I cant answer all of your questions but i can stab at a couple.
I had a black goldfish who developed orange eyebrows. I loved it and thought it was so different. Then all of the sudden he turned completely orange. Ive read that they change color with age and it happened to mine.
I may be wrong but i think the grey ones just havent developed their color yet. I have goldfish that are just around two to three inches long all with color and i dont consider them fry. As far as the pond i think it would be fine but better to be safe than sorry. The water needs circulation in order to contain oxygen. Why dont you offer to pump shop for your boss and just okay the cost by him/her.

You might be able to repair the pump. Take it out and look the make and model up online.

dianne

Most orange goldfish with black markings will turn all orange.

They hatch olive or gray or black and gradually color up.

Breeders cull those that don't color up.

If not culled eventually, most ponds will be full of olive drab fish...

From my limited experience, I had an orange and white male comet, Ito, and a black female "goldfish", Molly.
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Their offspring varied greatly from one that was translucent (the white one at the bottom of the picture below) so that you could see the spine, some colors and some all black which later changed to orange.

Here are the offspring of these two fish:
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I've seen the orange eyebrow effect that Chubbypoptart mentioned. I called him Groucho, but he did eventually change to orange:

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It seems to me that most of the goldfish types are darker when younger and then change later (or stay black). In June I got 5 fish: 2 shubunkins, 2 black, 1 comet. One of the black fish (which is about 3 or 4 inches long)is now black on just the top but the sides and bottom are turning orange. The other black fish is still the black with silvery belly and I am hoping it stays that way.

So, in my long-winded way, I guess the answer is, "Who knows what your fish will look like when fully grown."

I'm not sure when they are no longer considered fry. Can't help you there.

As far as the pump goes, I guess it depends on how many fish there are for 5,000 gals. With this hot weather I think the sooner a pump gets working in there again, the better. I agree that you might be able to repair the pump, especially if it is magnetic drive like a pumpmaster pump.

Good luck,
Anne

Hi
Have only kept GF since 08 when my entire stock of tropical fish where wiped out by a cold front fearing mosquitoes I replaced them with a mix of feeder GF. Jumped from 7 to over a hundred in that short time lol.
When the fry started to appear the majority were solid black but all are either solid orange solid white or spotted . more interesting is the fins, go from very short to twice the length of the body but all the long finned are orange with very white fins while the shorts are solid orange not one black spot in the entire group!!!
If your pump is a mag drive it's very esy to repair as there's only one moving part,the impeller.
If you replace your pump be sure to get one of this type for this reason as well as drawing a lot less electricity.
Have never run a pump or filter on my 5x10 above ground ,relying on a rainwater purge system and a gazillion plants for the filtration. Has run since 82 though only the last two years with large fish So I think you might be able to make it a couple of weeks?? Good luck gary

Thanks everyone!

Regarding the pump... our mechanic removed the pump and took it to his shop to get a look at it. From what I understand, secondhand info, there was a bit of oil in the water. Do some pumps have oil in them? If so, is that a bad sign? I don't go back to work until Tuesday so I've been kind of anxious over the pump. If it's possible to fix it, I know our guy can get it done. The bad thing is, it's a busy time and the pond sure won't take precedence.

Groucho was very cool looking with his orange eyebrows. Is there a certain age by which goldfish should have changed to their livelong color? The black and gold goldfish I was talking about is at least 6 inches long. It would be great if she would retain her black markings. She's just so beautiful. As far as the fry go, if they hatch grey and are going to turn gold, by what size would they normally turn? I've seen them teeny tiny and already colored.

My fish seem to change at all different times. Some are colored when I first notice them and others are 3" - 6" long before they start changing.

Yes, some pumps have oil in them and they can leak making a terrible mess. Yes, it is a bad sign.

Magnetic drive pumps use less electricity and never leak oil. Thet cost more up front but are well worth it.

buyorsell - yes it was a bad sign. The mechanic was able to get the pump to run but not push water. My boss said it won't be a problem getting another one. With that said, he will get around to it, not now, but later. I work for a plant farm. Right now mums and sticking poinsettias are the priority.

Here's a bad cell phone photo of our pond. In those two black pots is/was some lotus I recently started. Our one and only koi, called "The Alien" likes to push them around. Oh well. LOL

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