do goldfish change color with age?

[talal101]

hello,
i remember a few years ago i had a brown and orange goldfish that changed into a solid orange goldfish as it grew, a couple days ago i went to the petshop and bough 5 feeder goldfish to add to the group and just so happened to end up with a very gorgeous goldfish that had all orange fins and an orange mouth and a solid white body...he is only about an inch and a half including tail so im worried that with age he may lose the color and either become solid white or solid orange, i have never seen a goldfish like this in person or on the enternet so i was really happy when i found him/her. is it possible that he may change with age?, and also assuming he is under ideal conditions how long should it be before he grows to be 8-12 inches?
thanks
:banana::fish2::lol:

 

[fishin4cars]

Tatal, It's very likely it will change colors. Diet, water conditions, water temps. light, who really knows what makes them change. Even larger goldfish will change colors but the smaller they are the more likely it will change over time. Black coloring is the most unstable color, followed by, blues, whites, and finally orange. Common goldfish are born a tea color brown, this color is the most stable and very seldom change back to oranges or multi color when they are born that color. As for growth, again, it all depends on ideal conditions, genetics, etc. I have some that I have had for over four years that are just getting to the 6-7" size. Goldfish should be mature within two years but will continue to grow for years after. Use caution buying feeder fish. These fish usually come from stock tanks with very crowded conditions, they are shipped in great numbers for the purpose of feeding other fish. By far these are the most susceptible to diseases and infections. I highly recommend separating them and monitoring them for three to four weeks before introducing them to the rest of your pond.

 

[DrDave]

UV causes colors to come out and therefore change.

 

[fishin4cars]

UV causes colors to come out and therefore change.

I've wondered about that. It seems that on the Koi the sumi really forms better in the fall and cooler months, and the Beni/reds and oranges seem to show more in the spring and fall. I thought it might be temp. related but UV would make perfect sense. Learned me somtin new today!

 

[DrDave]

Every spawn, I leave some in the outdoor nursery and most indoors. The indoors ones stay a nuetral color for many months. The outside ones that get UV start gaining colors within the first 6 weeks. This year I may have all of them in the new nursery since the aquariums take up too much time to maintain. My nursery is plumbed into the main ponds bio filter and has constant water turnover.

 

[talal101]

thanks guys. i will keep your great advice in mind...i hope he does stay the same because he is really really gorgeous, but i honestly think that he may stay the same because the colors are solid and are most stable, i have never seen an ornage or a white one change color so im assuming he may stay the same but only time will tell

 

[j.w]

I have some orange and white goldies that have stayed the same and are quite pretty.
Here's one:

This one has a white nose:

I have a couple that are all whitish or fleshy colored too:

 

[talal101]

wow those are really nice goldfish, i love that one with the white nose he/she is just beautiful, and i have been meaning to get a couple long flowy finned white ones into the mix for some time now, maybe on my next visit to the petstore because i have been meaning to get some for a while now.

 

[shakaho]

Orange and white is pretty stable. Your fish may well keep the current pattern. The most likely change is to lose orange.

 

[talal101]

Yeah that's what I thought too, orange is most stable and second is white I would love for him to stay the same but if he changed I would be happy with him turning solid white too so that's a positive side so thanks for reminding me of that!

 

[CometKeith]

Hey, talal. i agree with fishin 100%. Feeder fish are much more likely to carry disease. They are brought up in very stressful conditions. One fish that is diseased can affect all your other fish. The only sure way to know they are ok is to put them in a quarantine tank for 3 weeks. Buying the more expensive fish you are much more likely to get a healthy fish.

 

[stroppy]

surely all goldfish fry are brown to start then turn orange or whatever color there going to be ?..thats what mine always do ...jw the fleshy one is called an albino i think, does it have red eyes ?i use to have two in my pond ...they stared off orange and after a year or two changed

 

[shakaho]

The "feeder" goldfish at our local Petsmarts come in in beautiful condition. They go downhill rapidly because of bad water from overcrowding. Of course I quarantine all new fish, but I have never had a health problem with any of the fish I picked out of the $.13 or $.28 tanks. That is not the case with the goldfish that cost multiple dollars. Most of those look sick or at least stressed in the store. Of the seven I have bought from the expensive tanks, all of which looked perfectly healthy, two died, and two others had problems that appeared during quarantine.

Paying more for fish doesn't mean they will be disease free. Quarantine is still necessary.

 

[j.w]

The color thing is really baffling as I have 6 - 8 inchers that are still brown and then I have this little tiny one that is oj and white since I first seen it in the pond. Some things we will never know why it happens I guess :bouncycig:

 

[fishin4cars]

The "feeder" goldfish at our local Petsmarts come in in beautiful condition. They go downhill rapidly because of bad water from overcrowding. Of course I quarantine all new fish, but I have never had a health problem with any of the fish I picked out of the $.13 or $.28 tanks. That is not the case with the goldfish that cost multiple dollars. Most of those look sick or at least stressed in the store. Of the seven I have bought from the expensive tanks, all of which looked perfectly healthy, two died, and two others had problems that appeared during quarantine.

Paying more for fish doesn't mean they will be disease free. Quarantine is still necessary.

AMEN! Your 100% correct. I've bought the 10/$1.00 and had all ten grow up to be beautiful fish, spent hundreds of dollars on one and it arrived sick. Money spent does not mean if the fish is healthy or not. The problem with feeder fish is from birth to the time they arrive to be sold they are in crowded conditions. In must cases somewhere along the line they usually get placed in inadequate holding tanks. Not to say they were sick when they arrived, but If you look at petsmart, Petco, and most chain pet stores for example, look and see if they use a system that filters water thru all their tanks into one filter. (All the Goldfish on one system, all the africans cichlids on one system, all the south Americans on one system etc.) This is where a big issue usually starts, the expensive fish come in, one may be sick, the Massive load of feeders come in, Lots of ammonia, and waste in the bag. the store employee dumps the load in the feeder tank. Well, you guessed it that one fish that started off sick now has all the feeders sick, the expensive fish sick and the cycle is underway. (This is the primary reason to quarantine, You the hobbyist can't know for sure if it has or has not been exposed.)
On the changing colors, I would guess that maybe 10-20% of goldfish change color in their lifetime, Shubunkins and multicolored fish are going to change the most. Black,& blue are the least stable, 95% of the time a red and white will stay red and white but the pattern may change slightly. Orange and black, 95% of the time will change during their life. usually loosing the black to some degree. The thing I must say is if it does sit back and enjoy the amazing changes, you can't stop it and many times over, the change will somehow turn out even better than you ever expected.