goldfish or koi?

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How do you tell the difference between a big goldfish and a gold koi? I once had what I thought was a gold koi, but someone said it was just a goldfish.
 
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Koi are more closely related to common carp than goldfish, I believe. Their mouths are more on the bottom of their bodies, which are flatter on the bottom. Goldfish are usually more oval bodied rather than flat on the bottom.
 
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I think the best way to tell is to take a good look at it's face - Koi have little mustaches.
 
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I'm sure the females take offense to that.

Goldfish are more round and smaller than koi. I think the largest goldfish is still under a foot?
 
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Koi are definitely larger fish than gold fish, although some gold fish can get quite large. You could ask your local pet store what kind of fish it is, although, I would choose a different store than the one you bought it from. You could also try posting a photo of your fish here and maybe the people here at the forum will be able to help?
 
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That is true that goldfish will not get as big as koi as well. There is a large pond in a public garden that we can walk through. There are about 4-5 very large koi in it, a bunch of smaller ones too. Its amazing to see one of the big fish surface and then swim down again like some sort of leviathan. :)
 
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Thanks for your replies!
Sounds like it is a koi, it does have a mustache. It's also a lot more flat that round!

Also, it is very big, at least a foot, but I think it's bigger.

I'll try to get a picture of it.

:)
 
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Wow... I've seen a few of those really big koi. I wonder if you could have one in a large fish tank. I guess you could, but that seems a bit cruel to capture it and keep it in the house. I just realized that we don't have any koi ponds where I live and in our park, they even have a Japanese garden. Maybe I could suggest it to the city and volunteer to work on it.
 
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I bought a small koi and put it in a fish tank, and it only grew as big as it could, I guess fish grow to fit in their environment. When I put it in my pond, it really grew big!
 
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Koi is easier to raise and they are not as tempermental about food. They are also less likely to get sick in an outside pond.
 
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Yes, all fish will grow to the size that of their habitat. Same deal with some lizards. Koi can grow quite large and the larger ones do have more space to grow into.
 
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I think if must work that way for lots of animals. We got some tadpoles back in the spring to watch them change. We kept them in shallow water because that's where they were caught. Last week, I added lots of water when I changed out their tank. Within a day they finally had legs. It's wild how that works.
 

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