General Questions concerning Moor Goldfish

Question
My tank is 10g, It has been set up for 2 weeks, I have a single Black moor in it, the filter is a Whisper 10, I do not know the parameters, I change the water every 3-4 days, I change 2.5 gallons each time. But My questions are more general about Moor Goldfish. I have a 1.5-2 inch Moor. I will call it a him, although I have no idea what it is. My questions are: What types of foods (fresh, canned prepared food, freeze dried type, etc.) can I feed him to encourage black coloring? I bought him at a petstore, so I doubt seriously he will be velvet black like he should be. His fins and top and face are all black, but his sides are silvery black, they reflect his gravel. A second question is what type of canned food is best? I am feeding him sinking food, but it takes him a little while to find it (since his eyes are the way they are), I have flakes too, but I don't really want to feed him that unless it would be best, Which is better for his handicaps and better as far as swim bladder health etc. The last question is exactly how dangerous is it for him to have plastic plants in his tank, I have 4 in there, I left the tank pretty bare (just the 4 plants and a very low bridge shaped decoration)because I knew it could be dangerous, but he sometimes bumps into them, it doesn't seem to hurt him. How dangerous is it if the plants were left in? Thank you and sorry I took so much time, I have never had a fancy goldfish before, only commons, which are an entirely different planet of care than moors!

Answer
Hi Kristy;

Black is a really unstable color and it's very hard to keep it dark. Most black goldfish turn a bronze color as they age, some even turn chocolate, gold or silver. Avoid the "color enhancer" fish foods for black colored fish. They are meant to intensify the red and orange colors. Natural sunlight or artificial sunlight with special bulbs may help him stay darker. Here is a web forum page I found with a discussion about it you may be interested in;

http://tinyurl.com/27z8k6

Instead of a dried food, offer a frozen goldfish food or a frozen gel-based diet. They float and the right type will give him more veggies. Check out what your local fish store has. My goldies find them very tasty.

If you notice that his fins or tail become tattered or he gets scraped you could switch to a silk artificial type aquarium plant. As he gets bigger it will become more crowded in there for decorations. He would really do better in a 20 gallon eventually. But, you still have time to decide that in a few months.

Have fun!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins