newbe, ? about color and breeds

[ninjabut]

Replying to self and others
  I have found several of the baby golfish, 1 multicolored GF and I think a few of the KOI babies hiding in the deeps!
  We shall see!

[ninjabut]

How many gallons is this hot tub?? What kind of filtration is running?? What kind of pump? Do you have any plants?? How long has it been set up?? ?Just some of the typical questions that will help figure out what is going on.?

We figure it's 700-750 gallons. We have a fountain running and something in the tub that keeps the water moving underwater.
? We think we figured out why the first batch lasted so much longer than the second. When we put some plants in just 2 days before the fisrt batch died, we put them on milk crates (the tub doesn't have seats, its just straight sided). We needed something to weight them down and I grabbed an old broken stepping stone. We're pretty sure it was in an area where I had used round up earlier in the year. My SIL emptied the tub and thouroughly cleaned it and we changed the weights to clean rocks (actually we scrubbed them) So far so good. I'll keep you posted.? ?Nancy

Well, no soap. Out of 38 fish, I pulled 13 dead ones out in the last few days, have found 2 alive and seem healthy?!?!? and the rest have disappeared.It must be a critter cleaning out the others, but if my dog even THOUGHT there was a critter in the yard, she would go bonkers! The tub is too deep for a heron or egret to land in, most of the other birds are insect eaters. I'm baffled!
? My neighbor a couple hundred yards away has a beautiful koi set up. He did wake up to a heron stareing in his bedroom window, then strung fishing line across the pond. That cured that. Maybe I'll try that. The tub is under a tree, so I doubt the herons/egrets would see it. What the heck, I'll give it a try.

[ninjabut]

How many gallons is this hot tub?? What kind of filtration is running?? What kind of pump? Do you have any plants?? How long has it been set up?? ?Just some of the typical questions that will help figure out what is going on.?

We figure it's 700-750 gallons. We have a fountain running and something in the tub that keeps the water moving underwater.
? We think we figured out why the first batch lasted so much longer than the second. When we put some plants in just 2 days before the fisrt batch died, we put them on milk crates (the tub doesn't have seats, its just straight sided). We needed something to weight them down and I grabbed an old broken stepping stone. We're pretty sure it was in an area where I had used round up earlier in the year. My SIL emptied the tub and thouroughly cleaned it and we changed the weights to clean rocks (actually we scrubbed them) So far so good. I'll keep you posted.? ?Nancy

[ninjabut]

How many gallons is this hot tub?? What kind of filtration is running?? What kind of pump? Do you have any plants?? How long has it been set up?? ?Just some of the typical questions that will help figure out what is going on.?

We figure it's 700-750 gallons. We have a fountain running and something in the tub that keeps the water moving underwater.
  We think we figured out why the first batch lasted so much longer than the second. When we put some plants in just 2 days before the fisrt batch died, we put them on milk crates (the tub doesn't have seats, its just straight sided). We needed something to weight them down and I grabbed an old broken stepping stone. We're pretty sure it was in an area where I had used round up earlier in the year. My SIL emptied the tub and thouroughly cleaned it and we changed the weights to clean rocks (actually we scrubbed them) So far so good. I'll keep you posted.   Nancy

[Ky Kim]

How many gallons is this hot tub?  What kind of filtration is running?  What kind of pump? Do you have any plants?  How long has it been set up?   Just some of the typical questions that will help figure out what is going on. 

[fishlipsmcgee]

Oh I'm so sorry!  I don't know how much aeration (fountain, etc.) you have but I know you need to have a lot with those algaecide type products as either they take all the oxygen out of the water or the dead algae does.  You have to scoop all that dead algae off the bottom right away too.  I heard that you also just end up creating a cycle of algae blooms with those products.  I've found after trying a lot of "miracle" products and $$$ that just good old patience, lots of plants like floaters & submersibles, filtration and lots of scrubbies or whatever media you use for the bacteria colonies to grow on is the best way to go.  I've got green water now but it looks like it's starting to clear.  It takes a few weeks but then like magic one day it is crystal clear.  I have a small pond off my deck with only a submersible pump & fountain so I think I have a tougher battle than those folks with great filtration systems, skippy filters etc.  Amazingly I have a koi that must be about 10"-12" and 2 pretty large comets maybe 5" or so in that tiny little pond.  I know I have too many fish for my pond but for some reason the water quality is always good when I test and I'd rather have healthy fish than clear water.  If you do decide to use a algaecide again make sure you keep a fountain going full blast 24/7.  Good luck, I know how heartbreaking that can be.  I'll let you know when my "ugly ducklings" turn into beautiful goldfish.  I'm waiting for the miracle!  I hope someone else has some ideas because I'm stumped as to why it's taking so long.

[ninjabut]

  Not a problem chiming in, because that problem no longer exists cause they all DIED this morning! This my second batch to die, and I think it's from the anti-algae stuff I added to the water.
  The first batch lasted about 2 weeks and died the day after I added the stuff (I measured very carefully) and this batch died the day after I added it after only about 4 days!
  The "pond" is an old redwood and fiberglass hot tub. The only other thing I can think of that may have caused it would be caulk used to plug some leaks possibly being toxic. If that were true, why would the first batch last 2 weeks (the 2 koi almost doubled in size) and the other batch only last 4 days? I don't know!
  I'm going to try one more time (3rd time's a charm, right?), then give up on the tub and make the old man make me a "real" pond.
  Wish me luck!   Nancy

[fishlipsmcgee]

I'm sorry to chime in and steal this thread but I was afraid to start a new one on the same subject and because I think my fry are comet goldfish and this is a koi topic area.  I have one iridescent white w/orange koi & 2 comets white w/ orange & orange w/ black in the pond.  I scooped 20 fry out of the pond last fall and put them in a aquarium in the house.  My pond is too small to handle more fish and I was afraid they were too small to survive the winter here.  Well it is now June and all 20 are still that drab color with white underneath and some have streaks of a metallic gold.  I can't believe that all 20 will stay drab (please NO).  When I bought one of the comets he was brown with black.  I didn't know they changed color, I just bought him because he was so ugly I was afraid no one would want him and he would be destroyed.  A short time after I put him in the pond he turned the most brilliant orange, almost red with black fins.  He is really beautiful.  I am trying to adopt these fish out and I'm afraid no one will want my "ugly" fish.  They have been in the aquarium since Sept. and have grown to about 2-5 inches so they are not babies anymore.  How much longer before I can expect them to change color and would getting sunlight in a pond help?  If anyone else has had experience with this I would really appreciate it and again I'm sorry ninjabut to jump in.

[ninjabut]

  Now that they are a little less shy and coming up to the surface, I can see the whiskers (don't remember what they're called) and the mouth movements are alot different from the goldfish.
  The goldfish are definately goldfish and the KOI are about 1/2 inch larger than the goldfish.
  They are more silvery than black and are showing signs of blotchy color changes.
  The place that sold them to DD and SIL said they should start changing color within a couple of weeks.
  Whatever they are, I love going out and watching them!
  I warned my DH that ponding MAY become addictive! LOL We have plenty of room for a real pond (over an acre)
  Thanks for your reply.  Nancy

[Koilady]

Hi Nancy.  When Koi fry start out they are like little thin slivers of glass that cling to the sides of any object in the pond.  As they grow, some will keep a whitish colour and others will turn a yellowish colour.  Now, Goldfish when they start out are a gray/black colour.  As they mature they do change colour, as do the Koi but it sounds to me like the babies you are talking about are probably Goldfish. 
As the Goldfish babies mature, they will start to turn colour although, some of them remain that colour for life.

Yours Koily, Lorraine

[ninjabut]

  Hi guys! I've been lurking for about a month when DD and SIL re-did my yard while I was on vacation and dragged (drug?) out an old redwood and fiberglass hot tub and turned it into a pond.
  Things were going great , except for algae, til a pump plug fried and unfortunately fried all my fish!
  We redid the pond and now have 30 new baby goldfish and KOI.
  My ? is, do Koi turn color as they get older? These guys are just a couple inches long and look brown/gray. A couple of them show some white, but that's it.
  The only color in the pond at this point are the goldfish.
  Any advise?    Nancy