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What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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Posted by
kmarcel (
My Page) on
Mon, Apr 18, 11 at 16:23
| I have a pond that is a little over 1000 gallons. I have a few fish that have reproduced in the pond and do not have the nice koi colors. They look bronzie/grayish. About 4 have been there for a few years and are getting bigger all the time. This year I noticed a couple more. I have no where to get rid of them. No streams or anyplace I could relocate them where it would be legal.
What do you do with undesirable fish that are taking up space that could be used for prettier fish? My husband thinks it's terrible to get rid of them just because they're not pretty. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| You can always try selling them on ebay, craigslist, or depending on their size some personal pet stores will take them. If none of those workout you could have a fish fry:p (okay sorry just had too:D) |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Our local pond store suggested craigslist also. Would have never thought, but I'll give it a try. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Most ponders just cull them when they are small. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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Your husband sounds like my wife. She thinks even the small colorless ones are pretty. Me I want the differnt colors in my pond. As this was the purpose on building it.
Sleeplessinftwayne is right. Most ponders cull them when they are very small.
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RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Sometimes aquarium stores will take them as "feeders" when they are small. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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- Posted by ronaye 7%3F NW WA (My Page) on
Sat, Apr 30, 11 at 20:48
| Please don't ever "relocate" any pond fish into natural waterways! It is much kinder to the fish AND to the environment to euthanize them, if you can't give them away. You could be releasing the equivalent of kudzu into the local fishery - not a good thing. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| It is not horrible to get rid of them because they aren't pretty. The whole point to koi and goldfish is the pretty colors. They will all breed non colored babies over time. Professional breeders all cull or sell as feeders, that is why the pretty ones are for sale, that is what people want. This happens to everyone's pond over time. IF only the raccoons and herons would take the ugly ones but they don't because they are harder to see.... Agreed that they should never, ever, be released into any natural waterways. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| When I had a sick fish in the aquarium, I felt like I needed to flush it to prevent the disease from spreading to others. I felt sad about it -- it seemed mean. The fish folks at the pet store suggested netting the fish and bagging in water -- then putting in the freezer. They said the fish will slowly go into a state of torpor -- almost like hibernation. Then the flushing isn't as cruel. Not sure how big these fish are, but getting them really cold before "culling" them might make it easier on the fish. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| You can also put a couple of drops of oil of cloves in the bag of water. It will kill them quickly. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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- Posted by hoovb z9 Southern CA (My Page) on
Wed, May 4, 11 at 0:35
| Freezing is not considered to be a humane method, because the blood cells freeze first and causes the fish considerable pain. Use clove oil or there is a fish anesthetic you can buy that is painless for them. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| hoovb -- thanks for clarifying that! I think the fish store guy just meant to chill them down -- like when the goldfish go into semi-hibernation in the winter. Not freezing them hard. But I didn't know there was an anesthetic -- or the oil -- that is good to know. I don't like the thought of hurting any creature! I even get sad when I accidentally chop an earthworm while I'm gardening. :) |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Is this only koi fish or do goldfish stay brown too? |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Goldfish do it too. Over time many fry will stay dark and not turn orange. Flushing isn't a good idea, dead or alive. Our sewer systems are not meant to handle fish.....the fins and bones can cause clogs, who knows how long it takes them to die too..... |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| I've heard that black Koi are considered a treasure in Japan. In my ponds I feel the black is a dominate gene. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Non morphed into pretty colors black and true black aren't the same color. I don't think black koi are considered a treasure anyway, they don't show up in the pond. The reason koi were bred to be orange is to show up to be seen by people. |
RE: What do you do with unwanted/no color fish
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| Thanks for all the responses and suggestions. I was on vacation for a while and haven't been on the website until today. buyorsell888, funny that you mention the heron it appears that some kind of bird has resolved my problem. I am missing most of the brown ones, but unfortunately some of the color ones as well. I wrote another post earlier hoping to get suggestion on how to handle this. |
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