comets losing red scales for golden ones.

[amitnarain]

hello. i have noticed that my two comets are losing their red-orange scales and that new golden-yellow ones are growing.

is that normal?

[TankGirl]

Yes, it is normal for comets to change color as they age. As long as the new scales are healthy looking there should be no cause for alarm.

[Devilishturtles]

I agree. Completley normal. They may even turn again, to a different color.

[amitnarain]

ok thanks.

what do i have to do for my fish to get a specific colour?
e.g. bright red instead of orange or yellow. food? temperature?

or is it simply uncontrolable?

[TankGirl]

I believe it is purely genetic and you don't have control over it. It can be frustrating when you select a fish for its coloration, and it winds up looking completely different.

[amitnarain]

ok.

thats alright.

[frenchpea2002]

yeah, I had a shubunkin that was gorgeous, but now it is all white. One of my comets is now also loosing the orange (he was black and orange, turned to white and orange) and is almost all white! I was a bit dissapointed, but I am coming to like their new colors.

[RogerMcAllen]

There are a few things you can do to try to alter color a bit. The should be foods out there that will bring out the reds better, things with betta carotine are usually pretty good at bringing out orange. Another thing to try is altering the amount of sunlight the fish receives. In my experience sunlight has always brought out much brigher oranges in all colors of fish.

[TankGirl]

That is very true about the sunlight - and I had forgotten completely about this. Very good info.

I have a friend who keeps comets indoors in his basement winter pond, then moves them to the outside pond for the summer, and they color up dramatically once outside.