My friend's red cap oranda

Hey there,
I do not personnally keep goldfish but my friend does. I was taking a look at her red cap oranda goldfish and noticed that his red cap is not red anymore, it is a pale orange.
Is her oranda sick?
Or is this just a sign of old age?

She says that parts started to come that color a few months ago and now it is all that color except for a little 1mm part that is still red.

What's happening to her oranda?

She says she has also noticed that her scales are dulling. The oranda is about 3 years old. She is kept with a black moor goldfish.

 

HI fishdreamer, goldfish actually have a very long lifespan, so at 3 years of age I don't think it should be displaying any old age symptoms.

If you could provide more details about your friend's tank, it could be helpful. Tank size, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH included. Is the fish showing any signs of discomfort? Flashing or rubbing, isolating, lethargy, etc.? The more information you can provide will help us determine if this is a problem for the fish or not.

Goldfish are a little funny when it comes to coloring, some goldfish will be gold and black when they are purchased and will sometimes become solid gold in color after a while, and others will be the opposite. Quite often this kind of color change is confusing and even alarming for the owner, but it's quite a natural process.

The main thing I would like to rule out is the possibility of velvet disease. This can look like a fine dusting of powder that may have a whitish or yellowish look and could maybe look as though the fish colors are more muted. Flashing and rubbing as well as the other symptoms I've listed could be signs of this disease, but it can also be signs of other ailments too.

Here is some info on goldfish. Maybe your friend would like to have it.

https://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Goldfish.htm

 

Ok her tank size is 20 gallons and she says the fish doesn't seem to be showing signs of discomfort, the other fish is doing fine so it is probably not water quality (sorry she doesn't know her exact water quality mesurments).
Thanks I will show her those

 

Just because the other fish is "fine" does not mean that it is not her water quality. Individual fish can be more sensitive than others. Muted colors are one of the signs of poor water quality.
What type of lighting is on the tank? Sometimes goldies kept in tanks without sufficient sunlight can lose their colors and become washed-out looking.

 

I'm not really sure I will ask her about the lighting