Is something wrong if my koi has not released eggs?
When your female Koi is old enough (3-5 years old), her body will produce eggs. When the water temperature rises to 65-70 degrees she will start to see signs of spawning. There will be a lot of chasing, the female will be left alone near the bottom and they will eat a lot of food. Mating is said to begin when there is a full moon and the eggs are released in the early morning. The male’s job is to help her get the eggs out and then fertilize them.
In some cases, the female may not release her eggs. Here are some reasons why.
The pond is made up of all the female Koi.
The male Koi in the pond are not old enough to mate.
The Koi is sick and does not carry eggs.
A sure sign that the Koi is sick and not carrying eggs is the scales. If the scales protrude or if the eyes bulge out, it could be dropsy. This is when the kidneys are failing. You can use a salt bath to help sick fish. Put 1 cup of level salt in a bucket with 5 gallons of water. Put the fish in the bucket for 1-2 minutes and then return it to the pond. This should be done 2 or 3 times a week until the swelling goes down. Another possibility is that a tumor is causing the swelling. This would make the koi not swim properly.
Listed below are the possibilities of what can happen if the koi does not breed (mate) and is carrying eggs.
1. If the koi does not spawn, the eggs may remain in the koi for several seasons until they spawn.
2. The suppositories can be reabsorbed. This means that it will simply make them disappear back into its own body.
3. Sometimes the eggs can stick together. Egg bound is when the eggs rot and this will kill the female Koi.
Not feeding the fish in the winter will help the female Koi reabsorb her eggs if she did not spawn in the spring. You really want her to reabsorb them as this is safe for your fish. You want to prevent her Koi’s eggs from hatching into eggs.
To determine if all of your Koi are female, you can feel their heads. A male’s head will feel like sandpaper and a female ready to spawn will be slippery. If you manage to touch each of your fish you will know its sex. If you discover that you have a male Koi, he may not be mature enough to mate. On the other hand, maybe your Koi is just being picky.
To sum this up, if your Koi is fat and the scales are fine, then you probably have all the females or the males are just not old enough to mate. Not feeding your fish in the winter will help the koi reabsorb their eggs. Get ready to see baby Koi next spring.