Black Spots On Goldfish

One of our outdoor goldfish has had some black spots for some time. We had the water tested and it was fine other than the pH was 9 but this was due to the fact we used tap water and were advised to use rain water which we have now started to do. We gave the fish sometime to see if the situation improved or not but from what I can gather, the results are very much the same.

My mother saw a fish with black spots in the pet store so she came up with the conclusion that it is just markings but I want a second opinion.

From my understanding of black smudge, the black spots are actually the fishes body recovering after some damage which could be due to various things, one being ammonia poisoning but no ammonia was found in the water that we had tested. To me, it looks like a case of black smudge but I could be wrong.

Here is a picture of the fish as it was a couple of months ago when we first noticed it. The fish is deep down and the image was zoomed in so it's not a clear picture. The fish has a yellow appearance but this cannot be seen with the naked eye so could be just the way the light was reflecting.



If this isn't clear enough for you then I can try get a better picture but currently it's swimming around with no problems and it hasn't worsened over the last couple of months.

Is there a breed of goldfish that can have black markings like spots?

What do you think?

It's not uncommon for Goldfish to have black marks, not surprising really considering they started life all black.

Looks like a fine specimen with lovely colouration and a flowing tail.