Why are my koi turning white?

[Mmathis]

Tm are you talkingg about this post? It was started yesterday. Lol

No, the original, original one. We were trying to decide if the OP had made a typo when she said her pond was 200 gallons, and maybe meant to say 2000 gallons instead. So I looked back at her posting history -- she did say 200-250 gallons way back then. But she's done something right, for those fish to have survived in 200 gals for 4 years [well, maybe until now].

 

[tbendl]

Ahhhh ok, I kept going back trying to figure out what you meant by 2011. Thought you may have gotten when Evie joined the forum.. LOL
I was confused for sure.

 

[Mmathis]

Ahhhh ok, I kept going back trying to figure out what you meant by 2011. Thought you may have gotten when Evie joined the forum.. LOL
I was confused for sure.

She joined in 2011, and that's when she initially posted that her pond was 200-ish gallons. So when she posted the other day, some of us thought that 200 was a typo. That's why I went back, to check and see what her original, 2011 post mentioned -- to see if this was a typo, but apparently not.

Sorry @Evie -- nothing personal! Just a bunch of us goofballs trying to sort out the facts, LOL!

 

[tbendl]

Well if that's the case and it's 200 then... Wow that they're alive.

 

[Mmathis]

Well if that's the case and it's 200 then... Wow that they're alive.

Yea, but back to her original question [in this post], why are they turning white.

@Evie Pictures would sure help a lot!

 

[Lisak1]

I'm kinda surprised they aren't all turning belly-up to tell you the truth! I hope @Evie will come back and fill us in on the details of her pond.

 

[CometKeith]

I have a bunch of white goldfish. The first one I had that was white started out orange with a white stripe. Another one I had since a baby started black and then went to orange and then white. I don't think mine are sick at all because I have plenty of other color goldfish that stay orange or black etc and the white ones are really pretty and exhibit normal behavior. I had a bunch of black ones too and some have changed colors over the years and some have not. Almost all of my fish were born in my pond so it seems to me that these are natural colors.

 

[Smaug]

I have a bunch of white goldfish. The first one I had that was white started out orange with a white stripe. Another one I had since a baby started black and then went to orange and then white. I don't think mine are sick at all because I have plenty of other color goldfish that stay orange or black etc and the white ones are really pretty and exhibit normal behavior. I had a bunch of black ones too and some have changed colors over the years and some have not. Almost all of my fish were born in my pond so it seems to me that these are natural colors.

IME that's normal. I do believe the op is experiencing fish that are severely stressed from very polluted water. I have see that occur to people with blood parrot cichlids in overstocked tanks.

 

[Mmathis]

I wish @Evie would post again. Want to know how the fish are doing.....

 

[barryian]

We have a dozen 10-inch koi in a 200 gallon or so pond. They have been very healthy for years, but now some of them are turning white, starting with blotches, then completely white. Is this natural, or should we be concerned? -- Washington DC.

Sounds completely normal. As they mature and grow, their colors will change depending on the breeding. I have a mix of koi bred here in the US versus some high end koi from Japan. The latter seem to maintain their colors, even becoming more brilliant and profuse and the other non imported do seem to change more so. Just from my own experience.
I'm assuming this isn't a sudden radical change in a week or two. That isn't normal.

 

[Evie]

Many thanks to Turtle Mommy and everyone else for your interest. This is a great forum and I am glad I found you. I apologize for my error regarding our pond volume, the correct size is 400 gallons, occupied by 12 koi each 9-10 inches. Here are some actual correct (!!) facts about our pond. This may be Too Much Information, but here goes...

The pond was built and stocked prior to our 2003 purchase of the property and house. There were eight or so koi at that time, I believe they were a bit smaller than they are now. There have been a few births since then. In 2010 the concrete pond developed a leak and lost over half the water. We transferred the fish and the remaining water into a big laundry tub--where they stayed for at least six months until we had the pond repaired and lined. Now the pond has a polyurea coating. We transferred the fish back into the pond in 2011. We took chemistry readings at that time, the last reading was August 2011: pH 7.4-7.6, ammonia less than .25 ppm, nitrite zero, nitrate 20 ppm.

The current readings are pH 7.8-8.0, ammonia less than .25 ppm, nitrite zero, nitrate 40 ppm. So the pH is a little high. We did not take any readings between 2011 and now.

The only chemicals we have introduced in the past four years are ALGAEFIX and ECOFIX, which we apply during March-May (not every year, just as needed) to control algae blooms. We used the minimum dosages to restore clear water. We did not keep records of applications/exact dosages.

Before and After photos of koi are attached. Thanks again for your suggestions! -- Evie

 

[Mmathis]

@Evie Can you take any close-up pictures of the fish [in particular] that you are talking about, showing the specific areas that are turning white?

In addition to the color changes, have you noticed any other things that have been different with the fish and/or the pond recently? Often behaviorial changes will show up it there is an illness or a change in water chemistry.

Actually, your pH is very good. The numbers aren't as significant as the fact that they stay in a stable range.

 

[Smaug]

I know it's difficult to get good pics of fish but I can't see anything about your fish except that they are fish. For yiur testing numbers,if your showing any ammonia reading then yiur bio filter isn't up to par. The nitrates should be lower as well and depending on your test kit accuracy could be much worse . High nitrates cause big stress in fish and will cause stress related color loss. Do several 20% water changes and see if that doesn't help. Just saw you havnt tested since 2011? Test kits are cheaper then replacing fish.

 

[Evie]

Here is a picture of one of the koi that have turned (mostly) white. Thank you for your suggestions. -- Evie

 

[Lisak1]

Dumb question... Are you sure those are koi? It's hard to see from the pictures but I'm seeing a lot of orange.