# black edging on tails and fins



## wingedjumper517

Is black bordering of the tails and fins natural, or is it some fungus or something? My friend said that her goldfish's black at the tips of the fins and tails started spreading, until he died. She thought it was just a coloration, and she still doesn't know if his death is unrelated and coincidental or not, but now I'm paranoid. My white ryukin has a bit of an infection on his tail (white and jagged) but he also has black on his tail/fins as well. And he never had any black on his tail.


----------



## fish_doc

I have some that it is a natural coloration. One thing about goldfish is they do change colors as they age. So its hard to give you a direct answer on this one without knowing other things like tanks levels such as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings. Overall health of the tank, size of the tank, stocking in the tank and such. 

Most tail problems are either tail rot or fungus. (which is usually white) so in a quick answer I would say the black was not a issue but I cannot guarentee it.


----------



## Ownager2004

I remember reading somewhere that somtimes when a goldfish's fins get injured they will first heal back black and then return to whatever coloration they were, or are becoming. And it sounds like you may have a case of fin/tail rot.


----------



## wingedjumper517

Thanks. What do I treat that with? Melafix or some Fungus cure product?


----------



## sumpthinfishy

Okay. I have a goldfish that was in horrible conditions. After she was here and in a good tank with good water conditions, she developed a black spot on her head, on the edges of her tail and dorsal fin. It grew over a period of several days. After a couple of weeks, it gradually started disappearing. The edges of her tail are now white. I don't know if they would have been white anyway. I'm guessing, yes.

Anyway, the research I found is that it can be caused from ammonia burn. It only appears AFTER the conditions are improved. It looked like ink smudged into her skin. She has no more black and is perfectly fine. Hopefully that is the worst case for your fish.

I think there are other things that can cause a black or dark color on goldfish from illness, but am not familiar with it.

But I've seen goldfish change colors as well. 

However, in the case of my goldy, it was not there one day, there the next and spreading. 

Check google. I found a few really good goldfish sites with info about disease. May want to do a search for ammonia burn in goldfish and see if that brings up anything.

Hope all goes well.


----------



## chrisinha

I've been having the same problem with my lionhead. first, a small black patch appeared on the top of his body, then it started to spread all over it. also, the tip of the fins: tail, pectoral, ventral... i've also heard black spots would appear on goldfish as a healing process, but because it's taking over his body i've decided to do more research and found out that it could be a disease called "myxobacteriosis" and the only medication for it would be "phenocide" by aquatronics. it turned out that aquatronics has gone out of business or have not been supplying the fish stores anymore and i cant find this medication. i've talked to the owner of my LFS and he found out that "kanacyn" could also be used for this disease. anyways, i'm not sure what's going on, but i did start a treatment with kanacyn today. 
it says that "myxobacteriosis is due to either poor filtration, or overfeeding.

i'll let ou know what happens. 

http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm

here's a pic of him, but now it's even worse


----------



## blb

Oh, poor baby! I hope they get better soon!!


----------



## sumpthinfishy

Here's Harbor when she was really good and covered.










Here she is after it's cleared up:









You can sort of see on her dorsal fin and tail where the white is. It was black there at one point.


----------

