Silver goldfish turning orange?

[GodOfFood]

I got 2 goldfish from my neighbors maybe a month ago. They had ammonia burns so ive been doing water changes near daily. One of the fish, Kaneki, was totally silver but after changing his food and all the water changes he has started to get orange. He has an orange spot on his side, his mouth is slightly orange and the part of his fins closest to his body is orange too. Could this be an ilness or a result of new food? He is about 5 years old from what my neighbors say so i dont know if he is changing colors or something else. I am feeding him omega one small sinking goldfish pellets, i added a picture of it below. The picture where i am holding him is from when i first got them and was doing my best to get pictures to post on another thread.

 

[foxgirl158]

I'm nowhere near an expert, but maybe the fish is coming into his true color now that he is in better conditions? How large is the tank and what are your parameters?

 

[Colin_T]

Don't worry about it, just let him be. Goldfish can change colour a bit when mature but they normally do it in the first 3-6 months of their life.

 

[Guest14017]

Aww it's nice to see these little ones doing well. You did a good thing by taking them. That tank is small so I would remove the ornament so they can have max space. The color change is normal.

 

[Naughts]

A five year old common goldfish should be about 9" long. The neighbours must be mistaken?

 

[foxgirl158]

A five year old common goldfish should be about 9" long. The neighbours must be mistaken?

I'm assuming that the neighbor didn't take very good care of the fish, considering the fact that they A: gave the fish to OP and B: they had ammonia burns. Perhaps the fish was stunted in growth?

 

[Naughts]

Wouldn't that have killed it by now? 5 years never growing more than a 6 month old?

 

[foxgirl158]

Wouldn't that have killed it by now? 5 years never growing more than a 6 month old?

Not necessarily I don't think. I saw a post on here that a fish wouldn't grow past the size that they grew in the original owners tank because it was too small and it was still alive. Granted, it had all sorts of heath issues because it was another case of "my neighbor gave me this poorly taken care of fish", but

none of them were necessarily due to it being stunted.

 

[Guest14017]

It is a myth that stunted or small fish are unhealthy fish. I keep hearing it and yet nobody can prove it because it simply isn't true. It is a myth that their internal organs keep growing and kill them. All of the oldest goldfish ever recorded were tiny runts like these - look it up and see. It is very fascinating. So many people I have run into have very small but very OLD goldfish that have been fed tiny amounts and kept in tiny tanks. Is it ideal? No. Do many of the fish survive like that? Yes! I have several smaller fancy goldfish that are many years old as well. These little ones will not grow at this point much but they could live many more years without trouble.

 

[Naughts]

I looked it up, there was anecdotal material, it was interesting and depressing at the same time. Inadequate space to exercise, high nitrate, excess growth inhibitor hormone, malnutrition...
I struggled to find scientific info but did spot this

Stunted growth means stunted lives — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Here's hoping @GodOfFood' s fish have quality lives now

 

[Guest14017]

No proven science in that article - just the same myths I just mentioned. The article tries to claim that goldfish generally live to 30-40 years when cared for properly and as such would be a "normal" size (whatever that is). The oldest goldfish actually recorded were near those ages and were stunted in the way these in the thread are. People are going to believe what they want to, but the size of a goldfish frankly has nothing to do with its age much of the time. Period.

 

[Colin_T]

The fish's size will vary depending on water volume, surface area, and food.
If the fish isn't fed well it won't grow rapidly or to maximum size.
If the fish is in a small body of water, it won't reach full size.
If the water is not good, the fish won't grow to full size.