depends on the variety. What were the parents? Flock spawn? If so many will just remian brown. Keep in mind and even the best breeders with champion parent stock usually only keep about 10% of the fry, the rest are destroyed. So regular pond fish fry from a group spawn rarely ever develop any colors, if they do the odds of it being a recognizable variety are slim.

It was as group spawn. It was a surprise because I've had some of these kois for 15 years and this is the first time. I thought they were all males. I believe the female was my 24" Kohaku from Japan.

At this point they are a variety of white, yellow, grey, and black.

Thanks,

Don't get discouraged so quickly. I have several friends with Koi ponds and they usually don't start showing color until about 6 months. All have "flock" spawn. Carol has a red and black, a white and red and a black. Michael has one yellow and one platinum butterfly. I got some this year, and they're still brown, but they usually stay that color for awhile to keep hidden from predators. Keey your eyes open!

I discovered several (5-7, can't sort them out, hiding in different places, etc.) babies a week ago. They are now about 1-1/2" and colors are gold, brown, a couple are multicolor! My bigger fish are 2 14" platinum koi, several 6-8" multi-color koi, and assorted goldfish, total 23 fish before babies. Trying to get pictures.

what is the difference between flock and group spawn?

I have several baby fish in my koi pond that are about 1-1 1/2 inches long and they are still brown.
Have other fry (from a previous hatch this year in the same pond) that are orange and white and I am pretty sure they were "colored" by the time they were 1-2 inches long, am beginning to wonder about these other "new guys" in the pond ?!
Do have mosquito fish in a nearby pond, can frogs bring over fish eggs with them on their legs, etc?

Often 2-3 years. Be patient.

I have been wondering the same thing! I had 2 Koi in my pond last year and they had about 25 babies. They are about a year old now and still are mostly brownish - gold. I didn't think that I would have to worry about babies. Haven't been able to find anything on the web that gives a definite answer and our library doesn't have any books on Koi. I hate to get rid of them if they will develop colors later... Anyone know for sure the answer?

Pondhaley, If they are brown now after a year, they will never be pretty. Goldfish are born dark and change to orange later on.....koi generally do not. Young showa are dark....but they start showing their colors soon too. Kohakus are often nearly white when born and develop colors quickly. If you have spawn from last year that are still brown or black, they will never improve much beyond what they are now.

HMMMMMMMMMMMM, last summer, I netted quite a few baby fish!! I hesitate to say KOI, eventho thats what I have in my pond! (80'X60'X26', NOW, but it will recede back as the temps warm up! Anyway I scouped the babies up, then put them in a kiddie poolw. pond water. They were so small and kinda grey? I even netted some of them and looked thru magnifying glass, didn't recognize what the heck they ALL were?? I do have A HUGE BUNCH OF BULLHEADS :( ACK, I just have that feeling thats what they are :( I did see the Koi just swimming with each other and jumping together over all the floating pond lilies!!! I suspected they were mating?? No?? Ugh, someone have any pics of small, young, Koi??
Patricia

I always heard they dont color till a year old.

Hey, dont know if you are still checking this because you were talking about it in May...but Koi will spawn with other fish ie; goldfish and when this happens you will get brownish black fish with golden underbellies. They will be sterle like a mule. We have baby koi that are 3" and they are bright colors and patterns, however they will change some as they grow...kind like appaloosa horses change their spot patterns as they age. Koi will generally
lock into their color pattern at about half grown.
Koi originally were bred from brownish black carp and so
naturally some of their offspring will revert back to that color also.
My advise is to destroy or give away the non-colored babies. Good luck

Even the most gorgeous top show quality koi will produce a ton of ugly babies.

Breeders cull thousands to get the few colorful fish that they sell.

Koi fry show color at a very young age. Their colors can change as they grow but they are not hatched dark like goldfish.

Well, I must just be lucky then..I started out with 9 purchased fish about 7 years ago. I now have about 35 or so. I have never seperated them to mate, they always flock spawn, and the ones that survive are always colored, lots of gin rin and lots of kohaku. I would be shocked if mine ever turned out brown.
But I am just a hobbyist with a really large backyard pond.

I have 7 large Koi. 3 are just regular Koi that I started out with a few years ago. 4 are show quality Kohaku's that I bought last year. They started spawning this year before I realized that the water was even warm enough. I was only halfway prepared because I had planned to let my show quality koi spawn. I netted my red and black regular Koi and 2 of my show quality Koi and placed them in a spawning pond. I had a nice hatch out of them and got many colors from that spawn. They are about 1 1/2 months old now and I have several bright yellows, some blue with black spots, some black, red, and white, some black and yellow. As soon as you could. They are all colored well and some look like they are still developing color but I have never had any Koi hatch and not show color immediately. I also got a spawn out of my Kohaku's this year. I have several that are solid white out of that hatch and many that are developing the Kohaku colors. They are about an inch long, some a bit longer but the colors are appear to be really good. Hard to tell alot at this point though. I plan on selling my regular Koi this year and just having my show quality to breed, but out of the hatch I got this year, I have some that have alot of black on them. They are very pretty fish and the black looks like it was painted on them. It is so defined, it is just unreal.

This thread has been extremely helpful as I purchased water hyacinths from a local pond/nursery store & discovered the roots were full of fish eggs. Upon hatching I found that many changed color within a month & the others are still dark. I read that goldfish do not turn for a year or so. What is the maximum time for koi fry to change color???

I watched two of my koi spawn and took the eggs out into a hatchery... all I have are koi in my pond... These are about a week old and about 90% are yellow or goldish and the rest are brown but they start out kind of clear....

I don't agree that you won't get color because although a lot of them don't get color some of them do these aren't my first babies

PS I forgot...the parents are both Doitsu.. (Hope I spelt that right )

I. Had 5 koi purchased from a very reputable breeder. Last season they bred and there appeared about 100 babies - all grey in color. This spring, there at about 50 survivors And most are about 2”-3” long. They are now developing yellow coloring on their heads and along their dorsal fin. Some are black and are starting to look blue. There is a mix of butterfly koi as well as regular koi. There were no gold fish or any other fish in my pond that I know of. Unfortunately, something got the 5 big ones and they are all gone. This year we have put a small fence all around the pond and fishing line strung across it...so far so good. I’ve read a lot about culling but haven’t done that yet because they are changing and I ant the best looking ones to remain. I am open to hear whatever experience everyone has had with koi fry and when they are truly getting th color they will have. Thanks! :)

I have my first koi fry this year. Out of about 150, only 17 remain. They are 4 wpeeks old and still no colors except brownish with a whitish/gold underbelly. We had an unseasonably cool June. Could the colors be delayed because of the cooler temps.

My Koi have always been born brown. Around 10 - 18 months, they all change color to orange, whites sometimes with varying shades of yellow. A few have stayed orange, but most are multicolored.

Originally I didn't know anything about raising Fry, but first I learned that they are born brownish and turn as they age. I had no idea until I looked in my pond and saw what looked like "guppies" swimming around. I had no idea that Koi fry are generally brown. BUT recently I have read that only goldfish stay brown until a year or so old. Does this mean when I originally bought my first Koi, they were Goldfish and not Koi?

I've had hundreds over the years and none have changed color at less than 6 months of age. But all have changed by the time they are about 14 months. They have all matured to the bright orange and white, typically seen as Koi. None have ever looked like goldfish.

They are kept in outdoor ponds, not warmed during the winter. But there is always an antifreeze unit during the winter so the water will not freeze. I have several aerators in each pond, and two waterfalls. I have only lost a couple of the Fry when they have gotten into the filters. I have lots of areas that have hiding places in the ponds and spawning areas.

I had 6 adult Koi but I don't know their sex other than "Big Daddy". He is the first that lets me know breeding season has started. He's about 20 inches. The other adults range in size from 6-10 inches and are 2-5 years old.

My present hatch of 200 or so are all 9-10 months old and starting to get their orange colors now.

I separate babies to their own pond when I first see them, usually 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.

I read some remarks that other folks have a low survival rate of 20% or so. I have had nearly 100% survival other than the two that were caught in the filter. Why is that? Is there a type of Koi that is more hardy than others?

My ponds are also handmade, baby quarters are 2.5 feet above ground and 2 ft. below ground, about 1,000 gallons. Adult pond is about 3.5 feet above ground and 3 ft. below ground, about 1,500 gallons. I think designed that way keeps predators at bay. Little pests (raccoons) don't like climbing the wall; the eagles, hawks don't like swooping down into the pond without a clear path. These ponds are inside my fenced (4 ft wood rail) yard. There are trees and shrubs, decks, all making it difficult for predators.

I gave some of my adults and 12 fry to one owner nearby that had a large ground level pond. Overnight a family of racoons got into his pond and cleaned out his fish and mine.

I believe the best safety for building a pond is to raise the outer edge above ground but allow a deeper, smaller area below ground so the Koi can go to warmer/colder waters with weather requirements.

I enjoy my Koi and can spend hours watching and talking to them. I used to name all the babies as they start to color, but I can no longer as there are too many. Soon though, all last year's Fry will be rehomed, to make room for this year's batch.