goldfish mystery

[lyn]

Hello, please can anyone clear up this mystery.
We have 2 goldfish in an outside pond, Biff and Boff, they are 4 years old and live outside all year.
Last year they produced a litter of babies, and we have maybe 12, the mystery is that all the babies are black, unlike their gold parents!
Is this normal? Perhaps Boff has a mysterios lover who flies in?:

I have searched the internet for answers, but found nothing

[Lance Morgan]

Baby goldfish are dark or if not black. They turn gold as they get older.

[eamonn321]

These goldfish look black in the pond but if you were to look at them out of the water they would be a kind of brass colour. They may turn orange gradually over the next few years.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Some Goldfish will turn colour almost straight away, whereas others may take a couple of years to change. Some goldfish will never change and always remain Brown

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by lyn

Hello, please can anyone clear up this mystery.
We have 2 goldfish in an outside pond, Biff and Boff, they are 4 years old and live outside all year.
Last year they produced a litter of babies, and we have maybe 12, the mystery is that all the babies are black, unlike their gold parents!
Is this normal? Perhaps Boff has a mysterios lover who flies in?:

I have searched the internet for answers, but found nothing

baby goldfish are mostly black,will change as they grow.

[Dogghound]

This is a common feature in the young of alot of fish species, it is a key survival strategy for the young fish to stay well hidden from a vast array of predators. Also worth noting that on occasions adults do change color for no apparent reason.

[yoovee]

A heron wiped out my pond fish a few years ago leaving just one white female goldfish and one gold male. They very successfully restocked the pond with over 20 dark brown babies. Many have changed colour becoming white or gold. Size didn't seem to affect colour change as I have some tiny golds and whites and a few much larger dark browns.

[jdurbo]

Originally Posted by yoovee

A heron wiped out my pond fish a few years ago leaving just one white female goldfish and one gold male. They very successfully restocked the pond with over 20 dark brown babies. Many have changed colour becoming white or gold. Size didn't seem to affect colour change as I have some tiny golds and whites and a few much larger dark browns.

Hi
Talking of herons...a friend of ours have a pond and a heron took £600 worth of koi carp out of their pond
jen xxx

[Gurder]

My goldfish bred several years ago and when I got a new pond last summer each of the babies had black tops and almost copper coloured sides, this year the colours are coming out more in several of them but some are still dark coloured.

[lyn]

I would like to ask Yoovee how she knew which was the male and which the female--they all look the same to me! Pink socks perhaps?: