fan tailed gold fish orange spots on fins

[dobra]

HI to any one reading this and thanks,
My daughter has some fan tailed gold fish and she says there are orange marks or spots on their fins. She only noticed after cleaning the tank out. she has not had them that long, ( since christmas ).
Has anyone had this before, if so please advise.
They are behaving as normal but if it is a disease i will have to get some thing for it.
Cheers, dobra.

 

[goldfish125girl]

Can you please give more info. There are a few possibilities that come to mind. Could you give us info on tank size, number and type of fish, ph, nitrie, ammonia, nitrate. What color is the fish? Is there any other oragne on the fish. Some younger fish will change color and it is perfectly normal. But it would not hurt to examine some other ideas if you could supply more info.

 

[dobra]

thanks for reply

the tank is only about 4 gallons
dont now the ph or nitrites level. it has been going for about 2 months now and she changes water every so often. would imagine the levels should be ok,ish and the filter up and running properly by now.
I just spoke to her again today and it is only one of her fish that is like this. I thought it was all 4 of them.
it is only the one that is all white but with an orange patch on its head. the orange spots and patches are only visible on its tail and when you are close to the tank but she does not think they were there before she cleaned the tank.
could it be that she had not noticed before,( i doubt it as she loves them and studies them a lot.) or could it be that it would be normal for more orange to appear seeming as it has orange already on it.
thanks again for your interest, I very much look forward to your reply.
thanks, dobra.

 

[goldfish125girl]

Ok my guess is it is just a younger fish changing color. I would highly suggest that she look into a bigger tank. Goldfish are really messy, and grow really large. I had had some of my babies grow to 8" in less than a year. It is true that goldfish grow to the size of the tank to some degree, but it does cause stunting and shortens the life span. Goldfish that are kept in two small of containers and live long enough will eventually have problems swimming. Also long term water conditions will be a problem. Have the water checked if the ammonia, and nitrite are not 0 and nitrate is not under 20 there is a problem. Please get it checked. In reality I would consider getting a bigger tank. The goldfish make great pets and love nice long lives. I have had figaro a fantail for 16 years. He was tiny when small, but has grown to 11". Not to give bad news, but I thought I would give you some info. At the very least I would have her change the water every 2 days. I have a 125 gallon and have to change water at 30% every week. And there are only 8 goldfish from 6-13" in there. They are messy, but are wonderful pets. Good luck and feel free to pm me if yu want to know more or need help.