Goldfish changing colour

[ellebea]

Hi all, I'm still an amateur but learning! Last year I noticed my very bright goldfish turned completely black over the course of a week so. He was the only one out of 6. I googled like mad ammonia burns and immediately set to fixing the problem although on testing the water it was only marginally high for ammonia. Anyway I know now to check often and what to do to fix things. Back to the goldfish, he's never really recovered although some areas of him are showing his previous colour he is still more or less a blue black. Will he ever get his gold back?

 

[Lisak1]

Hmmm... color changing isn't really all that uncommon in goldfish. Many start out black or green-black and then slowly change to orange. I have has some that change from orange to white and orange or even all white. But I've never heard color changes as a warning sign for ammonia. Generally ammonia can cause red streaks the body, tail or gills, but I've never heard overall color change. I'd not worry about it too much - if he's meant to change back he will.

 

[WaterGardener]

It's unusual for a goldfish to turn back to its original black coloring. And yes, black can be a sign of healing ammonia burns.

Ammonia should always be zero, no more. Since you did have a problem with that, it's possible that the black could be from ammonia, but normally the fish wouldn't be completely black, only spots or areas of the fish. The burns would have to be pretty extensive for the entire fish to change back to black

If the ammonia issue has been completely corrected, I would think that eventually the fish will return to it's normal color, but that's just a guess.

It's also possible that this could be a normal, but unusual, color change. It may or may not be permanent.

 

[ellebea]

Well he started out with burns on his tail and fins but did turn coal black from a bright yellow gold inside of days and it's only now there's some colour showing through (a year later!) One or two of the others did have black appearing on the tails but started to heal as soon as the water was fixed. I thought it might have been something to do with the fact that he liked to hide inside a plant pot so maybe the ammonia was more concentrated there. He's very happy though!

 

[WaterGardener]

That does sound like ammonia burns. I'm surprised he survived that.

Maybe with time, and now healthy water, he will be able to return to his yellow coloring.

 

[ellebea]

That does sound like ammonia burns. I'm surprised he survived that.

Maybe with time, and now healthy water, he will be able to return to his yellow coloring.

Well I will never let it get like that again and yes, I was surprised he survived it which is why I thought his colour change might be the product of something else. Thanks for your help