Koi color change?!

[Julie Wang]

Hi There,

I hope I post this in the right newsgroup. Recently, I decided to
change my tank water and gather all the Koi's and comet in a plastic
bucket with water and air in it.. changed it and then put the Koi back
the tank. All of this took about a total of 26 hrs. or so. (yes.. it is
a long time, but I was busy with other things too).

Anyway, when I placed them back to the tank, I noticed all the Koi
were silver/white color.. but.. after a few hours back into the tank with
the light shining on them, they return to normal. All the colors on their
body were back. Why is this so?

J. W.

[so...@corenet.net]

.. actually, rec.ponds would have responded sooner, but Koi and GF are
chameleon like in that the intensity of color reflects the background.. there
has been extensive discussion about this on the GF news list.. Ingrid

[Dan and Kristen]

In article <328b6529....@news.corenet.net>, so...@corenet.net wrote:
>... actually, rec.ponds would have responded sooner, but Koi and GF are

>chameleon like in that the intensity of color reflects the background.. there
>has been extensive discussion about this on the GF news list.. Ingrid
>
>On 2 Nov 1996 02:36:14 GMT, wa...@gpu3.srv.ualberta.ca (Julie Wang) wrote:

>...gathered all the Koi's and comet in a plastic bucket...about
>a total of 26 hrs. or so. When I placed them back to the tank,
>I noticed all the Koi were silver/white color...why?

Stress. You're lucky none of them sickened and died. Even assuming the koi
and goldfish are only 3-4" long, there are 6 or less, and the bucket was at
least 5 gallons, they were terribly crowded for that very long 26 hrs.
Remember, koi need 10 gallons of water to every inch of body to live
healthily in their normal tank, so I would not have left them there, even
with aeration and filtration, for over an hour. I guess an analogy would be
to lock yourself and several of your closest friends in a closet for 26
hours...very unpleasant.

Kristen

[Julie Wang]

Dan and Kristen (dran...@nh.ultranet.com) wrote:

: >On 2 Nov 1996 02:36:14 GMT, wa...@gpu3.srv.ualberta.ca (Julie Wang) wrote:
: >...gathered all the Koi's and comet in a plastic bucket...about
: >a total of 26 hrs. or so. When I placed them back to the tank,
: >I noticed all the Koi were silver/white color...why?
:
: Stress. You're lucky none of them sickened and died. Even assuming the koi
: and goldfish are only 3-4" long, there are 6 or less, and the bucket was at
: least 5 gallons, they were terribly crowded for that very long 26 hrs.

The bucket was about 20 to 25 gallons. I know 26 hours is a long time,
but I have my problems why I can't get them out any time sooner. And you
are right, I am lucky. I predict the sudden whiteness had something to do
with their health...

: Remember, koi need 10 gallons of water to every inch of body to live

: healthily in their normal tank, so I would not have left them there, even
: with aeration and filtration, for over an hour. I guess an analogy would be
: to lock yourself and several of your closest friends in a closet for 26
: hours...very unpleasant.

J. W.

[Julie Wang]

Dan and Kristen (dran...@nh.ultranet.com) wrote:
: >On 2 Nov 1996 02:36:14 GMT, wa...@gpu3.srv.ualberta.ca (Julie Wang) wrote:
: >...gathered all the Koi's and comet in a plastic bucket...about
: >a total of 26 hrs. or so. When I placed them back to the tank,
: >I noticed all the Koi were silver/white color...why?
:
: Stress. You're lucky none of them sickened and died. Even assuming the koi
: and goldfish are only 3-4" long, there are 6 or less, and the bucket was at
: least 5 gallons, they were terribly crowded for that very long 26 hrs.

: Remember, koi need 10 gallons of water to every inch of body to live
: healthily in their normal tank, so I would not have left them there, even
: with aeration and filtration, for over an hour. I guess an analogy would be
: to lock yourself and several of your closest friends in a closet for 26
: hours...very unpleasant.

One note I didn't mentioned in my last reply before I got cut off. I was
cleaning the whole tank they were used to living and thus, had to move
every Koi out of the tank. The bucket was the biggest I can find.

This time is actually the only time I left them in there for this period
of time.. trying to take care of them while having to cram for exams is a
tough job. Normally, my bro is the one taking care of them, but he was
out of the country at that time.

Nevertheless, thanks for your reply. Sorry for the lateness in my reply.

J. W.
PS: May I ask where you would put your goldfish when you need to do a
massive cleaning to their normal tank?

[Julie Wang]

so...@corenet.net wrote:
: .. actually, rec.ponds would have responded sooner, but Koi and GF are

: chameleon like in that the intensity of color reflects the background.. there
: has been extensive discussion about this on the GF news list.. Ingrid

Thank you for your respond. I am sorry this reply is a bit late. I
checked rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish a week after this posting was
made, but no follow-up or replies so I thought no one bothers to help me.
I just decided to checked and very happy to find I got 2 follow-ups.

J. W.

: On 2 Nov 1996 02:36:14 GMT, wa...@gpu3.srv.ualberta.ca (Julie Wang) wrote:

: I hope I post this in the right newsgroup. Recently, I decided to
: >change my tank water and gather all the Koi's and comet in a plastic
: >bucket with water and air in it.. changed it and then put the Koi back

[Dan and Kristen]

>Nevertheless, thanks for your reply. Sorry for the lateness in my reply.

Sure, sorry if I seemed a little harsh, but it was late and I was cranky...

> J. W.
>PS: May I ask where you would put your goldfish when you need to do a
>massive cleaning to their normal tank?

I've never had to with my current tank. I have an undergravel filter, I
vacuum and change water once a month, and I have the intake tube of an
external power filter stuffed into one uptake tube from the UGF. The other
side is powered with an airstone. I change one of the two carbon bags in the
filter every two weeks, alternating. I also have two 2-3" goldfish and one 3"
pleco in a 15 gal. (They are all growing very slowly.) I told you all this
so you would see what kind of setup I have that has never required me to
totally clean it, just in case you were wondering :) They've been happy this
way for a year and a half.

I have, in the past, had an overstocked goldfish tank with very large fish and
not enough filtration. Also, I didn't vacuum and change the water nearly
enough. In that case, I had to do a total cleaning job about every two
months. When I did clean, I also stuffed them into a container that was too
small, but I usually got them out pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I was new to
fishkeeping at that time...

Maybe you have an overstocked aquarium? How big is the tank and how
big/numerous are the koi? I'm cross-posting this to rec.ponds, because there
are some pretty knowledgeble (sp?) people there who are sure to pick up this
discussion.

Kristen