Comments on: Telling the Difference Between Koi & Goldfish – Water Garden & Feature Q & A

By: kathiethueme

kathiethueme — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:09:27 +0000

Koi will have barbells. They may not be visible in the early stages of a Koi’s life, but they are there. Usually a Koi’s barbells develop and become visible within the first year. So it could be possible that you have a very young Koi.

Fun Facts About Koi:
Koi actually have small teeth in the very back of there throat to break up any crustaceans they may ingest. But don’t worry! Koi cannot bite you and can be trained to feed from you’re hands!
Koi can eat up to 2% of their body weight a day!
Koi varieties depend on their coloring.

-Missy

By: Kayhines

Kayhines — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:19:54 +0000

I have a question. I recently received a fish from a friend. Her mother heard she was starting an aquarium, so she went out to Petsmart and bought a goldfish, a koi, and a pictus catfish. I know….I’d love to slap whoever sold her that combination. My friend is doing a tropicals tank, so she kept the catfish, and wanted to give me the goldfish and/or koi. Before I could get over there, according to my friend the goldfish died. i went ahead and took the koi (since otherwise her husband was going to flush it) and put it in my goldfish tank (a 29g with an 8 inch Shubunkin mix, 4in red/white Ryunkin, and 4-5in Black Moor). I know…crowded at the moment. I added an extra filter for the time being.
Here’s my question. I keep looking at this fish wondering if it is indeed a koi. It is about 3-4in, colored exactly like my Shubunkin (though without the long, long flowy fins), and does NOT have barbels…at least not that I can see. I looked on Petsmart.com, and sure enough their pictures of koi include one with and one without barbels. So last time I was out that way I went in and looked. Sure enough, there was an entire tank or two labeled as koi that did not have visible barbels.
I will gladly send pictures. I guess it’s not that big of a deal…regardless the fish cannot stay in that tank indefinately. I just admit I’m a bit confused….plus I think barbels are cute *L*

By: thepondguy

thepondguy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:24:31 +0000

Sid, Koi and Goldfish are pretty hardy and can survive freezing temperatures. If your water temperatures are staying around 50-60 degrees, they will be just fine. If you notice that your fish are starting to slow down in the cooler water temperatures, you may want to switch to a Wheatgerm based fish food like Pond Logic® Spring and Fall Fish Food so that they can digest easier in the cooler temperatures.

By: Sid Levy

Sid Levy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:06:19 +0000

Do goldfish and koi need protection against low temperatures in an indoor pond–which in winter sometime goes below 60 degrees?

By: thepondguy

thepondguy — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:16:02 +0000

Jill,

Yes I have noticed that =). My apologizes. Most of the reason is because the goldfish are taken in an aquarium where you can see them from the side while the koi, a majority not all, are taken top down since they are in a blue tank in a koi show. Once we get our goldfish in our retail store, I will try and get some better pictures uploaded.

Thanks for your comment!

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:53:13 +0000

Thanks for the post! I have a mixture of comets and koi and I am always trying to tell which are which. I do look for barbels but they are not always easy to see. I recently lost several fish that I thought were comets to a pH crash. It was only under close examination after I removed the dead ones that I was able to see small barbels.

Have you ever noticed that pictures of koi always seem to be taken from overhead and pictures of others (like in your post) are taken from the side? This makes it hard to really compare them, especially since most of us who have ponds never get to see our fish from the side. Do you have any pictures that show direct comparrison from a top view of the different kinds of fish?

By: thepondguy

thepondguy — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Karen Spangler, What happens some times when adding new koi is they can become a little skittish and hide as you approach your water garden. This is because it is a new environment that they are not used to. This post on Acclimating Your Koi & Other Fish should be helpful to you. Thanks for the Question!

By: Karen Spangler

Karen Spangler — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:30:39 +0000

I have Koi and goldfish in my 3,000 gallon pond. They are about 4 inches long. They have been there for 1 year. I added 3 new 2 inch Koi to my pond 5 days ago and they have not come up to eat and I have not seen them. What do you think happened? I have not found them floating dead or in the skimmer.

By: thepondguy

thepondguy — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:28:23 +0000

Denise,

Sorry for the confusion, I had to reread just to make sure, but the “barbells” are referring to whiskers. I will add “/whiskers” to it to eliminate the confusion. Great comment!

By: Denise Leopard

Denise Leopard — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:28:30 +0000

I was told years ago that the fastest easiest way to tell the difference between goldfish and koi is koi have whiskers and goldfish don’t.