Black Baby Goldfish?

[Jessica13]

Hey,

So, we have a pond with koi, 2 goldfish and a shubunkin in. Last summer we suddenly found about 100 little black fish in the pond Only about 40 made it through the winter ( i think the koi ate a lot of them lol), but the ones that have look really big and healthy. But although about 8 or 9 have either gone gold, or are slowly going gold, most of them are black... Is this normal? And theres one that shbunkin coloured.. Will they stay black or go orange eventually?

And are they ok to stay in the pond or should we stick them in a tank?

 

[020292]

Well then they are either baby kois or goldfish and yes they are known for changing colors! All your fish should be brought inside and put in a tank during the winter! I hope i was of some help!

Thanks!
Can not wait to see pics of the pnd and the fish! (Is that possible?)

 

[CoolWater]

That would be baby goldfish by the sounds of it.

And yes, baby goldfish often change colour as they get older and mature.
And it is not rare to have black baby goldfish, which turn gold.

And Dean your wrong, of course you can leave your fish in a pond over winter!! Where would you expect people to put 1-2ft goldies and koi for several months of the year?? Do you even have a pond? It is not good to give advice you are not sure about yourself.

 

[LucyHurst]

Some people do overwinter fish, like if their pond is too shallow for the fish to hibernate. But if its deep enough and you have something to stop ice (you can just go out and pour warm water over a section every day, or youcan buy a floaty thing that stops it freezing) the fish will go into hibernation at the bottom and be absolutely fine.
If the fish have made it this far, it should be ok to leave them to it in the pond

 

[soritan]

(also, some places, 'winter' ain't all that cold....)

 

[Jessica13]

Thanks for the replies!

I dont think they're koi babies as we'd only had the koi a couple of weeks before the babies arrived I thought they would have all changed colour by now though, they're nearly a year old

We left everything out through the winter. The pond didn't freeze (we had one of those round heater things anyway) but its a very big, deep pond so they did fine out there

 

[black angel]

See if you can catch one and see if theres any gold from a side ways angle.
Its not common to get pure black goldfish and usually if they go into another environment they might well turn gold.
Congrats though on the black goldfish and if they were koi you would be able to see the barbles out the mouths.
Are you going to sell them on? If you do you have to say that the black pigment may well change as they get older.

 

[Jessica13]

Will see if i can catch one later and shall have a look!

Not sure what we're doing with them, we probably couldn't keep them all, so will most likely give the ones we dont want away

 

[tjp]

it doesnt freaze over if you have a pump . and they have to be abit hardy or they would die of anything

 

[CoolWater]

Whats your location Jessica13?
I am setting up a small 50 gallon above ground pond soon'ish, and if you are with-in 10 miles of me i could always take two of your hands ..?

 

[Jessica13]

Im in Gloucestershire so im a couple of hours drive from you unfortunately.

The babies are ok where they are for the moment as they aren't any bigger than about 3 - 4 inches and the pond is plenty big enough, but when they start to get their colours through better i may see if anyone on here wants some

 

[jayjay]

i'm from gloucester but i have my own breeding goldfish in my pond. i don't take anything out or put anything in my pond except food and i clean the filter every 2 weeks but that's it. my goldfish always breed i have loads of them now.

 

[Dogfish2]

Our pond also acquired some 'black' gold fish. Most went from purple/black to a bright gold within a few days of being brought inside to overwinter. Others made only a slight colour change, and went back to the deep purple that I love once returned to the pond in the spring. The one this slight colour change is most apparent on is the largest black one (8"+), it is several years old now and has only turned a deep maroon with a brass underbelly when brought indoors, returning to its original colour withing days of being removed from the aquarium. It would be nice if they kept the purple/black colour when brought indoors, they are difficult to see in the deep pond, a fact we took advantage of by making a game of who could spot them. Does anyone known the reason for this; stress, lack of natural light, what?

 

[LucyB]

Our pond also acquired some 'black' gold fish. Most went from purple/black to a bright gold within a few days of being brought inside to overwinter. Others made only a slight colour change, and went back to the deep purple that I love once returned to the pond in the spring. The one this slight colour change is most apparent on is the largest black one (8"+), it is several years old now and has only turned a deep maroon with a brass underbelly when brought indoors, returning to its original colour withing days of being removed from the aquarium. It would be nice if they kept the purple/black colour when brought indoors, they are difficult to see in the deep pond, a fact we took advantage of by making a game of who could spot them. Does anyone known the reason for this; stress, lack of natural light, what?

Just a warning, this thread is from 2006...