Koi/Goldfish Hybrids?

[mal6457]

I have a 750 gallon pond that has 1 goldfish and 4 koi in it. Or at least I did. This spring there were a bunch of gray babies born. and now I have at least 2 3 inch long gray fish. Apparently my fish weren't done spawning yet, because now there's about 30 inch long fish that feed like piranhas in there, all gray again. Does anybody know with certainty that gray fry definitely mean that I have hybrid fish? Thank you!!!

Meg

 

[BamBam]

I had similar question so i did some research. From what I understand Koi and gold fish both have fry that are gray and look like my minnow for 1-2 years. Everything that i have read says that koi and goldfish fry take that long to change colors.

 

[DrDave]

Sounds like mosquito fish. They feed like piranhas. I just got rid of 1800 of them.

 

[cashb]

what do mosquito fish look like? I am in south Florida and have minnows that are grey, about 1 to one and a half inches long, and occured naturally. They definately multiply and are voracious feeders. They are in the canals around our property.

 

[DrDave]

Google Mosquito fish and select images. That should get you a good reference to compare to what you have.

If you are trying to spawn Koi or Goldfish, you have to get rid of them. They will eat the egs as fast as they are laid.

 

[cashb]

Hey, thanks for the info, I had indeed noticed that in 10 years of fish keeping I had never seen any goldfish fry! I did suspect the "minnows"! Also a couple of months ago I put 20 fathead minnows in the pond, having admired their color. The mosquito fish immediately hit them like sharks and within a day had slaughtered them all!! I will net them out asap! Thanks again for the reply.

 

[DrDave]

cashb
You will never get them all without either completely draining your pond or poisoning everything in it (like over chorinating), then starting all over.
As a challenge and learning experience, I tried netting and building traps and such to rid my pond. I even kept count as I removed them to see how well I did. When I got up to 1700, I realized the only way was to completly drain it. Even that presented challenges. Here is what I did to make sure I got them all.

1. Prepared 55 drums for the water to be saved with 85 gallon liners from HD.
2. When I ran out of drums I emptied all my trash cans and used them as well.
3. Then I tied a nylon sock over the hose used to pump the water out to ensure no little ones got through.
4. As I got down below where I could pump, I removed to the remaining good and bad fish.
5. I used a "bailing method" to remove the last of the water, sand and mud.
6. Finally a sponge to dry the liner.
7. Then I removed all the plants and trimmed the root systems which were getting pretty gnarly, sprayed them with a garden hose to make sure no hitchikers were in them, then placed them in open tubs filled with chlorniated tap water.
8. Next, I had to make sure the filters didn't harbor any hideaways, so I made sure they had chlorinated tap water run through them for enough time for the chlorine to do the work.
9. Once I had cleaned everything, I disposed of the old nylon sock and got a fresh one. I added the water saved back into the pond through this new sock. I have a 650 gallon pond and only could save 350 gallons.
10. Once I had the filters going again, with socks over the outlets, I added the Koi by lifting them by hand, one at a time, to ensure no hitchikers came with them.
11. Now that my large containers were available, I filled them with chlorinated tap water and placed each plant, totally submerged for 3 hours. Another attempt to make sure any survivors would succumb to the chorine.
12. I carefully arranged the plants, this time with my new netting scheme in mind.
13. 2 days later the fires came and the pond filled with ash and leaves from up to 80 MPH gusts of wind.

The fish are happy and the mosquito fish are gone. I expect when it warms up, I will once again see fry that are wanted. :goldfish:

The story could go on but this answers a question that many of you must have about how to rid your ponds of unwanted fish. I will never listen to the county again about how we should come and get these free helpful fish for our ponds.

Fortunately, we don't have a mosquito problem here and my water is never still. Sorry for the long post, first time on this Forum with a list, so I guess we'll see how this goes.

 

[cashb]

thanks, Dr. Dave! Whew, sounds like you went to a lot of trouble.... well, my pond has been intact for 10 years, through 3 hurricanes and I have never emptied it. I bought a pondvac 3 and have been trying to clean it periodically but there is a lot of pine needles, leaves, mulm and such, so I imagine it is overdue for a total clean out. Probably I will net what mosquito fish I can over the winter and do the BIG clean out this spring. But you have given me good ideas on how to accomplish such a feat! It would be cool to see some baby shubunkins for the first time. My pond is approx. 1000 gals. Thanks for the help!

 

[DrDave]

If you have a lot of water plants, the roots will overtake your pond in no time at all. One of my 1 gallon water plants required a winch and my truck to remove after about 6 years. I estimated it at about 1000 lbs before I cut it into a bunch of smaller plants. Ironically, it does better outside the pond, stays greener and grows faster. I have used them to decorate around and make the pond less accessable to the Egrets.:fechten2:

Which brings me back to your pond, after that many years without cleaning the muck that collects at the bottom, you better plan of spending an entire weekend doing it.:goldfish:

The larger mosquito fish are just about impossible to net. They actually clear the water like flying fish when you go after them. The little ones are not as fast or as smart.

 

[cashb]

Ha, I do have one fairly large thalia(alligator flag) in a pot but then just hyacinths and an Arum lily along with elodea. Yes, I better hire some help to clean out. My pond is about 2 1/2 feet deep, kidney shape but it has 2 circles in the middle that are 3 to 3 1/2 feet deep. This is where all the leaves, mulm and pine needles migrate to. So I now have a 2 1/1 foot deep pond with centers filled with debris! I guess that is how it lasted so long without totally filling up! I do get in there with a plastic pitchfork and heave out the debris every now and then, and vacuum up what I can get to. I thought I would trick the little devils and sink a net a couple inches below the water and sprinkle flake food, then scoop them up and out! Should be good for a couple hours entertainment!

 

[DrDave]

I know I had fun while taking revenge on the 1700 I caught. They all became food for my trees and mulch bed.

 

[danasaki]

Wow my ponds barely 200 gallons and i think its a pain to clean that out.. cheers to you guys..