just a question i have about goldfish i got in the house

[xxxgotchipsxxx]

maybe u can help me out on this... last year the biggest goldfish i had in my 30gal tank turned white/ plat ...  he got so big i put him in the pond(he was 5inches now he is a shiny white, and he is about 8" now)... and now the new biggest goldfish also turned all white/plat ...i noticed him change alot in the past 2 weeks  why is this happening ? .. i like the white color over the orange/red  but i just dont know y this is happening ... the water checks out fine.. i got a filter on the tank thats for a 60 gal tank..   ( i got my new baby koi in a seperate tank)and im going to be posting a new topic talking about them shortly also... well i hope u can help a new ponder    hopefully in a coupla years i can answer ?s like this    

[Reedman]

I have had a few goldfish turn white.  One explanation could be that the fish must have been stressed in some way.

[Kay]

Goldfish go white for a number of reasons, it can be age, stress, genetic reasons, lack of vitamin d and sickness.
Lack of sunlight will lighten their color as well but over time mine turn more white and lose any black. In a Moor it will turn orange most of the time with age.
Kay

[miguynmkoi]

I have a few "original" goldfish/sarasa I put into my pond about 10+ years ago, who were all very red.  A few years ago with only 3 originals left, two of them quickly turned white with pink undertones.  One is a very heavy producer of babies and is more beautiful than ever in her white suit.  I hope it wasn't stress that brought on this change.  Anyhow these guys are behaving normally and eating well and living the good life. 

[xxxgotchipsxxx]

i dont believe it is stress, and yes i think it looks better white ..  it took about 2months for it to become all white tho

[PHYLAL]

Goldfish tend to change color.  Most change during the first year of life, but others change throughout their lifetimes.  Inexpensive goldfish change in unpredictable ways because their parentage is uncertain and their color genes represent a random mix.  Expensive "purebred" goldfish should exhibit significantly more predictable changes, achieving similar coloration of their parents as they mature.  But be warned: If you purchase young (under a year or so), high-quality goldfish you cannot be certain that the colors you see are the colors you'll end up with a year later. 

The single most important determinant of goldfish coloring is genes.  What they inherit from mom and dad makes all the difference.

And keep this in mind always: Goldfish are not supposed to be “gold”, or any other color for that matter (they are a drab olive naturally).

 [Sorry if this gets quite technical]

While we know how a goldfish changes color, no one has defined “why” a goldfish changes color.  Scientists have identified two types of color changes in fish: physiological and morphological.  Physiological color changes are due to the spreading out or aggregation of chromatosomes.  When the chromatosomes are spread throughout the cell, the color is more pronounced to the naked eye.  However, when the chromatosomes aggregate in the center of the cell, the color is muted or not visible.  Morphological color changes, on the other hand, are due to a change in the number of chromatophores.  So a fish that loses a number of melanophores will appear lighter, and a fish that gains melanophores will appear darker.   Physiological color changes can become morphological color changes over time.  For example, a fish that is kept in a tank with a dark background and dark rocks will become darker, initially because of movement of melanosomes in the already existing melanophores.  However, if enough time goes buy, the fish will start to produce more melanophores and then the color change is considered morphological.