A review of the fry ponds
We completed tosai selection on the tank of larger tosai the other day, and this week have entertained a few visitors who came over to select some of those koi to take home.
Showing them around, and walking the length of the fry ponds... we're starting to notice quite a few fry swimming around out there. These are left over from the late summer spawning. And they seem to be doing quite well. I measured the pond temperature today at 17C!
We knew last September that there might be a few fry left, even after seine netting each pond several times. But, based on what we saw today - there might be something like a thousand or so in each pond. I reflected that our very successful July 14 spawning was a harvest of just 2.5k fry at first selection. So, I'm thinking that there might be enough to put some attention into; and it will be interesting to see whether there's any difference in keeper rate, compared to when we performed first selection on the bulk of the spawning back in September.
We'll harvest them soon - which we have to do anyway, when we drain down the ponds in preparation for this year's spawnings. If there is sufficient quantity to warrant some fry rearing treatment.. we'll carry out a first selection and then grow a few on in a small tank for a couple of months and see what we have.
Here are a few pictures from around the ponds, taken today:
