Koi Fish Eggs and The First Days of Life — Koi Story

Koi Fish Eggs and The First Days of Life

Koi fish eggs are the start of new life in your pond. If you come across some newly-hatched eggs nestled on the tip of a pond plant in your backyard, expect to find a population boom within the next few days! Typically, koi eggs will hatch in less than a week. Koi eggs are very small, bead-like specks that can vary from milky white to yellow or green. Upon closer inspection, you can see two black dots through the transparent membrane of the egg. These are the developing eyes of the koi. As you’ll soon find, the this time of hatching is sure to be exciting for both you and the pond!

Eggs Galore

After seasonal springtime breeding, koi like to hatch their eggs on a substrate, a surface that lends itself to laying eggs. Koi like to lay their eggs on pond plants, spawning mats, or spawning ropes. Koi will also lay their eggs on twigs nestled on the floor of the pond. Keep a careful watch on the eggs once they are laid, as many koi enjoy snacking on them. You may have to place any roaming hungry koi in a separate pond or tank to protect your eggs while hatching.

After the next two days, the koi fish eggs will hatch. These small koi are called koi fry. To aid in their development, make sure that your pond has a sufficient coverage of aquatic plant life. Koi fry seek shelter from predators in your pond’s greenery. They also feed off their nutrients. Koi eggs and koi fry are at risk of being eaten by other koi in the pond. They are also more vulnerable to outside predators, such as birds and raccoons. By seeking shelter under the cover of pond plants, koi fry better their chances of survival.

After the koi fish eggs hatch, baby koi attach themselves to the side walls of the pond. After a few more days, they learn to swim. During their first few days of life, the koi fry live off of the nutrition from their own egg yolk. After that, they depend on you for feedings.

Because koi fry have such small mouths, they need smaller sized food. Koi fry need to eat liquid or small suspended-particle food for their first few days of life. After that, you can work on feeding your koi fry larger and larger solid foods. Baby koi can eat food out of your refrigerator, such as hard boiled eggs. They can also eat commercial foods, such as baby brine shrimp and freeze-dried krill. Throughout the first month of life, feed your young koi four times a day.

Do you have any tips for raising koi fish eggs and koi fry? Share them with other koi connoisseurs – leave a comment or tell us via the contact form!