Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Trying to identify some fish

I have a pond that's about 1/2 acre in my front yard.

Last spring, we put 7 koi and 2 lbs of rosy reds in the pond.

I figured the koi would help keep the vegetation in check, and the rosy reds would help keep the mosquitos down.

All of the koi I selected were muted colors (blacks and greys, with as little orange and white as I could find in the holding tanks) so that they'd have a better chance of survival with all of the birds around.

For the next 10 months or so, we wondered if any of them made it.

Well, today, we found out that at least 5 of the koi had survived, as we saw them for the first time. My how they have grown....

Anyways, my bigger question is this. Since we put the fish in, I haven't seen ANY of the rosy reds in the shallows or anything. But, today, in one shallow area, I saw a small group of about 10-20 small fish ranging in color from orange to black. I was wondering...could they be baby koi? I was able to scoop one out and take a few pics, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

From the top view I think that is a large rosey red. When the koi start reproducing and the young survive expect the pond to become quite turbid due to their constant rooting activities of many individuals.

Thanks for the info.

Is it common for rosy reds to be colored more colors than just orange/red? In this grouping there were fish that were black and grey as well.

Rosy Reds are just a color morph of the common Fathead Minnow. Some eggs will be normal FHM colored.

Take a picture of the other ones from the side. Fill a zip loc bag with water and take the pic from the side that way.

I agree with what Bill said.

Yeah, I thought the body shape looked more like a minnow than a koi would look.

My main reason for wondering if they were baby koi was because this is the first time in almost a year that I've seen any of them, and I only saw the one little group.

Thanks for all of your help, guys.

In a pond even with mild predation from fish or fish eating birds, rosey reds don't last long... I stocked my pond with 100 FHM. 90 were of the rosey red color morph and and 10 were of the normal coloration. Within 2 years, there are 1000's of FHM, not one is a rosey red though...