Goldfish turned albino!

[SarahBravo]

I am currently babysitting my brothers kids and his 3 goldfish. They are in a suitably sized tank, heavily filtered, fed every couple of days or so (I know, but apart from buy him an automatic feeder I can't do everything!). All 3 appear bright eyed, alert, eat like pigs, no signs of aggression or illness. However one of them (a hunchback shaped one with 2 tails???) has turned from white and gold piebald into completely white since I last babysat a couple of weeks ago.

What could cause such a noticeable colour change? Could it be a disease? Do I need to put him in quarantine?

Any advice welcome!! Thanks!

Sarah

 

[black angel]

from your description it sounds like a ryukin, which have a noticeably high back.
fantail types change colour a lot through their life and if the main colour was white then i dont see anything wrong with the other colours fading out. but saying that there arent that many white ryukins going around, most are red and white. any chance of a pic?

 

[hellohefalump]

I wouldn't worry if everything else seems healthy. Goldfish, especially young ones do that. I have one that I got at an inch long who was pure orange. He's now totally white with orange lipstick and speckles on his fins. *i may be wrong* but I think I read somewhere that it's a genetic defect but it's harmless.

 

[STEVIE]

This happens in ponds too.Some of my fish have gone completely white while others stay coloured.
My baby goldfish,the pond survivors as a few escape being eaten every year,always start out black.For some reason there are still a few that are about 6 inches long but still black.Could this be the same thing in reverse?

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi sarah
I found this article which may put your mind at ease

A fairly common situation arises when fish literally change colour, either all over or just parts of the body. The most common situation is when previously coloured fish turn white. Fish skin colouring is a complex subject. Fish skin contains different types of pigment cells or chromatophores, which are under the control of the hormonal and nervous systems.
The most common causes are either nutritional deficiencies, so one could try a change of diet, water chemistry such as pH or hardness, or simply genetics.

In virtually all cases the fish appear perfectly healthy apart from the colour change and eat and swim normally. So apart from perhaps changing the diet and checking water parameters there is nothing that can be done to reverse the colour change.

As a thought, it might be a little upsetting if your goldfish becomes a whitefish, but pity the koi owner who has paid several hundred pounds (or dollars) because of the fish's perfect colours / pattern, simply to watch the colour and patterns disappear!!!!

HTH

 

[shockwave]

10 years ago I had a black moor goldfish. Throughout the years, it turned from black to pure white, and then from white to gold. It was amazing to see the colour changes.

 

[orientmatt]

I had that with one of my fantails. Bought it when it was young and totally black. Within a week had changed colour to gold.