Goldfish bump

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ksane

aka TwistedPenguin
Mar 1, 2008
468
0
16
Oklahoma, USA
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? It just showed up within the past few days, I've had this fish 2 yrs. He's in a 55 g with another Goldfish and 4 Dojos. Eats fine, etc. 75% weekly WC's, water quality is always great. It almost looks like some sort of an abscess. Strange.

Imgp0031.jpg
 

Lupin

Registered Member
Sep 21, 2006
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Lupin Information Super Highway/Goldfish Informati
thegab.org
Real Name
Paul
Hi Mitzi,

Could you please try stroking it and see if it seems soft or hard? Use gloves when you do so to avoid possible transmissions. It is very difficult to say what exactly it is but I'll clarify a few things about the likeliest possibilities. At the moment, I advise isolating the fish in a separate tank as a precaution.

With tumors whether benign or cancerous, in most cases, the tumor will simply linger on the fish until it dies. It is difficult to determine whether certain tumors are cancerous or not. A lot of times, as long as the tumor itself does not interfere with the goldfish's normal body functioning, then the tumor itself is more of an aesthetic problem than a health issue. Most goldfish have lived longer while still carrying the tumor. If it seems to be located near the gill area, then it could become a threat as it could interfere with the fish's ability to breathe.

I am not suggesting you remove the bump surgically however for reference, you could read this in case the issue persists.
http://thegab.org/Articles/SurgeryTumor.html

On the other hand, since it appeared suddenly and out of nowhere, it could be caused by Aeromonas bacteria. Both the columnaris and aeromonas are common bacterial infections with goldfish.

What you can do here is try making gel foods and incorporate a small gel reserve with tetracycline or kanaplex. You could also use minocycline since we may be dealing with gram-negative bacteria here. The pus itself could rupture in a few days so I would advise against squeezing it off or it will result in secondary infections which might potentially kill your fish. Mix the recommended treatments in the water and incorporate some on the gel foods to help with the bump/pus.

Hope this helps.
 

ksane

aka TwistedPenguin
Mar 1, 2008
468
0
16
Oklahoma, USA
I went to touch it and it 'popped' for lack of a better word. It reminded me of the benign cysts we used to take off dogs at the animal clinic I worked at. It was made up of that gooey white stuff (that I can't remember the name of). I've had this fish for 2 yrs and he's been in with the other goldfish all that time so I can't imagine it's columnaris, I've seen that quite a few times and it doens't look like that. I can get tetracycline at PetsMart, I'll grab some as it's certainly not going to hurt. Do you suppose salt would be worth using to get his slime coat thicker to protect it?
On my way to read that link now. Thanks, Lupe!
 

Lupin

Registered Member
Sep 21, 2006
21,430
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0
Lupin Information Super Highway/Goldfish Informati
thegab.org
Real Name
Paul
It doesn't hurt to add salt. Has he been isolated yet?

The pus must have been filled with liquid that could contain dead white blood cells which attempted to fend off any possible bacterial infections. There is a documentary about it by Ingrid. Yes, it is not columnaris but as I suspected that it would rupture, the best we can do now is isolate it and keep its water fresh and clean along with salt added to help thicken its slime coat and fend off bacterial infections. In the meantime, you could feed him medicated foods like MediGold or simply do some gel foods and add tetracycline on it.
 

ksane

aka TwistedPenguin
Mar 1, 2008
468
0
16
Oklahoma, USA
No, he's not isolated. I've got close to 20 tanks and nowhere to put him lol Beings he's been with the same tankmate for several years, do you think it's mandatory to seperate them? I don't think the meds would hurt the other one. The nitrates don't ever get over 10 ppm in that tank before their water change but I think he'll get an extra one this week. I can think how to switch fish around to get him in a big enough tank if need be. I just hate to put him in anything smaller than a 30 g because he's a fat goldfish and about 6" long.
 

ksane

aka TwistedPenguin
Mar 1, 2008
468
0
16
Oklahoma, USA
Ah, I see (sometimes I'm dense lol) I thought the reason for isolating was to keep the others from being exposed to the meds. Duh, it's to keep the others from being exposed to the gunk coming out of the cyst. You're a few step ahead of me in the common sense dept on this this one lol I dug around last night after I signed off and found a 20 g Long tank in the closet I didn't know I had. Found a 30 g Hex, too, but he can't stay in that. I guess 20 Long has the same surface area as a 30 g, he should be alright for a week or so in that even though it's small. Thank you, you always come through.
 

ksane

aka TwistedPenguin
Mar 1, 2008
468
0
16
Oklahoma, USA
Ok, he's set up in the 20 Long with 1 TBS salt per 10 g water. Seems just as happy as when he was in the other tank with his buddy so I'm thinking he hasn't noticed he moved lol Goldfish are so amiable.
It looks better & is in the healing stage now though. It doesn't stick out anymore since it popped last night, it's flat. Here's a picture of this AM right before I moved him to the 20 g. What a strange thing for him to get all of a sudden after 2 yrs. Weird. It's gotten a lot better in just 12 hrs so I'll give it today before I make the hour round trip into town for meds. They're open til 9 PM so I'll have time.

Imgp0036.jpg
 

ksane

aka TwistedPenguin
Mar 1, 2008
468
0
16
Oklahoma, USA
It looks even better now in the 12 hrs since this morning. I don't know why it's healing so fast, or why it came about so fast. I'm just glad it's going away. It had something to do with it breaking off when I went to touch it. I'm actually glad now that you told me to feel it, I'm sure that started the healing process.
 
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