So....do people confuse Koi with smaller goldfish a lot or what?

Question

In the past few times I've been here in fish, I've seen a lot of people say that a Comet goldfish (aka common goldfish or the 12-30 cent feeders) and also fantails and veiltails can grow to 2 feet. As far as I know LARGE Comets are about 12 inches, but I've never heard of them reaching 2 feet. Koi on the other hand will grow to 2 feet and a bit larger in some cases. Veiltails are usually about 10 inches when full grown, and fantails reach only about 6 inches. I could see how people could make this mistake since goldfish descend from Koi (aka Carp), but they're giving out information that might make some people go out and buy expensive equipment that they actually don't need to buy. A fantail can be kept in one of those 6 gallon starter kits with no problems since most of them only reach 4 inches anyways. I'm not saying that it's ok to keep them in goldfish bowls for long (I actually use those for my bettas), but keeping one in a bowl for a few months until you can get a proper tank is fine! So I was just wondering, are some people confused about this, or am I wrong, or what?

Answer 1

to make it simple koi got barbels comets and common goldfish got non and a comet got a distinction from a common goldfish they are different and shubunkins.  The Comet Goldfish is much like the common goldfish, but is a more reddish orange color and has a much longer, deeper forked tail fin!

and you don't need to be expert to identify them for a nebie in fish keeping its natural that you will be misinformed.

kOi keeper & goldfish keeper

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/world...

http://www.geocities.com/koiphilippines/...

Answer 2

To the average joe, they may not know the difference but to the trained fish expert, it will not be difficult for them to distinguish the two coldwater fish.

Answer 3

I just can't confuse the two, but perhaps other people could. I believe that koi have a very distinctive look. So many of their features are different from goldfish. Very good question. To me, they look nothing alike. I love koi a lot. :) I think they're a wonderful type of fish.