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Thread: Help with growing on fry
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04-02-2025, 10:14 PM #1
Help with growing on fry
I thought I would try and grow on some koi fry this winter in a fish tank in the house.
So in September last year I bought 40 fry from a local dealer, all of them were about 1cm mostly Ogon so I was told. I thought I would lose half to three quarters which would leave me with 10 to 20 koi which I could cope with, I’ve lost 4 and the growth rate is amazing with the biggest hitting 37cm in 5 months. I now have 4 tanks as they quickly out grew the one tank I had and doing 30% water changes every other day to keep the parameters in check.
Not sure what I’m going to do if they keep growing at this rate, I was hoping to put them in the pond around April/May time, but that’s another 3 to 4 months away as I don’t want to put them in at the moment with the pond at 5 degrees, or do you think if I acclimate them slowly they would be ok, there currently at 25 degrees. I’ve became quite attached to them over the past 5 months and the wife loves them as well, which is amazing.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank Martin.
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john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
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05-02-2025, 06:38 AM #2
This is a major issue in the way we think.
The general idea there seems to be to keep the whole fry intact, as with other ornamental fish.
In fact, Adam Julyan, for example.
Uk Koi Fish, a young man who runs a YouTube account, has made several calls for our approach to rearing a reasonable number of British fry, but has not yet been convinced.
What is different here is, for example, supplying them with fry. Cuttlebrook and Byer Koi Farm, who also supply them with fry, do not seem to offer any particular guidance when selling them, while Sekiguchi Koi Farm, the only farm in Japan that has been selling fry to amateurs for a long time, has a sorting manual attached to its sales, which is a clear indication of the difference between the two. The farm is known for its sorting instructions when selling its fry.
稚魚飼育マニュアル(Manual for the rearing of fry)
※This is available on the web, albeit in Japanese text.
What is also stated there is that no excellent KOI will remain without sorting.
(1) The first selection should be made around 30 days, (in case of B, around 2-3 weeks).
(ii) If you are not sure, remove only the no-good ones.
(iii) The result will be better if you select as strictly as possible.
In other words, he expects and recommends the same results as professional breeders get when selling fry.
koi culling = SENBETSU
Here is a summary of the situation and the process, both in Japan and abroad, and for both professionals and amateurs.
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PhilN Thanked / Liked this Post
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05-02-2025, 09:00 AM #3
Hi Martin hope your well.
I would be dropping your temps slowly but I doubt you will get them to match your pond for a while yet.
Koi are ok to put into a slightly higher temp but not into a lower temp so that is not in your favour.
I have been doing the same but in an ibc in my garage so easy to match outside temps.John
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Martin59 Thanked / Liked this Post
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05-02-2025, 10:23 PM #4
Thanks John, at what sort of temp does the pond need to get to for the fish to be safely introduce in to the pond, I was thinking about 10 degrees or is that too low.
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john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
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06-02-2025, 09:50 AM #5
I think 10 deg would be ok but your tank would need to be the same temp,would you be able to get down to that temp in the house Martin?
Or can you move the tank to the garage or similar and slowly drop temps.John
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Martin59 Thanked / Liked this Post
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06-02-2025, 10:46 AM #6
I think you'll have a tough job temp matching from indoor tanks.
Even if you dropped the fry by 0.5C per day, it won't be possible to get them much below 14-15C due to the higher ambient temps, and it won't be till May that the pond is close to these numbers, unless you can heat it.
36 koi added to the pond is going to be a massive hit to the pond filtration as well.
I think you have little choice but to start moving on as many as you can part with and to keep growing the keepers until May.
This side of things is the sole reason why I don't buy fry. Even if there was a huge market of buyers out there, you absolutely know by selling them you'll be sending many to their deaths and it is hard to live with.
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06-02-2025, 07:16 PM #7
The tanks are in a room we don’t use, so If I turn off the rad close the door and open the windows it will get pretty cold in there, I’ll give it a try and see what temp I can get the tanks down to.
Been In contact with some koi friends I have and they will take some of my hands, but not an till the whether warms up a bit as none of them heat there ponds, i recon I’ll be left with about 16
I don’t think I’ll be doing this again, at least not with 40 fry, maybe 5 and they take their chances.
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07-02-2025, 09:58 AM #8
Sounds like a good shout Martin, do it gradually.
You have a lot of koi in small tanks good luck with it.
Growing on fry you need a decent size tank for them,as you say maybe just get 5 or so.John
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Martin59 Thanked / Liked this Post
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07-02-2025, 10:53 AM #9
That’s John, I’ll let you know how I get on. What’s amazed me is the rate they have grown with the biggest hitting 37cm in just 5 months, I would expect that sort of size at 1.5 to 2 years.
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john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
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07-02-2025, 03:01 PM #10
You have done really well to achieve 37cm in 5 Months.
That's a lot of food and water changes!
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07-02-2025, 04:44 PM #11
Show us a picture of the best ones then, you flirt.
2660 Gallons. 4" Bottom Drain and Skimmer. Draco Solum 16 Drum. Anoxic Filtration. Air lift returns.
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07-02-2025, 10:21 PM #12
This is a pick of one of the tanks it’s a jewel 90cm bow front tank and all these fish were on more than 1cm 5 months ago
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08-02-2025, 09:54 AM #13
That is really good growth Martin,what sort of food were you giving them?
That's the thing with fry they just never stop eating.John
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Martin59 Thanked / Liked this Post
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08-02-2025, 10:48 AM #14
I’ve been feeding them a combination of 1mm and 3mm sinking pellets from a company called Perfect Pet Foods which I found on eBay and now they’re bigger I’ve introduced 6mm floating pellets from Orchard Fisheries as well. I’ve been feeding about 8 to 10 times a day very small amounts it certainly seems to work but I think I’m unfortunately going to start lowering the temperature and start feeding less, which is a shame as I would have liked to see how big I could get them before putting them in the pond.
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john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
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08-02-2025, 11:10 AM #15Freddyboy the legend
"we are water keepers first"
Johnathan
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08-02-2025, 12:35 PM #162660 Gallons. 4" Bottom Drain and Skimmer. Draco Solum 16 Drum. Anoxic Filtration. Air lift returns.
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08-02-2025, 10:55 PM #17
The 40 fry I got from my local dealer cost £20, you can buy as many or as few as you want.
I’m glad I gave it a go, it’s been a bit of a learning curve and I won’t be doing it again with that many fry, unless I had a better setup, it’s been bloody hard work with all the water changes but that’s because of the small setup I had, having said that it’s been very gratifying seeing the results.
It’s definitely worth giving it a try if you have the time to look after them properly
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08-02-2025, 11:08 PM #18
I had far to many cock ups with my last attempt but would definitely give it ago again. I did 2-3 week and 6-8 week olds . The 2 week were so much more work but so much learning as you literally didn't have a clue what could be where the 6-8 week had colour and pattern ect .
Sent from my SM-S918B using TapatalkFreddyboy the legend
"we are water keepers first"
Johnathan
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10-02-2025, 10:16 AM #19
I am useing the same company " Perfect pet foods " for mine with Coppens top koi 3mm.
Certainly go through it and I now have a brilliant automatic feeder which feeds 6 times a day and I also hand feed in between.
It is part of the hobby I really enjoy.
With yours Martin it must be a pain with all those water changes and getting back up to temp.John
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10-02-2025, 10:06 PM #20
You’re not wrong John, it’s a nightmare with all the water changes, I’m using hot water from the tap mixed with cold and using temp probe to match the temp to the tank then adding a measured amount of Dechlorinator and that’s for each 10 litre bucket, lm doing 180 litre every other day.
I am very impressed with the pellet from Perfect Pet Foods and as you say the fish love them, I’m even thinking of using it this summer in the main pond and it’s a reasonable price.
How are your fry getting on.
Filters?
What’s the options in your opinion?