HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THIS AND KOI AGE QUESTION

I WAS TOLD BY AN EXPERIENCED PONDER, THAT WHENEVER YOUR KOI GET READY TO SPAWN, PUT A CLEAN STRING MOPHEAD IN THE POND AND THAT WILL BE THE BEST HIDING PLACE FOR THEM THEY HAD EVER SEEN. THEY'LL HIDE LIKE CRAZY IN IT.

ALSO. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE AGE OF A KOI. THE SOLID BLUE IMPORTED JAPANESE KOI WE BOUGHT IS ABOUT 7-8 INCHES LONG, AND THE YELLOW IS ABOUT 6 INCHES LONG. THE CALICO'S ARE ALL SIZES.

JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF ANYONE HAD A CLUE. I PAID
25 DOLLARS FOR THE BLUE IMPORT KOI, AND THEN WHEELED AND DEALED ON ALL THE OTHERS. WE DID PRETTY GOOD, ON PRICES ON ALL OF THE REST.

THANKS,
TRACI S

I've heard the mophead thing before. The idea is to give them something to lay the eggs on, then a place for the fry to hide. A bunch of plants will do the same, hyacinth roots etc.

Can't help on the age though, as fast as koi grow they could be any age. I do believe they don't start spawning until they are like 3 years old though.

JODY, MINE DID AT MY OTHER POND AFTER ABOUT 2 YEARS. AND ARE SHUBUNKINS KOI OR GOLDFISH.

THANKS,
TRACI

I agree w/ all the posts above too. Telling the age of a fish by size doesn't really work out too well imo. I've had atleast 2 or more aquariums going at all times here for the last 15 years. I'm down to 2 90 gallon tanks for now. But My point is how you can stunt a fish's growth just by the size of tank you keep them in. I've done it on purpose and on accident in the beginning. My best example was w/ 3 BIG tiger Oscar's. I was trying to get a pair of breeder's and I did so, the 3rd fish that wasn't needed for breeding ended up in a 20 gallon tank and the other 2 were in a 100 gallon tank. Over a 2 year period I watched the differences in size. The 2 in the big tank were around 10-12inches long while the 1 in the smaller tanks was barely six inches long. They were all bought at the same time from the same people etc. so the only factor that was different was tank size. I'm so glad I got to watch this happen since i now use it to my advantage for varying reason's.
I've never owned any Koi so this may not be applicable here but I thought I'd give you my 2 cents worth.
OH BTW. Pet stores sell different products just for fry to hide in etc.. You could go and look just to get an idea. I wouldn't do anything unless you have many other fish in there that will eat the fry. The fish will breed in a 5 gallon bucket providing they feel comfortable and have the propper water conditions. The water quality is the biggest factor next to having and male and female in breeding!LOL I've been able to literally trigger breeding just by altering water conditions, I think PH is the big part of that inducing. I recomend closely monitoring PH and amonia levels atleast, I have a mini lab kit that tests for nitrates and nitrites aswell. That's all overkill imo providing you have good water and no amonia/ph problems plus doing 25% water changes every couple months or so. It makes the water look much clearer and the fish seem happier even if your tests show the levels are w/ in the safe range.
Here I go rambling on another "marathon post". I hope I helped a little and let me know if you'd like more information w/ filtering and breeding. I've been into fish bigtime ever since I was a child. Now I build custom filtration systems for specific needs for certain people so I've learned tons about keeping fishies healthy, happy and ummm...horny! LOL If breeding is what you'd like to do.
Goodluck! JD

Thanks for the info, and that is funny. Healthy, happy, and horny! I had another pond before this one, and they bred in there just fine. That pond was destroyed. But anyway, I won't start on that. And thanks alot, and once my fish are larger and older, I'll have some ?'s I'm sure.

Thanks,
Traci S

Um- you probably don't want to "stunt" your fishs` growth. Oscars need very large aquariums or ponds. They do not develope properly and eventually die in a too small space. :(
Goldfish don't usually spawn til they are around 2 ir 3. It's exciting to watch!