Koi fish losing its colors quickly

[Millie]

I have one Koi (red, black and white--- 20" long) that lost its colors this past summer quickly (like overnight) . Can I do anything to get him to get his colors back or is it going to always be colorless? Events (in the pond) that happened around that time were the following:
* 2 small (6" across) snapping turtles moved into my pond from the wild and are still in there.
* something was eating my water lilies to the point I didn't have much water cover. The pond is in full sun approx 4 hours.
* a Cooper's hawk was visiting the tree nearby for several days in a row. I never saw him dive down, but ?

Can someone advise as to how to get the colors to come back. I feed them Tetra Pond Food for Koi and Goldfish.

There are approx. 20 goldfish (6" long) and the one Koi in the pond (besides the snapping turtles I'm planning to remove this spring!!)
Thank you!

 

[Lisak1]

Snapping turtles? Are you sure they are snappers? I'd be surprised you have any fish left if those are really snappers.

Poor water quality can cause fish to lose color, so that's one consideration. Another is low quality food - and I would definitely put any Tetra product in that category. Stress can also cause fish to lose color, which could be caused by a number of factors. And then there are fish that just change colors - I have one comet that changes from orange to white and back to orange again several times every year.

How big is your pond? How many gallons? What type of filtration do you have?

 

[Millie]

Snapping turtles? Are you sure they are snappers? I'd be surprised you have any fish left if those are really snappers.

Poor water quality can cause fish to lose color, so that's one consideration. Another is low quality food - and I would definitely put any Tetra product in that category. Stress can also cause fish to lose color, which could be caused by a number of factors. And then there are fish that just change colors - I have one comet that changes from orange to white and back to orange again several times every year.

How big is your pond? How many gallons? What type of filtration do you have?

Your pond is beautiful! My Pond is approx 1000 gallon. 2 waterfalls: one 3000 Aquascape skimmer and pondless waterfall vault pump and the other one Aquascape 3000 pump with skimmer (with lava rocks). I have 3 water lilies but they were being eaten by the fish or turtles? yes, they are snapping turtles. We live in the country a couple miles from a big lake. I am definitely getting rid of the turtles this spring when they show their little heads! I was wondering if my pond is big enough for the Koi. I see you have no filtration system, so do you remove/replace some of the water during the year? Do you order your fish and/or food on line or get from a pet store? Thank you.

 

[Lisak1]

1000 gallons is about minimum for a koi. Along with all your goldfish I would say you are maxed out on fish. And as you have (or will soon) find out, those goldfish will soon be many many more goldfish! But if you let the snappers stay, you may not have that problem! Just kidding - we have snapping turtles in our natural ponds nearby and those things are scary! They migrate through our yard every spring - we've learned to just let them do their thing.

My pond is filtered with just a planted bog - search for "bog" on this forum and you'll see lots of information about building and planting them. Did you mean to say you have two skimmers on your pond? Or is one a biofalls?

I do buy my fish food online, but I'll also buy it locally if I find a good price. I avoid pet stores as the ones near me (all the big box varieties) don't carry quality fish food. We buy either Microbe-Lift or the Aquascape food - our fish have done well on both. They aren't the most expensive brands, but they also aren't the cheapest.

 

[Tula]

I have a koi that was originally black, orange and white. He lost his orange color suddenly and has remained black and white ever since...over a decade ago.

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

I'll second what @Lisak1 said about fish losing color. I don't have koi because my pond is only around 450+ gallons so it's too small, but I have seen goldfish lose color and look "washed out" and it's always due to either lack of good nutrition or poor water quality. I would test your water with an API master test kit and see if water quality is the problem and go from there. I feed my goldfish Omega One goldfish pellets and their color has never been as rich and vibrant. I bought two shubunkins from petco that looked almost yellow/gold, faded black, and white and after putting them in my pond and feeding them good quality food they are the deepest/red, black, and white shubunkins. I will try to post some before and after pictures when I get back home from spring break.

 

[PurpleDingo]

That absolutely sounds like a filtration issue to me. What are you doing to keep the water clear?