Color changing Koi

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REDFOOT WRANGLER
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I have about a dozen koi in my 1,450ish gallon pond.
None of them were expensive. I bought them as babies for between 6 and 9 dollars each.
Recently, a metallic gold and black koi has been exhibiting orange markings too. My first tri colored koi.
I'm anxious to see what the rest do. If they change or not.
Last year an orange Ranchu I got from @CharlieM turned pure white.
Before any of this happened, I wasnt aware that it was common in this type of fish.

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wellington

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It seems I read some place, back a few years when I had a koi pond, that they take years to mature and will then become the color they are to be. In the time between they change several times. I think the real expensive show ones are so expensive because the breeding line gives coloring/pattern that is perminent throughout.
I don't remember where I read this. On the internet. So I could b way off.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Do you keep netting over your pond? I had a pond when I lived in South Florida with some Koi and one day I came home to a heron standing next to my pond and my fish were gone!
 

Redfool

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Love the amelanistic lion head. That’s not a cheap fish. Golden koi really shine. Is your pond incorporated with your tort pen? How about a pond full view. Dogs, birds, fish, torts, is being a zookeeper a hobby or job?
 

TortoiseRacket

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Cool!!
Unfortunately, before I knew any better to correct my sister, she had 5 large goldfish in a 2 gallon bowl. One turned grey from orange. We finally got a tank, and they all jumped out of it within a week.
 

wellington

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If they jumped out, they may have bin koi. In the past, I had goldfish an they never jumped out but my koi tried to.
I too had a koi jump out of my pond. I also had one jump out of a winter inside stock tank. He committed suicide right onto the basement floor. The majority of the tank was covered too. Never had a gold fish jump. Did have a marine wrasse commit suicide once too.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Pond pictures please!
It's not very extravagant.
But a great leap better than I'd had before.
It's INSIDE my patio with trellis walls and doors and a corrugated steel reinforced roof for predators and minor hurricanes.
 

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ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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It seems I read some place, back a few years when I had a koi pond, that they take years to mature and will then become the color they are to be. In the time between they change several times. I think the real expensive show ones are so expensive because the breeding line gives coloring/pattern that is perminent throughout.
I don't remember where I read this. On the internet. So I could b way off.
Some cost thousands.
I'm not exactly rich.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Do you keep netting over your pond? I had a pond when I lived in South Florida with some Koi and one day I came home to a heron standing next to my pond and my fish were gone!
Its enclosed.
Just like my tortoise enclosure.
No bird larger than a finch can get inside.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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I too had a koi jump out of my pond. I also had one jump out of a winter inside stock tank. He committed suicide right onto the basement floor. The majority of the tank was covered too. Never had a gold fish jump. Did have a marine wrasse commit suicide once too.
I've never had a jumper. Luckily. But I've got an overflow built in so that even when it rains, the water level stays far below the level of the pond.
I've had lots of Sword Tails jump out of tanks before.
 

ZEROPILOT

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This is Shamu.
He needs to be sold to someone with a larger pond soon.
He pretty much ate $80 worth of water lillies. Loves hibiscus flowers and Kale.
He's getting larger than the rest.
There are also some Sarasa Comets in there...... Goldfish that survived being offered to the Flowerhorns I kept a while ago.
I no longer keep Flowerhorn cichlids. In fact, I'm down to just 1 aquarium now.
 

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wellington

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It's nice to sit out there at night.
There are lights and chairs and a fire pit.
However. Its usually too warm out there.
I'm sure some members can't relate to that....
Okay, we get it. We all have some warmth some of the time lol.
I do miss having a pond. With our winters and changing temps, there was always work to be done to the landscaping rock around it come spring. They would need to be leveled and straightened out. Pond totally cleaned from winter dirt, etc. It was nice though having such fun to watch large fish in the yard.
 

ascott

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Cool!!
Unfortunately, before I knew any better to correct my sister, she had 5 large goldfish in a 2 gallon bowl. One turned grey from orange. We finally got a tank, and they all jumped out of it within a week.

I use to have a newt when I was much younger....I did not realize that they climb...and it disappeared one day....weeks later I found it like a sad statue behind a piece of furniture....poor thing....I use to have a fancy goldfish that liked to swim to the top, float to his side and have me pet his side and belly....super weird but super fun at the same time....sadly he died, I suspect from ick....oh and I use to have a black molly that someone gave me ...it must have had some health issue previously because it always swam upside down and when it wanted to eat...it would swim super fast upside down from the bottom of the tank super fast towards the surface and do a quick roll to grab its food...that little guy lived a few years like that ....the ironic thing is that when he passed away I found him floating in the water....right side up???? Super weird....needless to say, I don't have fish any more...I figured I just sucked at caring for fish...not my thing likely.
 

KarenSoCal

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I'm down to 3 aquariums right now, had 4 until recently.

I had a glowlight tetra that swam vertically, nose up, for over a year. When I got him he was normal, he just slowly started to tilt, until he was completely vertical, and stayed like that.

Friends would ask me why I didn't euthanise him. I said there were 3 criteria. I. He ate fine. 2. He could go wherever he wanted, just vertically. And 3. No other fish picked on him.

He probably had to expend a huge amount of energy to swim like that, and he had to sleep like that as well. He really got no rest at all.

So after a year he was having more trouble staying afloat, and couldn't go fast enough to catch his food. His time had come, so I relieved him of his misery. [emoji26] His name was HeadsUp.
 

TriciaStringer

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I had a goldfish named Cornelius that lived in a large pickle jar for years. He was part of a class teaching presentation in college. I came home one day to him having trouble swimming and starting to float belly up. I sat next to his pickle jar and held his tail and swam him back and forth for hours. He then made a full recovery. A few months later he did pass away while I was at work.
 

ascott

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I had a goldfish named Cornelius that lived in a large pickle jar for years. He was part of a class teaching presentation in college. I came home one day to him having trouble swimming and starting to float belly up. I sat next to his pickle jar and held his tail and swam him back and forth for hours. He then made a full recovery. A few months later he did pass away while I was at work.

I was going to "like" the story....but felt super wrong to like it....I get is, but had to acknowledge without the like button..... :)
 
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