Black Fish

[Surlui]

Hi.
I created a small pond in THAT summer when we all had little to do. More recently I increased the size of the pond. It is still relatively small, around 3 meters x 2 meters with a depth of 1 meter.
Last summer the 3 fish we had in there were displaying signs of spawning and so one morning I wasn’t totally shocked to see eggs. I collected around 20 and left the rest in the pond. Of the 20 I brought inside 18 successfully spawned. They are now a little over a year old and in my pond. I have 3 absolute favourites and they are all black. So my question is, will they stay black or is there still time for them to gain some colour.
Thanks for listening.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Could go either way. Some goldfish that start out black stay that color, others eventually turn (usually) orange.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Please tell us more about your pond, and we love to see pond pictures!

Pretty fish! Chances are that the black ones will eventually convert to some combination of yellow. But maybe not. Genetics are funny in fish. Mother Nature lets some of the babies start out black or an olive color as a way of protecting them (camouflage). Then, one day you wake up and “poof,” you can’t find your black fish any more — they have changed color. I really do like the black fish and wish they would stay that way. Personally, I have never had one remain black.

 

[Surlui]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping they would stay black as I love them. I wasn’t expecting them to breed to be honest but am glad they have. Nothing this year but I suspect that’s more to do with the poor summer as they were chasing around like last year.

 

[j.w]

@Surlui
All my goldfish that started out black eventually turned to orange,white,yellow or cream color. Some of them took years to turn tho. I hardly get any babies anymore as I think the fish gobble up all the eggs as fast as they are put out. I only feed my fish on Fridays and eating up the eggs is a good thing as I don't want a ton of extra fish in my pond. Then I also think my visiting Garter Snakes are grabbing the tiny babies up if they do hatch.