down to business, it is still a frenzy with the male all the time pushing her toward the material. As they get side by side against the material they, both in unison, flash their tails really fast, she releases her eggs and he covers them with his milt (blink and you will miss it).
This all starts very early in the morning just before dawn. A good indication that they have started is a strong smell and foam on the water. Approach them quietly as some koi will stop spawning if disturbed. Sit and watch for awhile and check them every hour to see if they have finished. This will be apparant with no activity and they have started to eat the eggs.
When they have finished remove them back to the main pond. The female will be exhausted but if she is a large koi and in condition, further chasing to empty her of eggs won't hurt her. When she has had enough she will just lay on the bottom an have no further interest.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMBRYO
Once the koi have been removed from the breeding pond leave the eggs to harden for 4 to 6 hours.
If you are going to move them to a hatching pond, DO NOT touch them or let them dry out. The eggs need to be disinfected against fungus spreading
from the unfertilised dead eggs. This can be carried out in either one of two ways.
One way is to immerse them into treated, clean water for 15 mins. (treated with 15 P.P.M. of Malachite Green). Then the eggs can be moved into the hatching pond. Make sure that all the water is of a similar temperature to that of the breeding pond water.
The other way is to transfer the material to the hatching pond and treat that with 20 ml per 1000 lts of 1% stock solution Malachite Green or use the same as above at 15 P.P.M.
If you are using the breeding pond as a hatching pond, after the eggs have hardened off, carry out a 90% treated water change keeping the the temperature similar to which it was. Only fill to 30 cm high then disinfect the whole pond with eggs at 15 P.P.M. of Malachite Green.
Disinfection should be carried out only between the 1st and 3rd day after spawning NEVER after that.
The difference between infertile and fertile eggs is that the infertile ones are opaque and the good ones are transparent. Usually the infertile eggs are in clumps and start to grow fungus on them in the first few days.
Eggs hatch in around 4 to 6 days but this all depends on the temperature of the hatching pond. If it takes more than 10 days then I would say throw them away and start again with another pair as the deformity rate would be very high.