red cap oranda development

[sweetsuvvyb]

hey all!

As some of you maybe read already, I recently moved my goldfish out of their tiny novelty tank to a lovely 10 gallon home. i've had the fish since march, and they seem to be growing like crazy.

I am wondering about my red cap oranda, though. It appears that he (she?) is starting to develop his cap, but somehow all the red color has faded! Is this a normal part of the cap growing process? Could it have to do with the less than ideal water conditions before the tank had cycled (there was a good week of high nitrite levels).

I feed them tetrafin flakes in conjunction with tetra colorfin pellets.

Any thoughts would be appreciated...thank you!

 

[Allivymar]

Apparently most if not all goldies and their close cousins will lose color without light exposure.

I took this quote from goldfishinfo.com:

"Color Changes- If the goldfish was once black and has turned orange or was once orange and is turning white 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. 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 and white ( no hemorrhaging) "

Long as there are no other symptoms/water problems, this describes your guy almost to a T!

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

awesome.

i'm happy with a slightly pinkish capped oranda, as long as he's happy + healthy!

thanks so much