Baby koi or goldfish?????

[mariand7]

Hi from lovely Crete!
I would like some help please but I will have to fill you all in with a little story first.:lol:

Where I live there is a place were in the very old years the villagers built some stone kind of ponds to collect rain water for uses like sheep drinking water.About 10 with average size 5 to 10 meters (they are all round).I will post a photo for you to see when I get one.
Now some years back someone decided to put some fish in those ponds and rumors have it that some were goldfish and some koi,but no one knows for sure.
I can remember seeing a big white and red fish that was about 20 - 25inch long a couple of years later but I can not say for sure if that was a koi.All I can say is it was a beautiful site.

Ever since I have heard that allot of people have been fishing out there for there own purposes.That's OK because there are millions of fish now in those ponds.
So this year I decided to try my luck too but I couldn't catch any big ones as the ponds are very deep and the fish VERY smart.
So I took my little net and fished out some fry (well around 100-150:lol::lol::lolaround half an inch long and was very happy to set them in my pond and see them do fine.
Till this day about 4 weeks later they are doing well and have grown allot (most are now around 2 inch which makes me think they are too big to be goldfish.
So here is were I need your help.
Most of them have color from the start and others are black or grey.
WHAT DO I HAVE???:regular_waving_emot:dunno::dunno:Koi or goldfish.
Here are some photos

 

[mariand7]

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[mariand7]

Oh and here is a photo of my new rebuilt pond

 

[fishin4cars]

To be honest, You have carp. In a case like that there is no way to tell what you have, it could be goldfish, I see some brown ones that appear to be common goldfish, You said you saw a fish in there that was 20-25 inches, Not a goldfish more than likely it was a mirror carp or Koi. Can they hybridize? Yes they can. carp are carp, Goldfish, koi, mirror carp, butterfly koi, German carp, buffalo carp, they are all carp. They all will eat the same food, they will all interbreed if allowed to. If your adding them to your pond, PLEASE, don't release any back to the wild, BAD IDEA, don't sell or give them away by a Goldfish or Koi name. They aren't either. they are a hybrid mix and should be kept as such. Not to say they can't be enjoyed, they still have beauty and they can become quite tame. The original Koi came from Japan but in the exact opposite way, they all were brown but a farmer saw a few that had a different color, and they saved them and started breeding just the ones that had color. As the years passed the fish became more and more brightly colored and some were breed to give to the emperor. This is where the name Nishikigoi or KOI for short came from. What you have found is the opposite, someone released a bunch of fish and they are slowly reverting back to the color nature provided them in the first place.

 

[mariand7]

Here I would like to say that 80% of the fry have color ,are orange with black spots or pink colored like the one in this photo.

Also the one I saw was Bright White and had a big Orange spot on its back

 

[mariand7]

What do you mean by "release them back to the wild"?
We don't have koi in the "wild" here in the first place.And I know for a fact that most of the "fishers"are pet store owners and are selling these "free fish"as goldfish and Shebunkin's.
Also the ponds are fill with red fish and colored ones,I havent seen a grey in sight.
Yes I can understand hybrids but carp...???Dont think so...but then again your the experts

 

[fishin4cars]

Don't realease them in to the wild as in don't let them go where they can get a start where native fish, plants and wildlife could be effected. this can cause serious enviromentla problems. Want to put them in your pond, GO FOR IT!
Goldfish, and koi are carp, this is a fact. Can they cross yes.
http://shortypen.com/koi/hybrid/
Your showing pics of Fry, from your posting it sounds like someone put Goldfish and Koi in these ponds. What do you have? WHO KNOWS? Seriously if it is a mix in there who knows what they really are except carp. You could have some of all three, Goldfish which BTW Shubunkins, comets, fantails etc. are all goldfish, Koi, or hybrids.
Pic1 common carp
pic 2 Sarassa Comets
pic 3 Shubunkin
pic 4 koi
pic 5 common comet

All are still Carp.

 

[addy1]

Very nice pond mariand, love the lay out of it and your water looks nice and clear!

and welcome to the group!

It is hard to tell what you have until they grow some more. My baby gold fish are growing fast, born this year and almost 1-2 inches some of them.

 

[j.w]

mariand7
Whatever kind of fish they are they will be happy in your lovely pond :lol:

 

[CometKeith]

Hi mariand7, Nice pond! I like that big tree in the pond. It must have been hard to dig next to it's roots. Re Koi vs goldfish; Koi have whiskers and goldfish don't. A lot of goldfish start out tan or black and then become a color after that. Adult goldfish will eat the fry until they recognize them as goldfish and see the oranges and reds etc. Also if koi and goldfish crossbreed then the offspring are sterile. Hopefully you have goldfish. Koi would get too big for your pond rather quickly.

 

[addy1]

Thanks cometkeith didn't know that about the colors, I have noticed some of the fry are brownish, was wondering if they do get colors, but most are colored whites with orange, and a ton of nice looking shubunkin fry.

Just found a bunch of 1/2 if not smaller fry so they must have been busy again lol

 

[j.w]

Gosh addy you may need to put little birth control pills in you pond if they keep up w/ all this free love business :lol:

 

[addy1]

no kidding jw! must be in the air.................umm mean something in the water!

 

[sissy]

most koi don't get there whiskers that young .I have koi babies and cannot see the whiskers at all yet

 

[fishin4cars]

Sissy they have whiskers at about 3/4"-1" (That's the smallest I have actually been able to see them, some may see them a little earlier) BUT, seeing them in a pond is another story! LOL You can see them in a fish aquarium when your raising them. In a pond, I would say they would probably be at least 3"-4" maybe larger before you could see them from above. Once you have seen koi and goldfish you can kind of pick them out most of the time.