Question
I have an outdoor pond on the east side of my house.  It has been there for 2-3 years.  Prior to that location it was under the overhang in full shade.  It now receives full sun for about 4 hours (9:am - 1:pm).  This is the first year that I have not had a lot of water plants in the pond.  My Orange Goldfish (just the orange, not the white, shubunkin, or copper goldfish) look funky.  Their scales appear bleached and look like they are peeling or flaking off.  It looks like a sunburn.  The fish swim and eat normally.  I rigged a shade and they now spend all the sunny time under the shade.  Could it be sunburn?  What does a sunburned goldfish look like?  The only change in the pond is more sun.

Thank you, heather

Answer
It's not very likely that a fish would get sunburn.  The water filters a lot of the sun's radiation.  Goldfish can change color over time naturally.  They can also wash out a little in stronger lighting.  But, you said their skin appears to be peeling.  That's not normal.  Scale loss can be due to injury (from spawning or eluding predators) or an infection (usually bacteria).  If you could send a photo to me (via my web site), that would help me to tell you if it was something about which to worry.  In the mean time, adding shade was a good idea.  You can add things like clay plant pots and more plants to the pond to provide more shade.  Full sun for four hours a day is not a ton of light.  Some ponds get full sun for almost twice that long.  My pond gets full sun for more than four hours on sunny days.  I hope the fish have just changed color or perhaps washed out, and it's not something bad.  If you haven't added any new fish in the last year, it's not as likely to be something infectious.  Good luck!

Robyn
fishpondinfo.com