Kanga Roo

Hello All. I have an approximately 6000 gallon Koi pond. I just bought the house 4 months ago, so I am a beginner. I have around 50 fish in my pond ranging from 18" Butterfly Koi to Comets and 1 catfish. Recently, I noticed HUNDREDS of minnows in the pond. They range from several millimeters to an inch and a half. They pretty much all look alike, gray with silver bellies. I was wondering what these fish could be. Do white/orange/yellow/platinum Koi all start off gray in color then get their brilliant colors as they get older? Just wondering.

Roo

Tony G.

welcome to fishlore

umm i dont know much about kois
i will send a PM to someone who probably knows

Kanga Roo

That would be great!

sirdarksol

Yes, koi start off as more or less uniform colors and grow into their adult colors as time passes. You may end up with koi of entirely different colors than your current adults, and it's quite possible that many of them won't be very brightly colored.

It's also possible that what you're seeing are actually minnows. Some people add minnows to their koi ponds to help cut down on mosquito breeding.

Kanga Roo

Thanks sirdarksol! That makes sense.

gremlin

The first pic is Mosquito Fish - a type of minnow that is commonly used in ponds to control mosquito larvae.

The second pic is baby goldfish and shubunkins from my sister's pond. She has them set up in a "nursery pond" so they don't get eaten.

If they are baby koi, they should start to get some of their color within 2-3 months, although some of my sister's fry are 3 months old and still gray.

Attached Images

	DSCN0934.JPG (226.6 KB, 46 views)
	pic 019 baby fish in pool 05 20 09.jpg (245.0 KB, 47 views)