colour change

[DanG]

Hiya, i am new to this forum, justr joined becuse i basically wanted to ask why my goldfish have changed colour?
Is it maybe something i am feeding them?
I bought them in March for 50p each from a pet shop, they havnt grown or anything since then. I bought one which was orange all over but had black on fins and tail. The other was a dark silver colour. Its now more whitishorangy with slightly darker fin and tail. the other thing is the one that used to be silver has a dark tail but it has a white spot on it that appeared one day. Hope this isnt a skin disease or anything. Theres nothing in his bowl he could hurt himself on.

Any help greatly apreciated

 

[Chasing Puck]

Goldfish will often change color as they mature. Nothing to be alarmed about, unless changes in eating, behavior, also occur.

What size setup are they in?

 

[DanG]

not in a huge tank or anything, just in a HUGE cylindral vase from ikea, its got blue smooth glass beads at the bottom and some kind of pond plant to ensure that they have enough oxygen. they are feed with fish flakes as well. it says on the food to feed a pinch 2-3 times daily. i thought this sounded quite a lot. So i feed them a few flakes every few hours. is this right?
I figured they were little so had little bellys so feeding so much at once would just be to much for them

 

[Chasing Puck]

Keep in mind that goldfish create a lot of waste. Even in big tanks, it requires a lot of filtration to prevent waste levels from getting too high. Most people recommend at least 5 gallons per inch of fish--meaning one 2 inch fish needs at least 10 gallons of water. The small size of the container is probably why they havent' grown--they are being stunted. Long term, if you want them to thrive, I highly encourage getting a large aqarium for them, with good filtration.

As for feeding--juvenile fish will beenfit from several small meals each day. This has to be balanced with the amount of waste being produced, though, so make sure there is never any food that falls to the bottom where they can't get to it. Adult fish are a bit different--most do not need to be fed daily. On the tanks with adult fish, I feed every other day--and sometimes less than that. All the fish are healthy and most breed--the lighter feeding increases the water quality as well.

 

[The-Wolf]

pretty much agree with what has been said before
however when goldfish are kept in tanks I would only feed once every
two days that way all food is consumed and digested fully. over feeding,
apart from the bioload produced, can also lead to death.

just to re-iterate
20 gallons for the first goldfish and 10 for each additional one
ergo 2 goldfish need 30 gallons min.
please read and digest This