Quarantine Koi Fish

New Koi Fish can be carrying parasites, and in rare cases systemic infections (internal problems) and although the Japanese breeders and koi dealers in the U.K. normally treat fish when they first arrive, there is no guarantee that problems will not occur after you have purchased your koi. The induced stress of their long journey, and radically different water quality can inhibit the immune system response in newly arrived koi fish. This can lead to parasite attacks , and ultimately bacterial infections.

However, we should bear in mind that the vast majority of koi are strong and healthy when they are first harvested in Japan, and are not riddled with parasites or infection.  Most problems occur because of the induced stress of up to 24 hours in a plastic bag during transit to the U.K, and because of substantially differing water conditions, in particular pH and general hardness.

During the journey, your new koi has almost certainly been subjected to water temperature changes of 15 deg. C over a 24 hour period which adds to the stress problem.

Therefore, rather than treating problems after they occur, we need to get the koi 'comfortable' in their new environment as quickly as possible, to ensure that their own immune system is working properly, so that they can fight of any potential problems without human intervention.

Many people run into self induced problems when quarantining new fish simply because they are unaware of the level of aftercare required for their new purchase and assume their new Koi will look after itself. The single most common cause of problems in our view is quarantining fish in a vat or pond which is too small.

There is a well publicised view that a quarantine facility of between 250 - 500 gallons is adequate for quarantine purposes. This may be the case if you only have 4 or 5 small koi to quarantine, but not for anything else.

In our view your quarantine facility should be minimum 1000 gallons with temperature control and a mature filter. Setting up you quarantine facility 3 weeks before the fish are due to arrive is asking for trouble.

Do's and Don'ts Quarantine Koi Fish

1. Do have your quarantine facility ready for the job, the larger the better with a mature filter.
2. Do carry out regular water changes.
3. Do monitor for ammonia and nitrite regularly.
4. Do take scrapes to ensure an appropriate treatment regime.
5. Do observe your new koi's behaviour
6. Do provide adequate aeration.
7.Don't quarantine your new prize 26" koi in 500 gallons of water!
8. Don't use chemicals on your new arrivals until they have settled in.
9. Don't use dips - they are very stressful and not particularly effective.
10.Don't quarantine single fish - koi are gregarious and are happiest with company.
11.Don't use chemicals indiscriminately - use an appropriate remedy for the specific problem encountered.
12.Don't subject your koi to fluctuating temperatures or other water parameters.
13. Don't overfeed the Koi, - once per day @ 17 deg C is quite adequate.

We recommend the following quarantine regime
1. Adequate facility, mature filter, temperature controlled.
2. Five days before new fish arrive dose quarantine pond with chloramine T or Virkon S to disinfect and reduce bacteria count.
3. Carry out 10-20% water change immediately prior to arrival of new stocks.
4. Introduce new fish and allow to settle in for minimum 3 days. During this period, use only salt at 0.5 oz per gallon and or Elbagin as a supportive treatment to help koi overcome stress. No other chemicals.
5 Take scrapes of selected koi and check for parasites.
6. Apply appropriate parasite treatment if required.
7. Maintain adequate aeration through the period of treatment.
8. Retake scrapes at the end of your parasite treatment. and re-dose if necessary.
9. Dose pond with chloramine T to reduce bacteria count.
10. Continue to carry out regular (at least every 5 days) 10% water changes.
11. Monitor for ammonia and nitrite readings regularly.
12. Maintain a stable temperature. (17.5 deg C or 64 deg F is recommended)


Source:
http://www.koicarp.org.uk/quarantine.htm

Koi Fish Breeding

Koi Fish Breeding start with Select good Parent. Kois are selected as the parent if it really age. Female Koi must have egg in it's stomach for 6 until 9 month. The female is most important to the baby’s conformation. Female Must have jumbo size, approximately 75 cm in size. Male parent must have a good quality skin and color. The ratio of male and female is a 1 female and 2-3 male. The female koi deposits her eggs approximately 100,000 per kilogram of her body weight. As a general rule, Koi need to be three years old and at least 0.5kg to mature, although males can mature younger and smaller than this. When female Koi start to mature the eggs inside their body cavities and visibly start to swell and fill out around the abdomen.

Koi Spawning

Koi will try to spawn if the water in warm condition, in temperature 20 c. Naturaly Female lay egg in the submerged weed in koi pond. If there is no submerged weed in your pond, the addition of some artificial spawning rope at the right time will be sufficient to encourage Koi. It is usually best to add this substrate a week to 10 days before your Koi spawn. Preparing your pond to allow the fish to spawn is fairly straightforward. Koi prepare to spawn will notice males chasing a female, nudging her side with their mouths. The female will occasionally stop and suck at the sides of the pond in an attempt to clean an area on which she can deposit her eggs. This is the time to gently lower the spawning ropes into the pond. Spread out the coils of rope into a fanlike shape and anchor them to the side of the pond.

During this time it is best to leave the fish to it, although you can make sure they avoid too much damage by removing anything from the pond that they might bang into; including plant pots or any ornaments and light fittings. It is best to leave any water features such as fountains and waterfalls switched on, as the water currents they create will help the fish. To actually spawn, your female fish will run through the spawning substrate, attracting the attention of the males, who will then follow in close attendance.

After a short while, the female will release batches of eggs into the substrate and the males will release clouds of milt to fertilise them. The eggs must be fertilised within 20 seconds of them being laid, so the males must be very close by and ready once they are.When they have finished spawning, the females hang head down, respiring heavily, and the other fish will become less excited. Koi are not good parents and unless remove the eggs from the pond quickly before they will begin to eat them.

Feeding Koi should be suspended during the days that the fish are actively spawning, although in reality the fish normally stop feeding altogether as they start the major spawning periode.
Incubating Koi eggs

After Spawning process finished, remove the spawning ropes and carefully place them in a vat for incubation. Fertilized eggs will hatch within4- 5 days. Koi Fry will instinctively seek shelter and hide in any cover they can find. The spawning ropes are ideal for this. We Can give Hard-boiled egg yolk for koi fry food for the first day.This has very little dietary value, but will increase the size of the stomach. Newly hatched brine shrimp larvae are also a good food source for young Koi fry. Start feeding the brine shrimp when the Koi are about one week old. After another week or so, the Koi will be ready for a mash diet (the powder dust that is left after the manufacturing process of fish food).

During this first feeding stage, You will need to remove accumulated debris and waste frequently. Fresh water should add regularly to the vat to remove nitrates and ammonia. After three or four weeks, the fry will have grown to 5-10 mm in length and will be starting to take larger quantities of more generously sized foods. In this age usually kept in the pond mud, aquarium or tank.

Prepare A Quarantine Tank For Koi Fish

Ah, yes, the often dismissed but very necessary part of the Koi fish hobby, the infamous quarantine tank. Do you really need one to be successful in this hobby?

For freshwater fish as Koi  you may be able to get by without having one. Freshwater fish are generally more suited to captivity because they are usually tank raised and don't seem to break out in disease as readily as their saltwater counterparts. However, if newly acquired fish do come down with something, you will surely wish that you had one ready to go. One newly bought Koi  fish that is introduced to your main tank can easily wipe out the entire tank population. Better safe than sorry, right?

Golden Koi, Hikari Mono

These are all metallic and “one” colored koi Fish. They are known collectively as “Ogon”. Hikari means shiny or metallic, and mono means one. Ogon means “golden”. You may often hear variations of the name to include “muji”, which also means “one”. It may seem like a “double emphasis” to say Hikari Mujimono, but it is still considered a correct variety name. I guess some people really want you to know that it really is just the one color. Then just to confuse us all, koi that have a matsuba (a black netting pattern, with the black at the center of the scale) pattern, but have one “primary” color are also in this group.