do goldfish change color with age?

[Pond Boy]

My buddies bug eye fan tail started out black as coal 2 years ago now that little bugger is a coffee brown with amazing gold iridescent high lights on the tips of the fins and where the fins join the body. I'll see if I can get him to snap a pic the fish it is a beautiful specimen..

 

[addy1]

hmmm...sounds like a genetic experiment, like what percentage of orange to white will you get if you breed a white goldfish with a solid orange goldfish?.

Well I had a pure gold skinny male (i think) chasing a pure white fat female (i think) and only 5 fish (i think) in the pond. So we will see.

 

[Nova]

We had about 12 goldfish babies last year. All but one is red and white or orange and white. The one fish, we call Shadow, is a brownish color with gold belly and one white shiny scale. I know the Shubunkin are spawning but no blue babies yet.

 

[talal101]

I seen the most amazing shubunkin at petsmart a week ago, a really really deep blue and red, I'm still beating myself up about it

 

[Nova]

Yea, my koi were spawning today, their first time. This should be a good genetic experiment. My two yellow koi are male and my two gray and white are female. It will be interesting to see what colors their young turn out to be. I wonder what color or pattern are dominate?

 

[fishin4cars]

Congrats, Did you actually get to watch the egg laying? They get pretty rough huh? How big were yours? how many eggs, Come on give us some details , pics would be better.:yikesu:
As for the genes, From what I have seen and read and learned, If they aren't pure strained there really isn't a dominate gene. Pure strains are normally found at Koi shows, Most will be japanese decent, and you will be able to see the parents or pictures of and get documentation. These are usually VERY expensive! You could get some that look similar to the parents, but most will look nothing like them. I ended up keeping my Gin Rins from last year. neither parent was Gin Rin. One for sure the female was a Kohaku(red and White) the male Not real sure which one it was as there were many chasing. But I didn't get a single baby that looked like Mom, but then again, I only ended up raising 17 up to size big enough to trade off. I kept four and lost one to one of the Bird attacks. But I still have my favorite two from the beginning.

 

[Nova]

I watched them spawn. I have a potted Cana Lily and a new water lily in one corner of the pond. The water is maybe one inch over the top of the pot and they would splash across the top of it several times. Later I went out to look and both plants and pots are covered with eggs. The koi were not rough toward the females, not like the goldfish. The koi are about 10 or more inches. I will try to get some pics tomorrow.

When I got them last year one of the gray koi had a yellow head and yellow stripes across it's back. All the yellow is gone except for one stripe. I have forgotten how much they changed in a years time. I have no idea what breed of koi they resemble, maybe you all could help me out when I post pics.

No pure strains in my house, my dogs and cat from the animal shelter and fish from Petsmart and Walmart. They all look good to me.

 

[DrDave]

Congrats as well!
I watched mine have an 8 hour orgy last year. I have video of some of it. They have had several spawns already this year. I'm waiting for the big one. Usually 1st week of May to 1st week of June is when They seem to have the big one.

 

[fishin4cars]

I would say most of us on the board have just standard Koi. Very few regular hobbyist purchase true Documented Koi. I have one koi that I got that is suppose to be from Japan. The dealer I bought it from told us it was one he picked up when he was in japan over the winter. It's not Documented and it's not show quality but Like you said, we like it, that's what counts. 10" is kind of small for them to be breeding, normally koi are in the two year old range before they start breeding but It's not impossible. In my first pond I built many years ago I had mostly Goldfish and three 8-10" koi in it. Late one fall we found about 30-40 babies in the pond. I netted some out and gave to a friend that had a fish tank, as we watched them grow they had barbels, but were more colored like shubunkin goldfish not sanke or showa koi, I think they may have been hybrids but I'm not sure. We ended up moving and I kept the three larger Koi and left the rest for the new property owner. never heard how they did. The ones in the fish tank lived for a few years but I lost track of my friends for a while and when I got back in touch with them they had sold the tank and fish and they were gone. Be sure and separate some and try to raise them by themselves. It's a challenge but well worth it. most will perish in a small pond. Lined ponds that are under 2000 gallons just normally don't produce many fry that survive. natural ponds Like the one Marla has or addy has is far more likely to have the young naturally raise in the pond with the adults. Good Luck your now proud parents, or soon to be! LOL

 

[fishin4cars]

We saw the shunkins and goldies spawning about three weeks ago, Right after a rain and they milked the pond up pretty good, I think I only had one female laying this year and they beat her to pieces, I moved her to the hospital tank but she's never really recovered. Still alive but she hasn't done well since and I'm afraid I may lose that battle before it's over but for now she is still alive.
I'm waiting for the Koi, I have two 100 gallon tubs under the porch set up with sponge filters and air stones. Presently I also have a canister filter hooked up to them and have three baby Koi we bought helping to keep the bacteria bed going until we get eggs. Got my brine shrimp eggs already, Got the brine shrimp jars ready and all looks good to go. I also have four new mop heads I have been soaking for the last two weeks in the back pond. As soon as I see any indication of breeding I'll move them into the main pond. My goal for this year is to raise over 100 to 2-3". If all goes well I feel like I can probably get away with 300 if they survive. I just hope it doesn't happen over this weekend, I'll be away and tearing down one of my friends ponds as he has to move. got to move 40 Koi 45 minutes away all in one day. I'm worried but hoping all goes well!!

 

[addy1]

You will do great fishin moving those fish, hope yours don't pick the weekend to breed either.

So are you tearing down and rebuilding all in one day lol

 

[Nova]

wow, that sounds like a lot of work keeping that many fish. I go by survival of the fittest.

Took a quick pic of the koi this morning. What breed or variety of koi would these be listed under, other than "mut"?

 

[Nova]

I was looking up koi varieties and saw Shiro Bekko. Which is the other koi I have. It tells about the black marking come as the fish matures. The new markings are a bluish color at first then turn black, this is exactly what mine is doing.

 

[Fish_man]

hello,
i remember a few years ago i had a brown and orange goldfish that changed into a solid orange goldfish as it grew, a couple days ago i went to the petshop and bough 5 feeder goldfish to add to the group and just so happened to end up with a very gorgeous goldfish that had all orange fins and an orange mouth and a solid white body...he is only about an inch and a half including tail so im worried that with age he may lose the color and either become solid white or solid orange, i have never seen a goldfish like this in person or on the enternet so i was really happy when i found him/her. is it possible that he may change with age?, and also assuming he is under ideal conditions how long should it be before he grows to be 8-12 inches?
thanks
:regular_waving_emot:fish2::fish:

Most fish do change color as they grow and mature.
Many fish will also change color according to their moods, environmental factors, and whether they are in or out of breeding condition.

In particular, red and orange pigmentation are often linked to a fish's diet. Certain substances in foods, such as carotenoids and astaxanthins, are pigment precursors. Fish that eat more of those pigment precursors tend to display more or more intense red and orange colors, if they have the genetic potential for red or orange color to begin with. So your clown loach's more orange color is probably largely due to the good food you are providing.

 

[sissy]

so just like a flamingo hmmm day glow koi lol