A Long-Awaited Beni Kikokuryu Harvest

This week, we will be harvesting two ponds containing predominantly Beni Kikokuryu from one of our 2025 spawnings.

These koi are now approaching nisai—two summers old—and showed considerable promise when we last reviewed them as young tosai. We have been looking forward to seeing how they have developed, but this spawning carries a particularly interesting story of its own.

A Spawning Several Years in the Making

The parent set combined our trusted pair of Beni Kikokuryu males with a female we had persisted with for many years.

She had always interested us because of her bright white metallic skin and distinctive, floating style of beni. However, she did not begin spawning until she was six summers old—and even then, success did not come immediately.

Her first spawning produced very few eggs, leaving us with no fry. The following year, she produced a huge volume of eggs, but fertilisation was extremely poor and once again we were unable to raise any fry from the pairing.

It was not until last year, when we paired her with our primary Beni Kikokuryu males, that everything finally came together. We obtained both a large volume of eggs and good fertilisation, giving us our first proper opportunity to see what this female could produce.

Watching the Koi Develop

It has been fascinating to follow the development of the young koi from this spawning.

As they now approach nisai, we are beginning to see some brilliant sumi emerging. Many are also displaying the floating style of beni that first attracted us to their mother—creating some very interesting and distinctive Beni Kikokuryu.

Nisai is still a very early stage in the development of a koi, particularly in varieties involving black pigmentation. Sumi on the body can continue to emerge and consolidate, while matsuba and robing may also become more pronounced as the koi matures.

That element of change is one of the things that makes raising young Beni Kikokuryu so interesting. The koi we harvest this week will not simply be finished pictures; many will still have a considerable developmental journey ahead of them.

This Week’s Harvest

We will be harvesting both ponds during the course of the week, giving us our first detailed look at how this important spawning has progressed.

We will share photographs, harvest footage and preview videos as the week unfolds, before presenting a selection of these koi in this Friday night’s online koi release.

After several years of persistence with their mother, followed by almost two summers watching her offspring develop, this promises to be a particularly exciting week here at Byer Koi Farm.

We look forward to sharing it with you.