ID this Fish please?!

RealManny

Okay guys,

So I recently bought a nice big tank for dirt cheap on craiglist. It came with fish and a bunch of other stuff, really a good deal. On the way out from the guy's house where I picked up the aquarium he mentions to me that there's a fish that will be worth a lot of money in the future. Well, I think its a Koi of some sort. However, I am fairly new to this and I really just want to know if I have something special or was this guy just talking.

Thanks!

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jaysee

It's a Koi alright, but I can't tell you if it's special or not.

1077

Look's like bait to me, Just kiddin.
Does appear to be Koi of some type.

ZivaD

How big is the "nice big tank"? It looks like there are at least five fish (just counting from the pics), so hopefully you haven't gotten yourself a situation where you are overstocked already.

thekoimaiden

It is a Koi. The barbels are a dead giveaway. What makes Koi so expensive are the markings, their size, and their bloodlines. The markings are nothing special. It will need a MUCH larger tank to approach a size where it will be expensive (2+ ft). And since no paperwork comes with the fish, there is no way to trace its bloodline. Unless you can provide it with a 1000+ gal pond you just have a regular Koi on your hands.

Which brings me to my other point: it WILL need a larger tank. I overwintered 5 Koi in a 55 gal tank, but I had a pond for them in the spring. Koi are not fish to be kept in normal fish tanks. They were bred for ponds and just get too large for a normal aquarium. I highly suggest finding a new home for that Koi.

RealManny

Okay, thanks for the info. It's a 70 gal tank with a couple of Goldfish and two Koi. It came WAY overstocked. I felt so bad for them but the previous owner was convinced since they were alive, they were fine. I went yesterday to a local store who said they would give me some credit if I brought them in. I was just a bit hesitant because I began to doubt myself and wonder if perhaps this fish was actually worth something and I would get ripped off.

Unfortunately, I don't have any paperwork or the proper environment for the Koi to develop into anything significant. So I'll be taking it to Pet World later today. Thanks again for the help!