Why has my gold fish changed colour.

[sherbert]

My orange gold fish is turning white. It has been happening over the past few months. He has very little colour left on him. Any one know why this happens?

Fear

white spot? put some salt in the tank. otherwise you might have to get a treatment

I'd ask at your local fisharies before you put salt in the tank. Maybe its just old age!?

not a white spot, he/she has gone almost completly white, whereas before he was completly orange.

Not a scaredyfish either, he is bullies the black more.
had him for about 1year, how long are goldfish meant to live for?

white spot can grow into eachother though. did he go white on a few areas first? re the salt - not if hes in with other fish. i thought he was maybe in a bowl himself.

yes he did, other fish is a black more and is fine and still black.

if its a skin condition you should seperate them until you get it cleared as the black moor could get it too. ask in your local pet shop about a treatment. shouldnt be too expensive.

my DD's fish did this too. It was orange now its mostly white. Someone in a pet shop told her they did this as they ages

How old is it? They do change with age. Often start black as babies, then turn orange/gold, then get paler and can go white.

Mine's like that he's just old, nearly 4. There's nowt wrong with him he just has a 'receding gold line' as I like to put it. I've been waiting for the little sod to die for ages as he bullies anything else in the tank with him and has murdered 4 other fish as well as throwing himself out of a bowl onto kitchen counter when I was cleaning tank before now (I mercifully was in the kitchen to throw him back in the water)

Don't worry

I don't have goldfish, but I do have a very large orange parrotfish and she goes pale, either white or pink when she is stressed. So in our case it usually means that it is time to do a water change.
It def doesn't sound like white spot - that appears as white spots that almost look like grains of salt on their scales.

The orange gold fish died and your children were scared to tell you knowing how upset you'd be so they saved their money up and went and bought a new fish but forgot the colour of the old one on the way, hence the colour change. Sorry to break the news and sorry for your loss.

pmsl