black/brown goldfish???

[Amy]

Hello all! I haven't posted forever and hope you are all doing well! I have a question about a couple fish that are just plain....ugly!  Last fall we had babies in the pond about an inch long, I'm in Ohio and thought they would never survive the winter let alone the bigger fish. Luckily last spring there were like 3 that survived! Well, all summer they grew and grew and grew! Currently they are about 3 inches long but are still uncolored and are black/brown dull colored. For one, I'm not entirely sure what they are. At first I thought they were koi because in the spring my biggest prettiest Koi became a meal for a blue heron  . There have been no babies since and from what I've been told goldfish do not breed until they are 4-5inches long and at that time I didn't have and goldies that big, close but not. I wish I could get a pic but with it being late November in Ohio I could never get one now. Now that they are bigger I think they may be goldfish because they just don't look like koi and do not have "whiskers". I've been told that lighting/sunlight affects color as well as food, I THINK our food is good all the other goldfish and koi look great and are brightly colored. In the summer the pond gets sun at least 8 hrs a day. Do you guys think these 3 fish will stay brown/black forever? Is this normal? I thought they turned after a couple inches or so for the most part....I've never had babies stay this color when they were 3-3 1/2 inches long and it seems like they grew awlful fast. On the good side, they aren't very pretty but they seem just as happy and healthy as everyone else! 

[PondmaninAL]

Maybe they are a cross between goldfish and koi. I've heard that it could happen, just never have seen one. Unless those ten unknown fish that I got from a ponder in Florida before we moved are crosses. they're drab, dark grey to black, some are kinda silvery, and they have unusual oxygen requirements like koi but no barbels.

[Amy]

Maybe they are a cross between goldfish and koi. I've heard that it could happen, just never have seen one. Unless those ten unknown fish that I got from a ponder in Florida before we moved are crosses. they're drab, dark grey to black, some are kinda silvery, and they have unusual oxygen requirements like koi but no barbels.

I really wondered the same thing but when I looked it up....which was only once LOL....the pic I saw was of an orange and white fish that looked more like a freakish goldfish than a koi, the fish's body looked wierd too! I can't comment on the oxygen requirements but what you are describing sound like them for sure!

[Kittyzee]

I've had goldfish that were born black and they turned after a few years to a lighter color, sometimes silvery white or orange or yellow.  I have one that is all black and is about 4 to 5 inches long that is still black and hasn't changed.  I like dark goldfish.  Heck, I like all my fish.  All my fish are beautiful to me.  I don't cull them, nature seems to take care of that in its own way.   

[Amy]

I've had goldfish that were born black and they turned after a few years to a lighter color, sometimes silvery white or orange or yellow.  I have one that is all black and is about 4 to 5 inches long that is still black and hasn't changed.  I like dark goldfish.  Heck, I like all my fish.  All my fish are beautiful to me.  I don't cull them, nature seems to take care of that in its own way.   

Thanks!!! They are still my pets, nothing that breeds in my pond leaves my pond....I don't have breeding stock in koi or goldies but, all my fish are beautiful to me! I agree "that nature takes care of that in its own way" So you think I've got goldies that may stay dark?

[Amy]

I've had goldfish that were born black and they turned after a few years to a lighter color, sometimes silvery white or orange or yellow.  I have one that is all black and is about 4 to 5 inches long that is still black and hasn't changed.  I like dark goldfish.  Heck, I like all my fish.  All my fish are beautiful to me.  I don't cull them, nature seems to take care of that in its own way.   

Thanks!!! They are still my pets, nothing that breeds in my pond leaves my pond....I don't have breeding stock in koi or goldies but, all my fish are beautiful to me! I agree "that nature takes care of that in its own way" So you think I've got goldies that may stay dark?

Just noticed we are practically neighbors! 

[matherfish]

What are the balck and gold fish that are sold along with the goldfish as feeder fish? Are they actually a goldfish? I also have had them born in my pond and there are 6 of them. I do not know if the parents were the same color or regular goldfish colors. I remember buy some feeder fish a few years back and there may have been some of those in with the feeders. I saw this thread and thought it would be a good time to ask, because they sound like the same thing. I will catch one and put a pic on here if needed.

[Kittyzee]

Matherfish, I think the fish you are referring to are usually comets.  I bought those when I first started my pond along with a couple of shubunkins and they bred and produced my beautiful longfin comets I have now.  Of course, I'm no expert...so someone may weigh in that knows more than me on this...

And yes Amy, we are probably less than an hour away from each other!  It doesn't take long to get to Grove City from my farm:  about a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes!  And another yes, you COULD have some fish that stay dark.  In my pond, most turn, but I do have one that has stayed black.  You will see it start to turn (if it does) -- the bottom of the fish lightens and works it's way 'up' toward the top of the fish, lightening to whatever color it will be from the bottom up.  Then the dark spot on the top of the fish disappears and I can never tell who the black fish was originally.   

[trish]

I've had comets that turned the first year and others that are almost three years old and close to five inches long and still haven't turned from their black/brown camouflaged state.  Goldfish and comets breed almost as bad as rabbits and don't even need to be 4-5 inches long.  Usually about a year old though.

If you have comets or goldfish and koi in the same pond they can interbreed.  They are called Mules, not really attractive to look at because they usually keep the brownish coloring and all are sterile. 

[matherfish]

Maybe these are mules. They are ugly and there were goldfish and koi in the same pond. Could be comets, but not colorful.

[Marie Fisher]

Hmmm!! Well, I guess I have some mules in my ponds. For lack for better word, I've
been calling them mutts.  But as long as they live, they have a home here.  Not out to
win any beauty contests.

Do have one thing puzzling me. I have a brim in my big pond!! Now, where did that one
come from.  Iit's now about 3 years old.  Stupid question: Can a brim and goldfish
have babies?  I'm not being funny here, really don't know.

Marie

[tranquility]

could be goldies and they could very well be koi...you have alot of the brownish throw backs when breeding koi....and of course whether they are koi or goldies--the dark ones are able to hide better and there for more likely to survive......
Lawanna

[LeeAnne151]

Goldfish are hatched dark and turn orange/red/gold as they mature. Not all change at the same rate and not all change at all. Breeders would cull the dark ones that don't change which is why you see so many in feeder fish tanks. In ponds where they aren't culled, as the years go by you often end up with more black/brown/greens than the bright colored ones. They aren't as easy for predatory birds to spot either so they end up getting eaten less. They can change after years, I had one not change until it was over six inches long and one that was over nine inches long and orange turn completely white over time.

[jax]

I have had baby goldfish start off brown and as they grew larger, they began to change color.  By late summer they were orange and white with darker dots on them, marking's of some of the other fish in there.  I certainly had no idea what I had in there at first.  Wondered where it came from and why the bigger guy's didn't eat them but they grew up and was fine. Unfortunately for all of them, and me, my deicing ring failed that winter and everything from fish, frogs and even a couple mice all died that winter and I had to start from scratch once more.  That's why I don't have many fish in there.  I'm afraid of trying with more and they'll all die again.