How big do baby carp have to be to be safe from being eaten?

13.September, 2009

I have a smallish pond with Koi, goldfish, fancy, etc. In the last few weeks they have all spawned together and apparently as they are all carp they can crossbreed. I’ve separated the fry in a small pond lined with a net curtain and they seem to be doing well. My question concerns the problem of size, as I’ve got 300-400 fry and they are going to get too big soon. So when are they big enough to be safe back in the large pond with all the others? Quicker the better I think but I’d hate to see them all eaten! Extremely grateful for any advice. Thanks

My other half used to breed Koi, he’s away tonight but I’ll edit this with an answer for you tomorrow!

Edit as promised: "The other half speaking!"

Natural mortality will take care of the volume of fry. When the fry reach 15-18mm it’s safe for them to go back into the main water and the strong will survive.

Some points of interest;
Goldfish are the tarts of the fish kingdom and will mate and cross with anything, including Koi!
Carp is widely eaten in europe (Sunny has some nice recipes!)
Carp in Germany are considered vermin and you can be prosecuted and fined for putting them back in the water once caught.

Geschrieben von: admin Zufinden in: carp 9 Kommentare »

9 Meinungen für “How big do baby carp have to be to be safe from being eaten?”

  1. Sunny on the inside sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 1:23 pm

    My other half used to breed Koi, he’s away tonight but I’ll edit this with an answer for you tomorrow!

    Edit as promised: "The other half speaking!"

    Natural mortality will take care of the volume of fry. When the fry reach 15-18mm it’s safe for them to go back into the main water and the strong will survive.

    Some points of interest;
    Goldfish are the tarts of the fish kingdom and will mate and cross with anything, including Koi!
    Carp is widely eaten in europe (Sunny has some nice recipes!)
    Carp in Germany are considered vermin and you can be prosecuted and fined for putting them back in the water once caught.
    References :

  2. jimanddan sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 2:04 pm

    Coz they taste so nice…..without salt an vinegar even.
    References :

  3. aaligh r sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 2:31 pm

    just put him somewere else
    References :

  4. Asuka sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 3:04 pm

    Koi can’t cross with goldfish, but all goldfish are the same species (Carassius auratus) and an iterbreed. You pobably have baby goldies; they’re more prlific than koi.

    Anyway, a fish is always at risk of being eaten by something, be it it’s older relatives, a raccoon, a heron, or even human beings. It’s the way the food chain works. They’ll be safe from their parentsonce they’re too big to readily fit in their mouths; goldfish and koi are mainly herbivores, so they don’t eat much in the way of fish unless the opportunity i too good to pass up. All that said, the little guys are probably fine on their own – little fish are better than you might think at taking care of themselves. They hide near rocks and hard to navigate places, and stick to the shallow water where larger fish have a hard time swimming into. You can just let them free, and unless the predation rates by birds are particularly high in your area, you won’t lose too many (at least, not more tan a small pond can support – keep in mind that natural selection will operate eventually because it would take a good 25,000+ gallons of water to support 400 goldfish. You could, if they turn out to be fancy ones, fish some out before they get huge and sell them to a non-chain pet store.
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  5. ZooTycoonMaster2006 sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 3:15 pm

    You can release them into the big pond when nthey are big enough to not fit into any other fish’s mouth.

    ~ZTM
    References :

  6. scully sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 4:04 pm

    It depends how big the other fish in the pond are. And even when they are grown, fish can be eaten by bullfrogs, racoons, cats, herons, etc.

    What you really need to think about is how many of these little guys will be able to fit in your pond once they are grown and how many you can give away. If you overpopulate your pond, you could kill all your fish. Many people end up having to cull (kill) baby fish. Once they start showing their colors, pick out the nicest looking ones and let them grow to several inches in a tank before putting them back. I’d cull the others by freezing them (seems most humane) or let them be eaten. You’ll notice that some of your new fish don’t have coloring at all. That is their natural coloring. You don’t want them to grow up and mate with your other fish because you’ll end up with a pond full of grey fish. And don’t release them into the wild because they could mess with native species.
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  7. S J sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 4:36 pm

    put some plastic pipe’s in the pond so the fry can hide inside, this really do’s work
    References :
    i have kept ponds for the last 20yrs with koi. gost carp,and fancy gold fish

  8. meatdanloaf sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 5:21 pm

    you can’t eat carp because they are too big and other fishaman catches them waigh them then put them back into the pond or river.
    References :

  9. janorth1 sagt:
    13.September, 2009 um 6:05 pm

    its usually when they can not fit in the largest fishes mouth, and also when they can eat the size food you put in and swim quite fast just incase.
    References :

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