babies

Question
My pond is two week old.  I have had gold fish in there for ten days and Koi for a week. the koi are only 4-5 inches. I see no frogs but tonight found what looks like very tiny 1-2 mm  tadpoles. Are these koi or gold fish?

Answer
Since your pond is newly set up, I suspect they might be mosquito larvae.  Do you know what they look like?  If they're mosquito larvae, the fish will soon find and eat them.  If they're not, then maybe they're tadpoles even if you didn't see frogs.  It's not very likely that the new fish would spawn in the week they've been there.  Koi normally don't spawn until they're over a foot long.  Goldfish can spawn at 3 inches or larger.  How big are the goldfish?  It can take almost a week for goldfish and koi eggs to hatch as well.  With the stress of a new home, it's doubtful the fish would have spawned already but not impossible (for the goldfish anyway).  Once unfurled, a newborn goldfish or koi is going to be about 3 mm long and mostly clear.  They hang around on the bottom for a week or so before darting on the surface.  Tadpoles look like commas when born and are larger than fish fry for most species.  Mosquito larvae hang at the surface and will dart when disturbed.  Good luck with your pond!

Robyn
fishpondinfo.com