Goldfish young still black!?

[Lisak1]

Yes, we have some goldfish that have stayed black for two full seasons. They get 4 or 5 inches long and then suddenly they turn orange.

 

[Faebinder]

I've had fish that turned orange 3 years later. I've had white that slowly turned part orange 3 years later.

More sun = more orange is my theory.

 

[schizm]

I have a question. As I understand, a shubunkin is 3 colors (i'm guessing orange, white and black). Is it possible that having a bunch of 2 colored goldfish (orange, orange and white and orange and black goldfish) in a pond together will eventually produce a 3 colored offspring?

 

[j.w]

I have had some goldfish that have started out all black and had some that have orange and black on them but they never stayed that way.
They always turned completely orange or white. I do have orange w/white that came that way and stayed the same but they are a certain breed. I don't know if there are any goldfish that stay w/black forever. I think you might need a Shubby in the mix to get the black to stay but I'm no expert, just my thoughts.

 

[schizm]

This gorgeous fella (I think) was hatched in Spring of 2018 and still has half its body and fins remaining black. I'm wondering if it may be possible that it would retain the black? I've never had one so far retain the black color for this long.

 

[bagsmom]

I have one from the same time frame that is solid black. He's decent sized, too. Probably 6 inches long. From what I've read, though, goldfish can change colors at any stage, for no apparent reason. Your fish are pretty!

 

[addy1]

I have a whole little herd of black and or greenish gold - gold fish. They swim together.

 

[Sofie]

Good morning!
We have some volunteer fish that have grown this summer to nearly the size of an adult man's thumb. Some of them have begun to show signs of the typical goldfish orange hues, but others are still black as coal.
Our fish are just comet and feeder fish mutts. Nothing special. What's the longest you folks have seen younguns keep their dark colors? I'm just surprised they haven't all turned yet.

We have a range of Shubunkins that take their time to change from black. Some change earlier than others. Our largest blacks are now 20 cm long and 2-3 years old. We've also found that if the water is warm for a longer summer, they change faster. We are also careful to add some new breeding stock to the pond every year and try to give away some of the existing fish, that mixes up the gene pools more.

 

[schizm]

I always seem to have a few hold outs that change from the black much later than the rest. eventually they do change though. I still have 4 from last year's brood that have not changed yet, the others (about 12 to 14) have all changed. I do see 2 of them that have 3 colors! a bit of white and black on the orange! The rest are either all orange, or orange with black or orange with white.

 

[addy1]

I have from tiny to big, a lot of them have beautiful fins, long and flowing. Some I don't think will ever change.

 

[addy1]

Here is one of the green goldfish ones

 

[Diverdave]

I just noticed tonight that I have a solid-black fish that grew out of this Spring's babies, which is about 3" long. I've never seen any all-black before now (except of course the babies under 1") so I'm hoping this one survives the Winter. The closest I've had before was one that was black except for an orange streak along its underbelly, but unfortunately it must have gotten picked off this Spring before I had a chance to get any size to it.

 

[Diverdave]

My pond family had 3 babies 3 years ago, two have turned to goldfish colour and the other one is still pitch black and about 5" long, I like it
David

 

[Sofie]

We have some over 9 inches long, still black and healthy. I'm told goldfish were once all black. Ours are shubunkins.

 

[Mmathis]

To @Diverdave and @Sofie — hello there and welcome to our group! We would like to get to know more about you….and your ponds! Please go over to our “introductions“ topic and tell us a little bit about yourselves! We love to see picture, too, if you have any to post. It’s interesting that you both popped up here today, responding to the same thread — and @Sofie, you were on this thread a year or so ago, so don’t be shy!