Color loss fancy goldfish?

CLee115823

dogman_or
Dec 27, 2005
3
0
0
73
Portland, Oregon
I have six fancy goldfish (3 inches each) in a 75 gal planted tank. Last summer I had an anchor worm infection and had to try 2 different commercial products to finally beat them over several weeks. The last product required I remove all the plants and change the water daily for several days. I also took out the carbon filter pad during this process and replaced it with a new one when done.
My poor fish developed a dark skum which finally wore off. Since then all the goldfish in the tank changed color: Black Moor (turned bronze) all the others lost all black pigment and a white ranchu lost it's red highlights.

New fish I have added to the tank months later also lose their color after a few weeks.
About a month ago I replaced the light but have not seen any change.

I feed a pellet food and suppliment occassionally with frozen brine shrimp (green algea enhanced). I also keep replacing certain plants they like to snack on. I keep the plant temp around 80, for the Otos which I also keep for algea control. I test water conditions with each weekly 20%-25% water changes.

Does anyone have any suggestions or can you point me to where this may have already been discussed?
 
I'm no expert in fish meds or anything, but maybe something in the meds you used had some kind of property that changed the color pigment. However, if you changed out everything in your tank after treatment, then it may be something in your water supply. You might want to call your local water authority to check if they recently added something. You could even call a reputable lfs, they would likely be affected as well, or they could at least give you some info on what could be going on. Glad your fish are okay after that infestation, good luck. ~Angela
 
Many goldfish change colors as they get older..and they can change, and change again. As long as you are properly caring for the water quality, your fish are probably just changing with age.
 
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