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  1. #1

    Koi breeding project

    Hi all,

    I've started a koi breeding project, with the aim of breeding a koi that wins a prize at a koi show beating atleast one other koi in the process. This is a big challenge!

    Here's my project plan:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: My project plan

    I'm about 6 months in, and I've been writing up a blog since february. I've gone for as large scale as I can as a hobbyist, and I've done my second spawning last weekend and am ready to put my shiro fry out into the fry pond tomorrow.

    You can see the detail here - there are over 20 blogs so far:
    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist

    And here are some pics of the shiro fry from eggs, to fee swimmer's:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: the developing shiro eggs

    Tomorrow, I'm putting the shiro fry out into the fry pond and it's going to be exciting to see exactly how many I've got through the hatching process. Initial indications suggest there's a good batch there.


    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
    interesting.

    I'll have a read of your blog tomorrow.

  3. #3
    Hi Adam,

    You met one of my good friends Stuart for an interview.

    It's a tough thing raising koi fry... mine were a mixed batch of everything, and I wasn't trying to win a show. I look forward to following your progress though. And already follow your blog.

    Keep us posted. With lots of pictures too
    Blog, Koi, Everything.

    http://kanundra.com/

    http://mybook.to/TSK

    http://author.to/DC

  4. #4
    Hi guys, thanks for your comments. It's been a long few weeks on the work front and the breeding project has taken back stage. That said - got the shiro's out into "horseshoe" fry pond a couple of weeks ago

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: Shiro's now in "horseshoe" fry pond

    and finally had a chance to look for the pond life in chestnut pond today. After several weeks of elusive kohaku's, we're starting to see them in groups of 10 or so in the pond margins:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: pond life ahoy

    I estimte only a few thousand kohaku's went into the fry pond, and if I'd be happy if I harvest 1000 of them at first selection. It will give me some ideas for adjusting my techniques for next time.

    I've got yamabuki, shusui and kujaku females with eggs that I'm going to hold onto until later in the summer. But there are a couple of females with eggs that I dont need so I'm spawning them this weekend to test out male/female combinations for next year and also an adjusted spawning tank set up that will cut my workload and could be a template for other hobbyists who want to have a go at breeding koi but want to keep the costs down. more on that later.

  5. #5
    Hi; test spawnings last weekend went well, see the pics here:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: a couple more spawnings this weekend

    and I got some pics of the kohaku fry today, and video of the koi making the most of the daphnia bloom - if you watch it in HD you can actually see the daphnia swarming around the koi fry:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: The kohaku fry; their 4th week in the fry pond

  6. #6
    Been a busy 24 hours on the project. We've harvested both fry ponds, and are getting ready for selections tomorrow

    I've put some more pics onto my blog entry.

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: Pond harvest, and preparing for selections

  7. #7
    A few more updates on the project. I've completed all my kohaku selections now, and did a kujaku spawning this weekend which went well.

    Here are the updates:

    http://adambyerkoihobbyist.blogspot.co. ... pdate.html

    http://adambyerkoihobbyist.blogspot.co. ... g-and.html

  8. #8

  9. #9
    another busy day on the project. here's a post about preparing for more spawnings:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: Setting up to spawn my remaining females

    I've set 3 spawnings off this afternoon. no pictures this time - I set them off and left them to it. Fingers crossed!

  10. #10
    a complex showa spawning, and finally got some ok pics of the kohaku fry swimming around in their growing on tank - and finally, some close up pics of 2 of the better ones.

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: A complex spawning

    btw - shusui spawned this morning!

  11. #11
    here's a general update covering the last few days:

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: Preparing for 2nd selections
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  12. #12
    showa out into the fry pond now, and shusui ready to go. plus got a few pics of some of the more promising kohaku fry growing on.

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: Showa out, Shusui ready to go
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  13. #13
    another update; I'm thinking ahead to next year and I will be focussing much more on kohaku, with several spawnings using different matches so I can find out which matches produce the best results. I will then go large the following year on that combo.

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: I've decided to focus more on Kohaku. Shusui out into chestnut pond, plus some more general thoughts.
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  14. #14
    daphnia blooming in both fry ponds!

    and, another update. reflections on - and I can't believe this - the 11 spawnings I've done this year. There's been a lot of learning and experienced gained out of that lot which puts me in a good position for next spring.

    Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist: Reflections - Future focus on Kohaku. Going to stop Sanke, and possibly Shiro.

    Next year will be less busy on the spawning side, now I have a better idea of which koi go together best, and I will have got through most of the set up too - but hopefully more busy on the selections side, assuming I get the spawning / rearing to 1inch right.

    There is a little more setup work to do - I still have the tea cup to plumb in, and I will need one more fry growing on tank so I can split the 1 inchers I expect to have at the end of september from the kohaku's that will be several inches long by then. and this winter, I want to adjust the bottom of the fry ponds outside a little to make them more efficient to harvest, plus build the banks up in a few places and so on.
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  15. #15
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Nisai Ant's Avatar
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    Hi Adam

    Thanks for writing all the blogs, not had a chance to read them all yet but im finding them a really good read so far.

    Couple of question if you dont mind?
    What are you planning on doing with all the koi? Are you culling the not so good koi?

  16. #16
    Hi Ant,

    Please ask away! To answer your question - to date we've culled the deformed fry (thankfully, only a very small % of the fry), and found homes for all the rest. We've not had any problems finding homes for the koi - I've had quite few messages from people asking for some of the fry, and ebay has been a useful tool for the remainder. We've had feedback from many of the people who took fry off us and it's been good to hear about them settling in and eating well! Many of those people have asked us to let them know when we have more koi to move on from different varieties.

    I think the blog may have helped too - I started the blog to share what I'm doing, and hopefully encourge other hobbyists to have a go; plus it's been a great way to just keep a diary of the project. Most of the people who took fry off us said they've been following the blog and they know where the koi have come from, the quality of the parent fish, how they've been spawned, how the fry have been reared etc. So I think sharing as much info as I can in the blog has helped us find homes for the spare koi we have.

    I'm still learning about selection - and I've already made one mistake; I realised after the event that we moved on most of our tancho, when I should have kept them! I kept one or two, but now I've seen them grow to 2-3 inch size, I really should have kept more! oops.
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  17. #17
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Nisai Ant's Avatar
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    Glad you found homes for all the koi. if you ever need to get rid of anymore, I'd be interested lol.

    I guess in the future you might need to keep them a little longer so you really start to see the difference in the koi. As you have found out lol

    Have you ever thought about trying to breed Hi Utsuri? I guess not as they just don't seem as popular anymore which is a real shame as its my fav fish by far and you just dont come across many good examples.

    I'd love to be able to do something like you have done but I just dont have the time or resources to set it up.

  18. #18
    Hi Utsuri is one of my wife's favourite varieties, and I would be interested in giving them a go. The only problem is finding good koi to breed from, and also the japanese breeders are struggling to produce a good supply of really good ones so I have even less of a chance.

    I 've spawned showa recently, and a hi showa isnt quite a hi utsuri but it's not far off - I'll keep an eye out for some all/mostly red showa -it might be interesting to see how they come along.

    the kohaku's we're growing on are doing well; there are probably a few hundred of them and I am looking forward to having a closer look when I the second selections. there will be pictures ofcouse...

    the project is quite full on, and it's been a mixed bag so far. a lot of hard work, and to be honest, not as much success as I would have liked so far. it's very easy to get one thing wrong and adversely impact the success of that whole spawning. that said, there are some very interesting looking kohaku coming through in the 2-3inchers and I'm learning from the experiences. Next year will be easier when I don't have the setup work to do as well as the spawning side, and also focussing on kohaku and showa will also help.
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  19. #19
    fry spotted in both fry ponds. phew. here's a general update:

    Fry Update - Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist
    Co-founder and owner of Adam Byer Koi Farm (https://www.byerkoifarm.co.uk/collections/koi-for-sale)

  20. #20
    Moderator Rank = Supreme Champion miles41's Avatar
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    Your site looks very interesting Adam, will have a proper read later.
    1630 Gallon raised pond
    4" 'Avenue' bottom drain
    Estro sieve
    Econobead EB60 bead filter
    Sequence 18000 pump, 6000 pump on skimmer line
    Elecro 2kW in-line heater
    Evolution Aqua 70 air pump
    Standard wall skimmer
    Hozelock Vorton 55watt UV
    and some nice koi

 

 
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