Do I have a koi?

[emroe1]

I went into the pet shop to get two fish for my son a couple days ago. I told the salesman that I had a 50 gallon tank and wanted two goldfish. I brought them home and it wasn't until I studied them closely I realized I might not have gotten two goldfish. Now i'm no fish expert but one of these fish had markings similar to a koi. Can anyone give me information on what kind of fish I have here?

Thanks!

 

[addy1]

Do they have little whiskers, barbels, on each side of the mouth? I think I see some in the picture. If so they may be koi.

 

[sissy]

you can see the whiskers and yep it is a koi male or female male has long sleek body female has a wider waist and you can see the bulge looking down on them .If the sides bulge out it is female

 

[fishin4cars]

Koi for sure, a tancho sanke to be exact, and Sissy that little fellow can't be more than 4-5" long tops, almost no way at this point to tell male from female. I have at least a dozen in the pond that at one point this year I would have said male or female and already second guessing what they might be and they are 10" plus each. I've been sexing different fish for many years and I have to say Koi can be some of the most challenging to sex until you see them in action, and even then that isn't 100% on the males. But you are correct at what to look for.

 

[koiguy1969]

thats no doubt a koi in the pic...store emoloyee may have thought it was a shubunkin, if you specified goldfish.

 

[addy1]

It is a pretty little fish, but will outgrow that tank.

 

[emroe1]

Thanks for your imput everyone! I was afraid of that, I'm not quite sure what to do with this little guy since I don't have a bigger tank or a pond...

 

[taherrmann4]

Looks like you now have the excuse to build a pond :razz:

 

[fishin4cars]

You can keep a koi that size in a tank for maybe one or two years if you feed lightly, It will stunt the fishes growth some but not harm the fish if you don't let it get excessive. I've heard of people raising three and four in a tank and only feeding them two or three times a week to keep waste to a minimum and to stunt the growth. there are some selective breeders that are taking runt koi and doing this trying to produce what some call Bonsai Koi. they will grow them for three to five years like this then take them outside for a season to spawn. I don't really believe in this technigue but it's being done. There are usally other hobbyist that will take a fish that has outgrown it's tank or pond. Some try craiglsit, others have pet stores that will take fish back, and then there are always pond clubs that may help find a fish a home. But if it was any of us, we would build it a nice new home in the backyard! LOL

 

[koiguy1969]

FISHIN'...i heard some talk a couple years ago about some folks in Thailand ( i think) trying to breed DWARF KOI as well. looking to have them max out at 8"-10"... .

 

[sissy]

gosh these days everything is going dwarf or miniture size these days .Well guess my parents were right one day size will count . I call myself fun size LOL Both my parents were over 6 ft tall I got shorted Literally I 'm 5ft2in.

 

[fishin4cars]

I've been talking to a breeder in TN that has been working with Dwarf or Bonsai Koi as he calls them, he has one that is five years old and it's only about 7" long. and has breed! But some of the young that were allowed to grow up outside as an experiment found that some of the one year olds still out grew the parents in the first year so it's still not breeding true dwarfs yet. I think he did say that one of the others he had was obtained from a breeder in the orient, (origin unknown by me) that was breed as a bonsai. Wonder how long before they start trying to dwarf the butterfly koi?

On a side note, I do have nurse, my white and black butterfly. She's now 3 years old and maybe 9" long including a long tail. Never did grow much, I may have bought her at 4" long when purchased.

 

[emroe1]

okay I heard they grew pretty fast and was worried i'd only have a couple months to figure out a solution! I really like the little thing so it might be the best outcome to build a pond in the backyard!. Thank you guys!

 

[sissy]

oh geeze now your going to be another pond addict LOL

 

[HARO]

Breeding a true dwarf form of koi would require fish with a genetic mutation for dwarfism; it cannot be accomplished simply by stunting breeders by way of their environment. John