TRYING TO IDENTIFY FRY -- ROSY REDS OR GOLDFISH?

[Mmathis]

Today will be the second full day of the DIY minnow trap in my pond. No luck yet, I had in the shallow edge but last night moved it to the middle shelf a little deeper. I used the 2 liter pop bottle method for the DIY...cheap enough lol and using bread for bait but no interest yet...or maybe they are swimming back out!

I put my "minnow trap" out this morning, so curious to see what (if) I get. I thought I had caught ALL of the RR's over a month ago, but these "eyelash" fry I have inside aren't really looking like goldfish/Shubies. YET..... It's the WAITING that is hard. I know there are a couple more "eyelashes" in the pond, and at least one sl. larger goldie, which may be a fantail! I tried w/out success to catch it

See next post for some [not-to-great ] pics.

 

[Mmathis]

Not-too-great pics of my baby fish -- maybe Santa will bring me a decent camera for taking water/underwater pics . Santa, are you listening?


This is the "goldfish," hopefully comet and not commons.


These are the 2 I believe to be Shubunkins. They are washed out in the tank lighting, but when initially caught, there was more DARK (like the blue color) and more speckling. One, especially, has a lot of "dark" in its caudal fin. They are about an inch long.

Next, are the small-fry and "eyelashes." These are the ones I want to ID, but as time goes on, am thinking "Rosy Reds" and not goldfish/Shubies.....


These are the 2 "small-fry" -- maybe 1/2" + long, guessing


These are shots of the "eyelashes." Three of them, maybe 1/4" long.

 

[HARO]

Your ID's seem to be right on. And do you realize that rosy reds can revert to their wild gray colouration? Mine all did over the course of three years.
John

 

[TekWarren]

I caught something with my minnow trap today...unfortunately it died in the trap I think I either had to much bread in the trap and or not enough holes for water and oxygen. It also was warmer today than it has been and the fish may have overheated. I feel bad but not as bad as the fish I am really watching and wondering about.

Pretty sure I have here a young goldfish either in wild form colors or just a dark phase: http://www.flickr.com/photos/95980543@N05/9524923915/

Upon inspection the little guy is about 2" and very healthy and plump. There are at least a couple more of these around this size. I am getting more and better glimpses of the other fish that has me excited. As I mentioned there is something that resembles a shubunkin type pattern that is a combo of dark, orange, and red. These (this) fish are not quite as big as the one I collected today. I don't know at what point comets get their color but if that is what it is it will be an interesting one. I pulled my minnow trap for now...

I still have a handful of fry in the intex pool in my sun room that are steadily growing, none showing color yet to guess what they will be. I'm thinking about just putting them in the pond where they will have more to feed on and likely grow faster....fall is approaching faster than I want to admit. At least I know now that the pond can support a few fry survivors, the previous owner said he never had any make it but he had few if any plants besides Lilly's which don't provide much hiding for small eggs and fry. I think I can thank the watercress for that.

 

[Mmathis]

Your ID's seem to be right on. And do you realize that rosy reds can revert to their wild gray colouration? Mine all did over the course of three years.John

Darn! Kept thinking that if I wished it enough, the RR's would magically turn into goldfish

Of the 3 tiny ones, I think one of them looks like it's going to be "natural."

 

[Mmathis]

Minnow trap = tadpole trap! Or, tadpole magnet!

I can't call the teeny ones "eyelashes" anymore, 'cause they are starting to look like little fish! Still thinking they are RR's, though can't figure that out since I'd removed all the RR's from the pond WEEKS before I caught these babies.

The baby goldie and Shubies are doing GREAT! I can actually tell that they're growing, and boy are they little PIGS! They suck up baby brine shrimp like a vacuum cleaner when I feed those. And, of course we all worry about overfeeding, but not an issue with them -- the bottom of the tank is immaculate (well, except for their poop)!

 

[Mmathis]

MYSTERY OF THE TEENY BABY FISH SOLVED [I think...]

Was watching the pond fish the other day and saw a few that I thought were goldfish fry. Was able to catch one -- it was a minnow! Just the plain old "shiners" we used to catch as kids. Guessing that when I got my original RR's, there was at least 1 in the batch that was "natural," so when I was catching the RR's to separate them a while back, and thought I'd caught them all, I wasn't counting on this one.

So, now to find homes for a dozen or so fish, though I might keep a couple in my QT. Don't want the "minnows" taking over the pond....