fish getting spots?
 

My gold fish ( they were labelled feeder fish at the fish store) are all getting black spots,they were all gold before.
Any ideas on what might be the cause?

a little background I got them last June, they were outside in the summer but have been inside since fall.

A picture would be helpful.

Where do you keep them now. How big a pond or aquarium, how many fish, how often do you do water changes, do you dechlorinate the water before you add in with the fish, what kind of filtration, have you tested the water for amonia, nitrates, nitrites, gh, kh and PH.
Water temperature, have you added any fish or plants lately and were they quarantined beforehand.

Answer as many of the questions you can.

Cindy

[QUOTE=clm;416212]A picture would be helpful.

Where do you keep them now. How big a pond or aquarium, how many fish, how often do you do water changes, do you dechlorinate the water before you add in with the fish, what kind of filtration, have you tested the water for amonia, nitrates, nitrites, gh, kh and PH.
Water temperature, have you added any fish or plants lately and were they quarantined beforehand.

Answer as many of the questions you can.

Cindy[/QUOTE]

They are still in a big planter (it was a water feature in my garden) with a pump. It's about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide.

they are in the dinning room (have been there since fall)

It's so heavy and big that I have only done monthly water changes, but I use a fish aquairium water cleaner (supposed to clean the water and break down waste)

Yes I declorinate the tap water when I change the water

I have not tested the water

I don;t know the temp, room temp I would guess.

No new fish and no plants.

I have 7 fish, the larges being about about 2 inches long.

And thak you so much for your response:)

Hi there,
well a couple things of mention here.
First, its perfectly normal for goldfish to change color.
Solid gold individuals often end up as marbles, and so go
nearly all black.

Second, 1 time monthly water changes is not sufficient.
In a pond, if there is no filter and no water exchange,
you need to do water changes just like on a tank.
With goldfish, its recommend a minimum of 30 gallons for the
first fish, and 10 gallons per additional fish.
Feeder goldfish are often "Common" goldfish, and you may not
realize that these fish can reach a potential 18 inches in length,
with 10-12 being most common. To keep 7 at maturity you will
need an aquarium or pond of at least 90 gallons.
A 90g tank will be 5 feet long and 18 inches wide minimum,
you should consider a pond for these fish at least 5-6 foot
in diameter, and at least 2-3 feet deep.
Water changes on a goldfish aquarium or container pond,
espescially if its too small, need to be a minimum of 25%
twice a week or 50% once a week.
If the aquarium or pond is double sized (so you had 180g),
then you could do 50% every second week.
Once a month is definitely not sufficient.

Anyway, My guess is your goldfish are growing and changing
color naturally. They would grow much much faster and be much
healthier if you change the water more often.

The fish aquarium cleaner your using, probably Waste Control,
is pretty much bunk. Nothing, no man made product, can
get rid of poop in a pond/aquarium. Save your money, and do
more water changes. Those products are unsafe to use in the long
run, often cause tank crashes, and are really a waste of money.
No product can replace water changes, Im sorry to say.

If you have trouble doing water changes, buy a Python.
They come in up to a 150 foot length, with 25 foot add on tubes
available. They cost about 50 dollars, and hook up to your
household tap. They drain and fill water.
I have one and I change 50% of the water on my 75, 10, 25, and 5g
tanks and fill them up in less than 1 hours time, making once or twice weekly
water changes a breeze.

Sneaky you are definately a fish guru! A wealth of knowledge!:thumbs up

The fish expert of pets.ca:)

I will change the water tomorrow! and be more dilligent about doing it more often:o

It's strange because they all started getting spots at the same time.

These fish were dumped on me, a babysitter bought them for my son (10 in all) and put them in my water feature, neeldess to say I was not pleased nor prepared to have these new additions when I returned home and saw them.

I will do my best to take better care of them.

Again, thank you for all the great advise!

Ah thats nice of the babysitter isnt it!

Yeah I bet they are probably just changing color with age.
If their behaviour is nice and normal, theyre swimmin and happy
to see food and such, then they are probably happy and
healthy!

I plan to get myself a container pond this summer.
I was debating goldfish, but I have decided to go with
something more unusual - maybe killifish or mosquitofish,
or even wh ite cloud mountain minnows.

I would love to see a picture of your small water garden,
it would be awesome to get some ideas.

Do you have plants in there? What kind?
So far all ive got planned for my garden is a dwarf water lily lol

[QUOTE=Sneaky;416702]Ah thats nice of the babysitter isnt it!

Yeah I bet they are probably just changing color with age.
If their behaviour is nice and normal, theyre swimmin and happy
to see food and such, then they are probably happy and
healthy!

I plan to get myself a container pond this summer.
I was debating goldfish, but I have decided to go with
something more unusual - maybe killifish or mosquitofish,
or even wh ite cloud mountain minnows.

I would love to see a picture of your small water garden,
it would be awesome to get some ideas.

Do you have plants in there? What kind?
So far all ive got planned for my garden is a dwarf water lily lol[/QUOTE]

LOL I will have to get pics it's not much really (especially sitting in my dining room!!) My DH actually made it for me, it's a huge planter, with a pump (like the old fashoined style) with water running.

As for plants, I don't have any yet, but we have a great garden centre with a huge section dedicated to water gardens so I'll have to go shopping!

I would love to build a huge water feature with a rock water fall one day in the corner of my yard, there is a hill at there so the rock water fall would look awsome in that location! then I would get all the water plants (flowering ones would be nivce).

My uncle has a little pond with gold fish, and actually has a pair of ducks as well as a heron (trying to get the fish) who visit often and he is in the middle of the city! I would love to be able to attract water fowl like that.

I would love to see pic's your pond, when you get it!