- i have a two year old shubunkin, and suddenly now it's black spots have disappeared. What and why did this happen, and will they return ? Can anyone explain or help . Thanks .

many goldfish(which a shubunkin is just a variety of goldfish) will lose their black after a while, they may also lose their gold and end up solid white. i havent heard of them coming back. shouldnt be a health problem either, it just happens.

yah, i agree with that.

Black isn't really a dominant gene in goldfish. It seems like all the black goldfish I ever had dies befoer the others & the ones that had black w/other colors lost their black after awhile. You may end up with orange & white fish. Otr all white like rg2727 said.

Goldfish change color throughout their lives but shubunkins are usually the most stable of goldfish as far as color goes. As Val said, black is not a very stable color on goldfish either. Shubunkin black may turn more blue or gray over time too.

. Here are the before and after photo's, of losing the black spots . The spots disappeared recently and suddenly .

.Oct. 2003

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.Sept. 2005

.

wow

The shunbukin does look a little washed out but I think the color change was natural and not dangerous to his/her health. I've read that in koi, they have deep colors and shallow colors or something. Black shallow colors I think often disappear. The shubunkin may have had that.

Black in goldfish is koi is often affected by water temp the coller the water the better the summi(black) shows up

I have to agree with that water temperature opinion to a point. I know that since it's been getting colder my shubunkins "black" has really gotten prominent. My local pond store said that will happen. I just moved them into an inside tank where the temp sits at room temp (around 70-ish, and yes I acclimated them for about 6 hours, they were in 50 degree water outside). We'll see what happens with the color.

I also understand that shubunkins and some other fish have 2 color locations, the scales and the skin. Scale color can change over the life of the fish, skin color usually does not. To see what I mean, have a look at a "sky blue" shubunkin. They aren't really blue, they in fact have silver scales over black skin that makes them appear an odd opaque blue. There's also nothing special about them, they are normal shubunkins. Stores and breeders just separate the ones that show this trait over most of their body from the more typical ones so they can give them a different name and charge more for them. pfft! <_< Anyway, if scale color can change and the fish doesn't have black skin under it, then the black can simply go away with the scale color change.

It it were my fish though, I'd keep an eye on it. Color change can often be a sign of stress which can be brought on by any number of factors. If the fish starts exhibiting any other odd behavior or symptoms I'd start checking water conditions and closely checking the fish itself for what may be the cause.

- I've heard of "ammonia burns"? With the tank cleaning and big water change, could this have caused my shubunkin to lose his black markings ? Will they reappear as the water conditions balance ?

Ammonia will burn/damage the gills. I've not heard of it burning the body but I guess it could in high enough doses. Poor water quality from ammonia and other things could certainly cause the fish to "wash out" but the fish would regain its color once put into good water quality and given time to recover.

one of my goldfish in with the turtle had his tail nipped at and shortened either by the urtles or the bigger goldfish who chases the others. anyways the tail is starting to grow back and a portion of it is black. none of his original tail was black so ill keep an eye it to see if it fades or anything.