My goldfish pond

[j.w]

There ya go Keith. All it takes is one breeding to make a bunch of Koldfish
At least they are sterile but if the 2 keep breeding w/the comets you will always have more. Wonder how big the Koldfish get?

 

[j.w]

Hey @CometKeith @koiguy1969 posted this video awhile back:

 

[j.w]

Some pix of hybrid koi/goldfish: http://www.koi-rescue.com/koi-ponds/adopted-hybrid-koi-goldfish/

 

[CometKeith]

JW, That was an interesting video. Okay the question is what should do about the Koi. I would never have bought them myself but they got thrown in on the deal. They are actually very pretty and fun to watch as they swim a little differently. I have always been fine with just goldfish but I do like these two new little guys and I like their colors. It's cool having a metallic white and a yellow fish. You can see in the group on the left how the white and yellow Koi really stand out.

I'm not raising fish to sell but I don't want to have a bunch of half breed fish either. Tula, are you happy with your mixed breed fish? I may have one olive colored goldfish but I'm not sure if I would want many of them. The Koi are pretty small. Do I need to even need to worry about their offspring now?

 

[cas]

I think I have three male koi (7 and 10 years old). I have never seen them chasing the female goldfish during spawning. My koi are also not that big - the biggest maybe 13" long. I feed my fish once a day and my pond is 1,000 gallons. I guess I am telling you all of this because I think we all have different experiences with Koi. I would wait and see and if they become a problem, then I would do something about it.

 

[CountryEscape]

I agree with Cas. If your koi are male and don't try to spawn with the goldies, no problem. Also, I'm not sure if they are female, if the goldfish will try to spawn, but I guess it goes both ways, huh? I had some half breeds, that's why I built the second pond, to separate them. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it anyhow. LOL I have so many koi that I don't worry about babies. I got 4 babies that survived about 2-3 years ago, and have never had any since then. In the goldfish pond, I had about 4-5 babies that survived a year or 2 ago, and none since then either. I've not noticed any babies in either pond yet, but sometimes I don't see them until the plants all die, and they have less cover. Goldfish pond could use some babies, so I'm hoping ....

 

[j.w]

Me too @CometKeith don't even worry about all this unless it happens and you don't like it

 

[Tula]

In my original post about my koi cross breeding with my shubunkin, I meant to say they also bred with my comets, not koi.

I originally started out with shubunkin and comets and of course they reproduced. I then added koi and they cross bred with my shubbies and comets.....although it didn't result in fish looking like the pictures @j.w posted, rather mine were colored, like was discussed in the video.

It took me awhile to realize how many hybrids I had, because they were dark, so would only see them in a sun beam and at feedings. My hybrids grew very fast and I would agree they're strong and hardy......practically bionic - LOL !

I made the decision to just have koi and a man who was doing some pond work for me, said he ran a fish sanctuary, so he took them all. I was absolutely shocked how many there were, when he emptied the pond.......I'd say between 75 - 100 (hybrids, comets and shubbies) , and my pond is only 1700 gallons! My simple filtration system could, in no way, handle that kind of fish load.

Although I love all the varieties of fish, I'm committed to my koi. I have four and one is over 2 feet long. They are pretty long lived given proper care, so I don't want to be overstocked. If it were me ( which it isn't ) I'd rehome the two koi now.....JMO

 

[CometKeith]

Here is a picture from yesterday.

Also some sad fish news. One of my older fish bit the dust. Also it looks like two of the smaller fish have some fin rot. I hope this is isolated. i know it's always rough starting up a new pond and new liner and putting in fish right away and this was the first fish that didn't make it.
I hope the ammonia levels settle down as the pond matures. It looks like more algae is slowly growing on the liner which should help but i don't have any rocks yet which could give bb a place to grow on. That's my next project.

 

[j.w]

Sorry for your loss of fish @CometKeith but your pond sure looks good and the plants look like they are thriving. Things will settle down I hope and you won't lose any more.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

What is the ambient Ammonia level now?

 

[Tula]

Sorry for the loss of one of your older fish , and the fin rot on two of the smaller fish

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks, Tula and JW. Meyer. Great question. Most of my stuff is in storage since I moved so I don't have a test kit. Even if I did I spend only few minutes a day at the pond since I am living somewhere else until the construction project is done. I have one of the construction workers feeding the fish because I can't make it there everyday. I told him on Friday to cut the food down so maybe this will help. I think overall I have been very lucky literally putting in about 50 fish the day after I filled it with water. I had no choice as the fish and my wife and I had to move because we sold our house and had to get out in less than 30 days. At least the fish got to go to their new home. We are living in a temporary place until our project is done and most our stuff got put in storage.

 

[CometKeith]

Well I bought a lot of rocks a few weeks ago but before I had them delivered my wife said there is no way the fish are going to have their home done before hers is done so I cancelled the order. As luck would have it the people that bought our old house contacted me a few days ago and said I could take the fish and vegetation that I left. Also I asked about the rocks and he said I could have that too. So.... after lugging around a few thousand pounds of rocks around this weekend including all the limestone pavers that were there, draining the old pond, and removing both fish and lilies, I was able to move everything. In all I found 27 fish that were still in the pond. It was a little weird going back to my old house and working in the yard but it worked out. Pictures of deconstructing my old pond.

 

[j.w]

Good deal Keith! Guess they decided they didn't want a pond or just didn't like the idea of having to care for it. Too bad as sounds like the kid liked it.
Now you have all your nice fish you left behind