Uhh...should goldfish be changing color?

[sweetzoo]

So about 8 months ago my sister and I, on a whim, bought three goldfish from Petsmart. We'd had fish for years and kinda missed them.

Anyways, we had Lamb Chop, Marianne, and Tyrone. Lamb Chop went bye bye while I was at camp, and Marianne died not too long after that. And then there was one.

Tyrone seems to be doing fine, except for one strange thing - he keeps changing color. He started off a silvery color, then went gold for a while. For a few months he was right in the middle of the two colors, and now he's silver again! We change his tank water and feed him regularly. I don't know why he's changing color - anyone care to enlighten me?

[Irish_Lass]

I can't tell you why its happening BUT my mum has a few gold fish and they've changed colours over the years but appetite, mood etc. remained the same. They're still living and happy as can be....because of that we assume its nothing detrimental.

[sweetzoo]

okay, that's good to know! At first I thought someone had switched fish, but NOO Tyrone is just weird.

[Irish_Lass]

Fish are tricky wee devils to look after, they like to keep us guessing. :-)

[unimpossible]

I had gold fish for years. Never experienced this. Yours are just little super stars I guess.

[deepalisnis]

This is really good information....Gold fish change color depending on their mood. Its like happy or sad. If water is clean then goldfish natural color will fully appear. Camouflage is another way of changing colors if fish try to hide. But i know goldfish rarely hide.

[chuckwallace]

I just got fish so thats good to know. I dont want to accuse my family of having switched fish.