hello to all... I have just awaken from a long winter's nap :)

I noticed 3 tiny fish in my pond today (yay!) They are about an inch long and a translucent brown... I only have goldfish in the pond right now (they are maniac spawners!) 1 white female and four orange males.

How old do you think they are, and when can I expect them to change color?

Weather here is mid 80s F and pond temp is mid 60s F

Lori

Hi Lori! I just spotted a fish in the pond today that is about 3/4 of an inch! I was SHOCKED to say the least that he wintered over up here. I put him in the pond when he was a "microscopic", not expecting him to make it of course. So I don't think he grew too much over the winter. He was born in July, near as I can tell. I don't know if that will help you much. He is also a feeder goldfish and translucent brown. I am going to try and get a picture of him cause I still can't believe he is a survivor! Welcome back to the forum, btw!

KK,

How cool is that? However did you spot him when he was sooooo small??? I was surprised to find any babies at all... Everytime Esmerelda lays eggs, the fish don't eat the next day, so I always think they are all "goners". I am not sure I would ever see anything smaller than 3/4 inch or so... These were hiding between the potted plants I was pruning - I guess the timing & lighting was right. I have two bullfrogs and a snake in the pond, so I hope they stay hidden!

Lori

Congrats on your babies! They were probably born last summer. They should be changing color soon as they tend to change when 1 to 2 inches long although a few change when larger (or rarely, never).

KK, was your baby in your deep koi pond or the huge clay pond? I think you said a bunch of babies made it in the clay pond, right? Have you found a lot more deceased fish in there floating up?

The baby 3/4" I found was in the deep pond. I put a itsy bitsy teeny weeny microscopic guy in there when I was bringing the others in to the aquarium...I guess he lived! Very suprising to say the least. Yes, I still see the odd fish in the clay pond so there is definately life in there. All the dead bodies that came up with the iceburg have been gobbled up by the two mallard ducks that are living there right now. I put 2 4" goldfish out of my deep pond into the clay pond today. I needed something colourful to search for down there. I got that water up to 16 feet deep now by building up my dam. I want to make sure I have about 7 feet of water in there come winter this year :-)