Is it bad when goldfish lose their scales?

Answer 1

It has gillrot. You can buy a bottle of medicine at the pet store to solve this problem. You just need to put a few drops in the water every so often. Follow the instructions on the back of the bottle.

it could also be bloat

Answer 2

Yes, because your fish is dying. The previous answer is correct but the reasoning is a bit strange IMO. Goldfish can lose scales through crashing into things sometimes. The fish is not neccessarily dying. I would give the tank a large water change and then dissolve and add 1 teaspoon of none iodised cooking salt per gall of water to the tank.

Answer 3

Some species of goldfish have both black and gold, or any combination with black scales and other colors as the color of their scales. It is not unnatural, but goldfish do have black scales, and a combination of black and other scales.

Answer 4

The water is poisonous (probably smells of ammonia) and needs to be changed ASAP. Your tank needs a proper cycled filter, regular daily water changes and no more than 1" of fish per gallon of water. If you fail to do this the fish will die.

Answer 5

The water is overloaded with Ammonia. The fish may survive if you replace the water ASAP. Then you will need to follow the basic fishkeeping rules if you wish your fish to survive. The basic rules are. :- 1 inch of fish needs at least 1 gallon of water (A goldfish is a 10 inch fish). :- Every tank needs a permanently running cycled filter. (This converts deadly Ammonia into none deadly Nitrate):- Every tank needs at least 50% of its water replaced every week. (This prevents a build up of excessive Nitrate.) Follow the above rules and your fish stand a chance. Fail in any of them and I can guarantee that your fish will be constantly getting sick and will live a shortened lifespan.

Answer 6

then it is a rare black-spotted goldfish that is worth many many pounds.

Answer 7

They growm them back..