Koi Color Maturation

[Chrysalis~]

I'm shopping juvenile Koi for my small pond and I've noticed that the younger the fish, the more understated or translucent it's coloring is. At the store, there are some real young Butterfly Koi under 3' long but I hesitate to buy them becuase they're not very colorful. Will these fish develop brighter, denser color markings as they mature?

I'll be finding new homes for my fish as they approach 8" as my 'pondarium' won't support larger individuals.

 

[DrDave]

Once they are in the UV of the sun, they will color up.

 

[koikeepr]

It is very hard to determine koi color as fingerlings. You may buy a fish because it has a wonderful red mark on the top it's head, for example, only to see that spot disappear completely when the fish hits age 3. Black is another color that seems to come and go as the fish ages...you may see hints of black deep under the scales when the fish is a baby and you don't know until many years later if that color will come to the surface or not.

There's also the trick of breeders selling fish that they've "colorized" by feeding them various foods and spirulina that temporarily play up colors. So, you buy that gorgeous red fish, and then find out 6 months later that it's really an orange fish thanks to the breeders slight of hand.

That's the interesting thing about owning koi, what you buy may not ultimately be what you end up with.

A 2"-3" fish is a tosai (yearling), and that fish will likely change many times over. You can't determine what the fish will look like finished, by what you see as a yearling. Heck, even at the 8" size, the fish is no where near mature and finished.

But, yes, as babies they are more translucent in color.

 

[Chrysalis~]

Okay, I get it. Sounds like it's part of the surprise. I really like the Butterfly Koi! They way they carry themselves and use their big Dumbo ear fins is so charming. Are there any precautions about this particular variety that may make them problematic for beginners or are they pretty much like the others?

Thanks alot guys!

 

[digginponds]

The beautiful koi we know and love today come from a long line of ugly brownish black carp. When koi have a brood of young you will see the dominant color of brownish black rear it's ugly self. Example - if 10,000 eggs are in a spawn, a great deal get eaten. Say 100 turn into fry (baby fish) 90% if them could be brownish black with 10% colorful and pretty. The colorful ones are most prone to fall to a predator because they are easier to see.

Raising beautiful koi from a spawn is not a simple task. That is why koi can cost a pretty penny. I'm not saying warm water and a good quality koi food won't inspire your ugly koilings to color up. Just don't be sad if they keep the color of their great, great ancestors

 

[DrCase]

My favorite Koi changes each year ,, just when i start to like one a new one comes up with better color

 

[koidaddy]

I have had two that lost color. One lost his orange markings and was just white and the other lost its black and was only white and orange. I lost both of those guys in my accident.

 

[koikeepr]

Right. red and black are the least stable colors in a koi and will change a lot. I have what was a stunning tancho (big red spot on top of head), and after two years, the spot is completely gone and has left me with a rather dull fish with a few black speckles and a faint pink mark in the top of his head. Sigh!

That's why, as DoDad said in another post, about him not wanting to buy a fish smaller than 14"--because at that point you can kinda see what you have in a fish.

Crysalis, butterfly koi are wonderful fish. I love them as well. There are many purist koi keepers that refuse to keep them and do not even acknowledge them as true koi. In fact, in all the major koi competitions, butterfly's are not even allowed to be entered. They are considered to be an American phenomenon and were first bred in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north carolina around the 1980's. Americans love them, and the Japanese scoff at them. Of course, most of us are not into koi for competitions or any of that stuff--we just love the fish.

Some folks think that butterfly koi are more sturdy than short-fin koi. I could not tell you if that is legitimately the case or not. But, I am a fan of them and love their flowing fins as well. They sort of look like swimming faireies to me.

I happen to love them and like them in my pond for a point of interest. If you like them, you should find one to keep as well.

 

[koiguy1969]

colors that wernt there can also develope i had a sanke..good looking fish about 14".who last year developed a nice tancho cap....only to be eaten by a GBH, the @$$ol...and he got my biggest platinum too...

 

[koikeepr]

Hrmph! Me too, I lost my platinum ogon and a butterfly to a heron as well las fall. I do love platinum fish, but boy they are like a streetlight in the water and stand out so much that I swear it's like a landing strip at a heliport for a heron, hawk and other predators. They are just very easy targets since they are so white.

I'm determined to get another Ogon once my build is done. Can't wait.

 

[koiguy1969]

my platinums were the first to greet me and put on an aerial show for me...jumpers by nature and werent afraid of anything. thats the one downfall of having them used to being handled and hand fed. they probably swam right up to the heron. my fish will swim up to anybody to be petted and fed, maybe anything.

 

[koikeepr]

oof! So basically the fish put THEMSELVES on the hook! Ay yay yay!

 

[Chrysalis~]

Just got back from the store, a different store with 3 new Butterflies. I deliberatly selected fish with little black and sparse markings. For starters, I want them to be harder to see to predators while they're still small (they blend with my river rock) and also I think there's more chance I'll have fish that are colors besides orange and black. Who knows.

 

[Farmer Adam]

Looking good! Yellow are always nice looking bigger Koi.

I had bought a 7in. Tancho 2 years ago. He is all white and black now. No red at all!