My new Comet Goldfish are changing colour?! pls help >.<?

Question

I got 2 new cute comet goldfish last week, and today i changed the water for them....however, when i finally released them back into the tank after I place in water and water conditioner, I realised that both of their white fins were turning black at the edge...Is it normal? I am really worry >.<

Answer 1

First let me state, even feeder comets the $.10 ones do not die quickly. They are actually very hearty and grow to over 7". I have fresh and salt tanks and outside ponds. I buy feeder comets for color. If you are patient enough to catch them, you can add wonderful colors to your outside ponds. I breed them for color there (ok and to feed my salt fish, sorry). I currently have 65 comets, most between 4-6". This spring, I will check to see how many babies survived the winter.

However your fish have probably gone thru shock, again. When you clean a fish tank, you do not remove all the water from the tank. You have now just destroyed all that you worked so hard to accomplish and put your fish at risk. When cleaning your tank, you only want to remove 20-25% of the water. NO MORE than that. Your conditioners, salt and water should be mixed in your 5 gallon bucket prior to putting it back into your tank. If you have a heater on your tank, turn it off. Comets like it cold. Anywhere from 57-70. (However they can withstand warmer and colder temps. Here is a web page that explains the Cycling process:
http://www.fishlore.com/FirstTankSetup.htm

DO NOT remove your fish from your tank. This creats undue stress on them and unless they are going into a quarantene tank, don't remove them.

Comets are known for changing colors for various reasons. Light, water quality, food and disease.

Don't automatically think they are sick because a fin is turning black. Here are a few possiable reasons:

Stress due to rapid fluxes in water - allow the tank to stabalize prior to doing a water change.
Poor water quality, nitrates ammonia levels are off. Test the water. If the nitrates or ammonia leves are spiking, do a 25% water change every day until they stableize.

Fin rot:
Fins that are badly torn or frayed for reasons other than fighting will usually indicate fin or tail rot. Fin or tail rot is a bacterial disease that usually attacks weak or minimally damaged fin edges. Once established, the bacterium consumes the fin as it works its way up toward the fish's body. This causes the fins to appear frayed or ragged or in severe cases nearly stubs. Frayed fins can also be a sign of water problems in which case the pH, ammonia, or nitrites are too high. You should check your water conditons before treating. The best prevention is to maintain accurate water conditions. Sometimes the salt level will be too high. This can cause the effects of fin-rot. Symptoms: The fish's tail or fins are ragged, frayed or appear to be shrinking or decaying. Goldfish may have red streaks in their veiltails. Treatment: It is best treated with an antibiotic. There will be one best suitable at your local pet store. Make sure it states that it treats Fin or Tail Rot. In some cases a secondary infection or fungus will appear. If this is the case, treat the fish for the fin rot and then proceed to the fungus problem.

Oodinium - A black velvety coating forms on the fin edges and the sides. With a magnifying glass, the individual dots are visible
Treat with copper sulfite

If the goldfish was once black and has turned orange or was once orange and is turning white or black it could be that the fish has been kept indoors and without full sunlight. (which would be the case if you had a tank in the house). The fish is suffering from pigment loss in the skin. Red Capped Orandas are famous for losing the red cap. Orange comets are famous for turning white and black. The key is as follows:

Water quality is great
Discolored areas are not raised compared to the other skin
Discolored areas are not depressed under the rest of the skin
Fish is acting good, eating normally, and fins are erect ( no hemorrhaging)

This is normal and your don't have to worry. Leave the tank light (or change the light in the tank).

Whenever you use any type of medication on your tropical fish, first remove any carbon in your filtration system. If left in, the carbon will remove the medication from the water, doing you no good. Read the directions on the medication bottle very carefully!

To sum up, first determine the cause of the freshwater fish disease, fix any obvious problem(s) (water quality problems and/or tank mates), figure out which disease your fish has by closely observing the symptoms and then treat if necessary.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Goldfish Comets

Answer 3

fish change color as they grow and also when they are stressed out like when being removed or added to a tank.
I hope by changing their water you do not mean a complete water change. oh and only after a week...

do a 25% water change every 2 weeks. Thats all they need. Make sure there is a filter. gold fish make alot of waste. They will need a larger tank as they grow. the general rule for goldfish is 5 gallons of water per inch of fish and you must account for their adult size.

Small comets, the cheap $0.50 ones are sold as feeders and more often then not die shortly after purchase, though i know of a person that has had thier comets for about 20 years.

I am not sure if you set your tank up properly, i mean buying large ammounts of feeder fish, letting them feed, create waste and die, to get the nitrogen cycle going so your tank is able to support life.

Answer 4

Are you kidding people? Comets aren't hardy fish. They produce so much ammonia that they kill themselves off in a small tank.

The black on the fins is healing from ammonia burns. Keep up the water changes and always test your aquarium for ammonia and nitrites so they don't get burned again.

Answer 5

Two weeks is too EARLY to change water. The bacteria needs time to grow to help the aquarium. Go to this link and get your info. I use them for my cats and fish. They are a great team of Vets. Highly recommended

http://www.drsfostersmith.com

Answer 6

This topic is worth more attention

Answer 7

its the food, does it have color enhancers?