Comet Color

[Aspyderbite]

Hi!
My name is Dave and I have just joined the forum. I completed my fish pond mid summer. The pond is around 1,500 gallons with a 17" waterfall. I have a mixture of Koi, Ryukin and Comets. I have a question about my Comets. When I first started I stocked the pond with around 50 Comets, ranging from 1/2" to 1 inch long. All the comets were orange or white and orange. Now they are anywhere from 3 to 6 inches in size and I also have around 30 babies that came from these comets. Somehow I have ended up with solid black comets or orange white and black comets. Can anyone tell me how this has happen? The black ones are growning faster than any other gold fish in the pond. I have some 4" long and I never put a black gold fish in the pond.

Thanks
Dave

[teddscau]

Maybe you discovered a genetic mutation or maybe just bad breeding.

[annageckos]

Goldfish(comets) start out black and change as they get older. Some take longer than others to change. As far as getting different colors in the offspring, it's all genetics. EXAMPLE Out of two black rats I got one cream colored baby, and about 3/4 black and the rest brown. Even though I started with black rats, somewhere in one of them was carrying the gene for brown and cream. I have gotten all kinds of colors from this line of rats, himilayans, blazes on all the colors, black, brown, cream. But back to fish. It is the same thing.

[annageckos]

Maybe you discovered a genetic mutation or maybe just bad breeding.
I would say it is not a 'mutation' but a color variant. Though those two words are used interchangebly. But you will, down the line, have inbreeding and may see problems crop up.

[Scrup]

the black is a juvy color and usually fades out when they get older. strange your fish bred so early on, usually takes about a year to reach sexual maturity.

Gratz on the pond, and awesome job making it big enough for koi!

just out of curiosity, how deep is it?



If you get any greyish looking fish..it could be a koi/goldy hybrid. They are usually not the most attractive fish, and considered abominations by some koi fanatics.

[Aspyderbite]

Thank you for your reply.
So you think even though these comets I have are around 4" the color will change. They are no more than 4 month old. The pond water stays crystal clear. I never have to touch it other than testing the water. I waited 30 days after the pond was competed and functioning before I put a sling fish in it. The Koi I bought from a local pet shop where all 4" inches, all of them are now between 6 to 8 inches inside of 4 months. All I do is feed them..lol


The pond a little over 2 feet deep, I documented the building of pond from beginning to end. I just have not posted the pictures to my website at this time. Soon as I can get time I will put everything online. I am almost done with an 8 month project in my back yard. The pond was just part of it. It takes a lot more time when you do a project by yourself but it's very rewarding when it's complete.

[smaug]

By the end of next year your pond will be overstocked.Time to find a place for the babies.Are these black goldfish actually black ?Have you caught one and looked at it,they may simply be wild strain coloration which actually looks black but is really gold when viewed from the side.I have these in my pond.The koi,comets and other goldys will all spawn together as I have found out as well.Your ponds carrying capacity assuming very good filtration,biological and mechanical will be about 6 koi and a dozen or so comets.The koi alone will use up the capacity all by themselves soon.Its very easy to overstock a pond and end up in a pickle.This year I will be finding new homes for my comets and keep nothing but koi to avoid this inbreeding.Do you have any pics?

[Aspyderbite]

Thank you for your reply.
At this time I am in the planning stage of my next pond which will be close to 6000 gallons and will connected to the existing one with it’s on pump and filter system. I will also have 3 300 gallon tanks for separation spawning. I actually have not had one in my had. I need to do that and post a picture. I have pictures of the pond which I will try to post on my website by Sunday. I don't have any good pictures of the fish. My camera is not that good. I have a friend I will call that can take some profession shots for me.

[smaug]

Juts be aware that any spawn you have will be of mixed origin and be very difficult to find homes for.Koi/goldfish baby's are not very attractive at all and have no market appeal.

[Scrup]

also, with the pond you have now being only 2ft, you should look into crane repellants/deterrents. Racoons wont bother anything they have to swim to get, but a crane will sit perched for hours waiting for a fish to swim by and nail it. Lots of horror stories of prized koi getting speared and eaten.

Agreed you will be overstocked within a few years. I would shoot for 4ft depth min for the 6000G, as koi do get enormous, and its just weird seeing a tail stick up when they eat off the bottom. If they stay small, your doing something wrong.

while your plate may be full with the next build, I would keep an eye out and start working on a plan to get rid of the extra goldfish.

oh and mine didnt lose the black until about 6-7"

[Aspyderbite]

I can see I have a lot of planning to do. The pond I have now was build mostly for show. The main predators I have are Owls. I learned quickly after losing around ten fish that I had a major problem. I could not figure out what the heck was happening to them. Early one morning I went outside still trying to figure out what was going on and I happen to look up in my oak tree and there he was. Within a week I had three of them. It got to the point where they were sitting on my bridge that goes across the pond. I had to get up every morning to scare them off. I tried everything and nothing would work until I remembered I had a new shrimp trawl that I had never used. I started covering the pond every night and my problems were solved, owls also do not like lights or any human movement. This was around 4 months ago and I have not lost a fish since. It's just part of my daily routine now. I put the nets out before dark, unless I have people over and take them off in the morning after the sun comes up.


Knowing the size pond I have now..1500 gallons and depth of a little over 2 feet, how large do you think my existing Koi can get. Like I said earlier in a message, they were 4” inches long 4 to 5 months ago and now they range from 6 to 8 inches.

Just last week a friend of mine gave me a Koi that is 12 inches long. She had her in a 400 gallon pond and the fish did not grow any in one year. She had got him from a friend that had an 800 gallon pond. I hope she will grow some more in my pond, any thoughts?

How big are your goldfish now, you said they lost their black color at around 6 inches.. they must be huge.

Thanks everyone!

[Aspyderbite]

I can see I have a lot of planning to do. The pond I have now was build mostly for show. The main predators I have are Owls. I learned quickly after losing around ten fish that I had a major problem. I could not figure out what the heck was happening to them. Early one morning I went outside still trying to figure out what was going on and I happen to look up in my oak tree and there he was. Within a week I had three of them. It got to the point where they were sitting on my bridge that goes across the pond. I had to get up every morning to scare them off. I tried everything and nothing would work until I remembered I had a new shrimp trawl that I had never used. I started covering the pond every night and my problems were solved, owls also do not like lights or any human movement. This was around 4 months ago and I have not lost a fish since. It's just part of my daily routine now. I put the nets out before dark, unless I have people over and take them off in the morning after the sun comes up.

Knowing the size pond I have now..1500 gallons and depth of a little over 2 feet, how large do you think my existing Koi can get. Like I said earlier in a message, they were 4” inches long 4 to 5 months ago and now they range from 6 to 8 inches.

Just last week a friend of mine gave me a Koi that is 12 inches long. She had her in a 400 gallon pond and the fish did not grow any in one year. She had got him from a friend that had an 800 gallon pond. I hope she will grow some more in my pond, any thoughts?

Thanks everyone!

excuse the duplicate post of this message.. I have no idea where the first one went

[Scrup]

healthy koi can reach 3 feet. lots of things can have an impact on the final size. If they are in unhealthy conditions as a small fish, they will have grown less, and will be smaller as an adult. Good call on the owls. They also make motion detecting water sprayers, but with the owls swoop/grab tactics I dont know how well they would work.

Using plants as cover can also help keep predators at bay, but is by no means 100% effective.

[smaug]

I started my pond expericance with a 150 gal pond.This year I enlarged it to 2500 gal.I bought 4 quality japanese koi in early june.They were 5-6" when I got them.At the end of the season around nov they were about 10".That is not an uncommon growth for healthy koi in a good environment.Poor water quality plays a major factor and your pond could be at the edge of some pretty bad water troubles if your fish experianced such low growth.A good game plan for you is to get rid of all the goldfish and keep just 5-6 koi.2Ft isnt quite deep enough but if you keep your stock at that level it will be ok.That sucks about owls,I have never in my life seen an owl hunt over water.

[Aspyderbite]

Did yo get my reply? I can find it anywhere myself.


also, with the pond you have now being only 2ft, you should look into crane repellants/deterrents. Racoons wont bother anything they have to swim to get, but a crane will sit perched for hours waiting for a fish to swim by and nail it. Lots of horror stories of prized koi getting speared and eaten.

Agreed you will be overstocked within a few years. I would shoot for 4ft depth min for the 6000G, as koi do get enormous, and its just weird seeing a tail stick up when they eat off the bottom. If they stay small, your doing something wrong.

while your plate may be full with the next build, I would keep an eye out and start working on a plan to get rid of the extra goldfish.

oh and mine didnt lose the black until about 6-7"

[Scrup]

I can see I have a lot of planning to do. The pond I have now was build mostly for show. The main predators I have are Owls. I learned quickly after losing around ten fish that I had a major problem. I could not figure out what the heck was happening to them. Early one morning I went outside still trying to figure out what was going on and I happen to look up in my oak tree and there he was. Within a week I had three of them. It got to the point where they were sitting on my bridge that goes across the pond. I had to get up every morning to scare them off. I tried everything and nothing would work until I remembered I had a new shrimp trawl that I had never used. I started covering the pond every night and my problems were solved, owls also do not like lights or any human movement. This was around 4 months ago and I have not lost a fish since. It's just part of my daily routine now. I put the nets out before dark, unless I have people over and take them off in the morning after the sun comes up.

Knowing the size pond I have now..1500 gallons and depth of a little over 2 feet, how large do you think my existing Koi can get. Like I said earlier in a message, they were 4” inches long 4 to 5 months ago and now they range from 6 to 8 inches.

Just last week a friend of mine gave me a Koi that is 12 inches long. She had her in a 400 gallon pond and the fish did not grow any in one year. She had got him from a friend that had an 800 gallon pond. I hope she will grow some more in my pond, any thoughts?

Thanks everyone!

excuse the duplicate post of this message.. I have no idea where the first one went


just gonna have to wait and see. how old is the koi in question?