2023 HMPK and CTPK Betta spawns

This year I’ll be continuing my HMPK line for the 8th generation and my CTPK line for the 2nd generation. Perhaps I’ll end up doing one or two more spawns, maybe even do some CTPK x HMPK to get some combtail plakats.

So far I have a spawn of HMPK kois from my own line. Dad was a aquahuna “pick your betta” nemo koi, mom is the only koi from my 7th generation HMPK line.
Parents





Over 1 month old fry, they now know how to beg and will be getting their first dried foods tonight.



Grandparents are a sibling pair of blue marbles from the 6th generation. Great grandma was a koi from my candy koi spawn, great grandpa was a blue marble from the 5th generation.

My next spawn is likely going to be my sibling pair of koi/blue marble CTPKs.




Their parents were a female blue marble and a male metallic orange.



Once I move the koi HMPK spawn I’ll get the CTPKs going in the spawn tank.

 

Sounds like way too much extra work for me these days! Suppose it is all about where we focus our efforts! Good luck with all that!

 

That orange and black Koi is spectacular!

 

So agree with Star girl, that orange and black koi !

 

Sounds like way too much extra work for me these days! Suppose it is all about where we focus our efforts! Good luck with all that!

I've done it enough times to where it really isn't all that much work. Probably because I'm not doing it "by the book" like other breeders as I still have young males with the females and~40 or so of said young adults in a 29gal... I will say I get pretty lazy with it all at times, skipping water changes especially. The current fry just had their first water change since they've been born. Shame on me! And really, getting to see the resulting colors and (hopefully) good form is really where it's at, it's all an experiment and I love it.

That orange and black Koi is spectacular!

So agree with Star girl, that orange and black koi !

I thought so too! I tell you what, trying to get a decent look at the live streams on Aquahuna to pick one out requires a great deal of patience.

 

Moved the koi HMPK fry out of the 10gal. ~15 bigger ones went into a different 10gal and the other ~18 little ones are in a 5gal getting extra feedings. 2 of the larger ones already marbles into cellophanes. Most the others are red based but there’s a couple blues as well. I'll have to get pics next time.

After moving out the koi HMPKs I moved in the CTPK pair. They hit it off pretty well and after 2 days of courting they finally spawned. Looks like a medium amount of eggs.

 

Fry photos of CTPKs ~2 weeks old now and I’m already seeing a couple spinal deformities. I’ve only noticed 2-3. As you can see, they are also eating BBS like champs. I would say there are ~30-40 fry, a small amount but very easily maintained. There are white and dark colored ones.






Already thinking on the next pairing. I'm partial to the koi dumbo HMPK female who I bred to the male koi once but he ate most the eggs (there should be one single fry among the koi spawn). Part of me want to pair her to my spare CTPK male who is mostly white with some blue splotches and a few spots of yellow. I know the dumbo won't come through on the F1 generation but F2 could be interesting, never seen a dumbo CT before and I do wonder if the spiked rays will show in dumbo pectoral fins. I'm warming up to the idea already!

As for the HMPKs they are doing great and there's 3-4 that are marbling. One in particular went all cellophane and is now developing a black splotch on its back. Of course no photos of that one because it won't hold still for very long (typical).





Also, I've secretly been raising fry from a mixed bag "fry pack" I bought some time ago. There were some hiccups along the way, they arrived in poor shape and half had swim bladder problems, out of the 10 there are 7 left. 2 (1M 1F) look to be HMs from the same spawn and are white with black spotting. Then there's a lavender, cellophane, black samurai looking thing and 2 that are currently marbling so I've no clue what they will be. I know the samurai and lavender are both females though. I'll have to get photos next time, the HM siblings are interesting fish and it's been such a long time since I kept any long finned bettas. If their form turns out good then I may pair them later down the road.

 

Here are the HMPKs, now about 3 months old. Several are developing koi coloring and all but 2 runty ones have been moved to a 29gal (2 runts in a 20gal). 27 fry altogether. At ~1in I am starting to see some males.







The CTPK spawn was moved into a different 10gal a week or so ago, they are nearly 5 weeks old now and starting to take prepared foods. I counted 52 upon removal and since then one died by getting stuck behind the thermometer suction cup and one runt was having some problems. So 50 assuming the others are okay. I haven't culled any yet so here's a good example of a bad spine. I've only seen one this bad but I see a few others with minor kinks. I expect have around 40 once I've sorted them out.





Also, I have eggs that should hatch later tonight! This will be my last batch for some time. I was going to use the CTPK male below but really wanted some CTPK crossed to HMPK. So I used the CTPK male as a teaser for the female to get her ready and willing. Then I switched out the CTPK for the lovely koi HMPK (same as the one in the first post) and they spawned the next day. The courtship and spawning went perfectly, both are in good shape and dad is being a good boy thus far. Not a huge amount of eggs which is fine by me as I mainly wanted just a small sampler batch. Anyways, here's the female upon removal from the spawn tank, she's the lightest koi/marble in the spawn so hopefully that will lead to some interesting fry, brother and original partner is the second photo. He was the largest of his brothers.

 

Wow! So exciting!
Haven't had too much luck getting any of mine to spawn, and I'm pretty much out of time, since I'm unable to do much with my fish over the summer...

 

Koi HMPKs are looking like proper kois now.






But something has come back to haunt me. Some time ago I bred a pair of galaxy koi HMPKs, the male passed down this slight tail kink, right at the base of the caudal fin. I thought I could breed that out of my line but apparently not. The mom of this spawn is related to to that kinked koi male, something like 3 or 4 generations ago? The grandparents to these guys were a sibling pair of my “blue marbles” and their mom was a daughter of the galaxy koi pair that created tail kinks. If that makes any sense. Here’s an example of the tail kink. Maybe half, perhaps a bit less have the kink.



As for the CTPK spawn I did the first cull. 3 runts, 1 who did not develop a swim bladder properly, and the 1 cooked one were all culled. So there should be 45 left if no others have died without me knowing.

 

HMPK kois looking great! I moved 5 that looked like females into the 36gal sorority. This male(?) is my favorite so far, nice form and nice color. I plan to jar the first batch of the larger males in week or two.




CTPKs still growing and not much going on in terms of color. So here's their mom, she's staying true to her colors which is a good sign.



CTPK X HMPK are just starting to grow pelvic fins and some are showing a blue iridescence. Bonus photo of their mom, her other eye is white but I couldn't get a good picture of that.





Another bonus photo of the CTPK female I wanted to breed from but never did (the matching male jumped out and died).

 

I guess I lied about holding off on spawning bettas. I bought a pair of red HMPK kois from aquahuna's "pick your own betta" live stream and I was pleasantly surprised on how they looked. The male is a stunner, I used to avoid red bettas but he is just a nice fish to look at. The female is more of a galaxy koi with some iridescent spots, they are both young and possibly siblings but who knows. They spawned about 10 days ago, fry have been free swimming and eating vinegar eels but will be getting their first feeding of BBS tonight. Dad did a great job on raising the fry, looks like a decent sized spawn for such young fish.





Koi HMPK males were jarred, CTPK fry were moved into a 29gal, and the CTPK x HMPK (now on dry foods) were moved to a 10gal.

 

HMPK boys! There’s only 7ish males (may be a couple more in the growout tank) and they are looking good. First two are my favs.









Bonus of their dad, mainly to show his super long pelvic fins that hopefully won’t carry over to his young so much. They’re cool and all but geez they are way too long with way to many splits!



Another bonus pic of the HM I bought as a fry pack. He’s cool but I may end up selling him as I don’t think I’ll breed from him (his tail is shorter than his anal and dorsal, not appealing IMO).



CTPKs are marbling, photos of them next time.

 

Some of the CTPKs, there’s a few silvery ones in this spawn as well. I’ve noticed there are 2 more that have droopy tails. Looks like a genetic issue. I’ll have to work on that.







Bonus photos of a koi HMPK squaring off with his grandpa. And yes I know one of his eyes is bulging. It’s been that way for a few months now, no worse nor better but he acts fine despite that.

 

Moved the ~44 red koi HMPK fry to another tank. It’s been a while since then and they are now coloring up and have all their fins. Looks like a lot are blue, some have red in their fins. Starting to introduce prepared foods now.




Better photo of the mom red koi



The CTPK x koi HMPK are marbling out now, I’ve moved the larger handful in with the CTPK spawn.


And this particular CTPK is still catching my eye every time. Photos do not do it justice.

 

Colors still developing! Jarred 4 of the CTPK males, moved a handful of females to the sorority. Culled a few who had swim bladder or spinal issues (pretty much the last couple runty ones).







One ugly duckling


In this photo you can kind of compare the comb tail (dark blue) to the crown tail.


The red galaxy kois spawn has gained their initial colors, red and blue. I need to get around to sorting the sizes.

Side note, been having issues with some bettas from all the spawns eating gravel/sand. Of course they sink like stones, once they poop it out they seem to return to normal.

 

CTPKs and the few comb tails are coloring up nicely. These are the ones in the 29gal growout. The first 2 are my personal favs.











And this photo shows a crowntail above a combtail so you can see the difference in ray web reduction.


Then some of the boys, I’ll be getting better photos for when I list them for sale in a couple weeks.

 

Sorted through the 29gal tank with comb and crown tails. Jarred the males that look like males, some are still questionable like the white one with black fins among these likely females.


Also culled and few that weren’t thriving. One has a pretty severe spinal curve, almost looks emaciated but it was eating fine. The white and blue one in the upper left had an ongoing wound/growth that just wouldn’t heal.


A runty one was acting odd and after a close inspection I found it was blind. Another case of “ocular albanism” like in a previous koi HMPK spawn. Odd because these two spawns are unrelated, note how the eye reflects red.



Hopefully I can sort through the sorority tank, get a bunch of photos, pick the ones I want to keep and get the others up for sale in a week or two!

 

I still need to sort through all the comb/crown tail plakats as the males are still developing but so far these two are favorites. Not 100% sure if the first one is a female but I’m hoping so. Look forward to some proper kois, looks like most are from the HMPK/CTPK spawn.



Then there’s a small spawn of koi HMPK from the pair i bought off aquahuna. The largest ones are all marbling and looks like 4 males so far.


As for the koi HMPKs from my own line they are mature enough to breed now. For some reason the females stayed fairly small. These are my two favorite males, the last one is a female that most resembles their mom.




And lastly a quick look my male jarring system. Not much of a system really. This was taken before I put cards between them to block their view.


Bonus photo of dad to the last silver spawn. He’s a bit over 2 now and going strong. He deserves his own retirement tank seeing as his brother unproductive has a whole 36gal to roam. Some day it will happen.



Lastly, before I forget to mention it I crossed my male CTPK to a giant marble HMPK female. Dad was terrible and I figured he ate all the eggs, I later found 2 little fry.

 

Photo dump

Koi HMPK brothers





CTPK brothers






Younger koi HMPK brothers

 

The 2 giant x CTPK fry are still hanging around. The larger one (looks to be female) is the average blue and the other is a light sky blue. Hoping they will marble.

I’ve finally been getting some male bettas moved along to new homes, and with that I’ve also got new spawns in the works. A pair of sibling CTPKs were bred, dad was a first timer and didn’t do too well.



After deciding only one fry survived I got the same male set up with an unrelated koi CTPK. This time was a little better and in another week or two those dozen or so fry will be moved to another growout tank.

I have yet another male giant and 2 female giants on their way. Assuming they arrive alive and well, I hope to cross one of the giant females to my koi HMPK male. Then I hope to cross the other female giant to the male giant. Honestly I have a lot of prospective pairings so there’s a good chance my plans may change.

 

My giants came in today and they are far more gorgeous than I expected!

The male is a light yellow koi, he has a 10gal to himself which will eventually become his spawning tank. I put my largest koi CTPK x HMPK female in a cup to get him to flare. Honestly they look like a good pair, this female is a chunker but the giant girls have more length.






Then the two females, both amazing and I expect the cello-based one to color up more. I’m impressed with how plump they are, with a week or two of feeding they should be ready to breed.

 

Wow, you have some real beauties! I was wondering if you could me your opinion on the type of betta baby I have. I bought one of those baby boy bettas from petco. I thought it would turn into a koi plaket like I used to have but the dorsal and analfins are very long and pointed. Perhaps it not a koi after all. Does it look like a plaket to you? Sorry for the bad pic. It’s hard in this tank. His head actually has a yellow cast to it and the tip of the dorsal is transparent. I’ll delete this from your beautiful post after you see it. Thank you.

 

Wow, you have some real beauties! I was wondering if you could me your opinion on the type of betta baby I have. I bought one of those baby boy bettas from petco. I thought it would turn into a koi plaket like I used to have but the dorsal and analfins are very long and pointed. Perhaps it not a koi after all. Does it look like a plaket to you? Sorry for the bad pic. It’s hard in this tank. His head actually has a yellow cast to it and the tip of the dorsal is transparent. I’ll delete this from your beautiful post after you see it. Thank you.

Your little betta is very thin and under developed, likely because of how he was treated at the store. Give it some TLC and in another month or so I’ll be able to tell better. Right now it looks like he may not be a plakat. As for color, I’m sure the colors will chance as he grows so there’s no saying just yet what he will turn into.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to look at him. I appreciate it.