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One of my goldfish appears to have his tail turning transparent. It was not like that last week. I have only had him and two other fish in the tank for all of one week. The water is a cloudy gray, but I was told that is normal. Is this caused by stress, diet, parasites, or something else?

One of my goldfish appears to have his tail turning transparent. It was not like that last week. I have only had him and two other fish in the tank for all of one week. The water is a cloudy gray, but I was told that is normal. Is this caused by stress, diet, parasites, or something else?

Updated On June 24th, 2018

Pet's info: Fish | Unknown - Fish | Male | 8 days old

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Answered By Miranda Sadar, DVM, DACZM

Veterinarian

This question includes photos that may contain sensitive content. Click to view.

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Thank you for the picture - I am unable to tell if the tail is just turning transparent, or if portions of it are missing. If it is truly just a color change, and there are no other problems with C.G. or the other fish, it may just be that he is going to become a different color. If the tail has missing portions, that is more likely to be caused by an infectious problem (such as bacteria, fungi, parasites). I would recommend evaluating your water quality parameters, as you eluded to in your question. Then I would monitor the tail, and if there are portions missing, I would recommend having him evaluated by a veterinarian. They can take samples of the area, as well as from the skin and gills to evaluate for parasites and other organisms.

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