Odd, It almost looks like a wren like Oranda goldfish has. Has the white around the mouth always been there? What are your water parameters? How long has the lump been there?
Hi and welcome to the forum 
It looks like a bacterial infection (red patch) and a fungal infection on top of that (white bit).
How long has the tank been set up for?
How often are you doing water changes and how water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
What sort is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it had the red lump?
What other fish are in the tank?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
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Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until we work out what is going on. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, don't clean the filter if it's less than 6 weeks old. If you have a power filter, squeeze the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and when they are clean, put them in the tank. Wash the filter case and impellor assembly (magnet with plastic blades) under tap water. When it's clean, reassemble the filter and get it going again.
-----------------------
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
-----------------------
If there's no improvement after a couple of days of water changes and salt, you will probably need something from the pet shop to treat bacterial and fungal infections.
It looks like a bacterial infection (red patch) and a fungal infection on top of that (white bit).
How long has the tank been set up for?
How often are you doing water changes and how water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
What sort is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it had the red lump?
What other fish are in the tank?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
-----------------------
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until we work out what is going on. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, don't clean the filter if it's less than 6 weeks old. If you have a power filter, squeeze the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and when they are clean, put them in the tank. Wash the filter case and impellor assembly (magnet with plastic blades) under tap water. When it's clean, reassemble the filter and get it going again.
-----------------------
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
-----------------------
If there's no improvement after a couple of days of water changes and salt, you will probably need something from the pet shop to treat bacterial and fungal infections.
Hi and welcome to the forum
It looks like a bacterial infection (red patch) and a fungal infection on top of that (white bit).
How long has the tank been set up for?
How often are you doing water changes and how water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?
What sort is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
How long have you had the fish for?
How long has it had the red lump?
What other fish are in the tank?
Have you added anything to the tank in the 2 weeks before this started?
-----------------------
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until we work out what is going on. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, don't clean the filter if it's less than 6 weeks old. If you have a power filter, squeeze the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and when they are clean, put them in the tank. Wash the filter case and impellor assembly (magnet with plastic blades) under tap water. When it's clean, reassemble the filter and get it going again.
-----------------------
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.
After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
-----------------------
If there's no improvement after a couple of days of water changes and salt, you will probably need something from the pet shop to treat bacterial and fungal infections.
Thank you and Wow thats a lot of questions!
We change the tank completely every two weeks and the gravel is as well. The filter at least every week and I did that day before yesterday. Yes we put the drops in for the chlorine. It is a 40 gallon tank with one plecostomous in it as well. (not sure how to spell it we just call him PLECO ) The mouth has been like that for about a year now, it also doesnt close all the way now. There is white on the belly that wasnt there before, im pretty sure anyway. The fish is about 12 -15 years old. We got it from my other son when he moved about 4 years ago and he is pretty sure it was 7-10 then. We had other fish with him but they passed away one a year. The last one died about a year and a half ago or more. The lump showed up this morning.
I will look into getting the salt today. I am pretty broke so I hope it doesnt cost very much. Thank you for your help and have a great day.
Are you catching the fish out and putting it in a bucket, then cleaning the tank out?
If yes, you don't need to do that. Get a basic model gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. Each week just use the gravel cleaner to drain out 75% of the water and to clean the gravel while it's in the tank. The fish stays in the tank too when you clean it. After the gravel has been cleaned and you have drained out some water, you fill the tank back up with dechlorinated water, and that's it until the following week. If you have water restrictions then do it every 2 weeks.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html
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What brand of filter do you have?
How do you clean the filter?
Do you replace any of the filter media each week when you clean it?
--------------------------
You can buy rock salt from a hardware or swimming pool store. They sell it in 10-20kg bags for $5-10 and it will last for years.
Use the lower dose rate of salt (1-2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres) because of the pleco.
--------------------------
If you can post a couple more pics of the fish it might provide a bit more info. Take a bunch of pics and check them on your computer. Find a couple that are nicely focussed and clearly show the belly, mouth and head, and post them on here.
Is the fish swimming normally?
A short 20 second video might offer some insight too.
--------------------------
What are you feeding the goldfish and pleco?
They both need plant matter in their diet and a bit of prawn/ shrimp and fish. The pleco needs a piece of driftwood to chew on and some algae to graze on.
If you can find a floating plant called Duckweed, you can grow it outdoors in plastic storage containers and feed that to the goldfish as part of its diet.
If yes, you don't need to do that. Get a basic model gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. Each week just use the gravel cleaner to drain out 75% of the water and to clean the gravel while it's in the tank. The fish stays in the tank too when you clean it. After the gravel has been cleaned and you have drained out some water, you fill the tank back up with dechlorinated water, and that's it until the following week. If you have water restrictions then do it every 2 weeks.
https://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html
--------------------------
What brand of filter do you have?
How do you clean the filter?
Do you replace any of the filter media each week when you clean it?
--------------------------
You can buy rock salt from a hardware or swimming pool store. They sell it in 10-20kg bags for $5-10 and it will last for years.
Use the lower dose rate of salt (1-2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres) because of the pleco.
--------------------------
If you can post a couple more pics of the fish it might provide a bit more info. Take a bunch of pics and check them on your computer. Find a couple that are nicely focussed and clearly show the belly, mouth and head, and post them on here.
Is the fish swimming normally?
A short 20 second video might offer some insight too.
--------------------------
What are you feeding the goldfish and pleco?
They both need plant matter in their diet and a bit of prawn/ shrimp and fish. The pleco needs a piece of driftwood to chew on and some algae to graze on.
If you can find a floating plant called Duckweed, you can grow it outdoors in plastic storage containers and feed that to the goldfish as part of its diet.
One more thing, when you clean your filter do you use tank water to clean it? Chlorinated Tap water will kill the beneficial bacteria. Just trying to cover everything. Wow, 12-15 years is great! I hope mine make it that long. Great job!
We have the TOP FIN UNDERWATER WORLDS filter that includes frame filter bags and activated carbon packets. When I clean it I throw away everything except the frame and put on a new bag and charcoal. I rinse in room temperature water.
He/she is swimming normally but seems to be extra hungry yesterday and today. I feed him twice a day with WARDLEY's flake food with no artificial colors. My son bought an automatic feeder and the it comes with a container of tiny flakes, NUTRAFIN MAX TROPICAL FISH FLAKES. The print is way too small to read but I THINK it has krill in it. It does have Omega 3 in it so I am thinking its what my fish (Pumpkin) needs? The drops we use are NUTRAFIN AQUA PLUS. My other son told me, when he gave them to me, that Pleco eats the algae and what Pumpkin eats (and so did the guy ta the pet store) so I didnt need to add anything extra. I NEVER knew about the driftwood for him. I will look into that.
We dont have live plants we have plastic ones with cloth leaves.
We never take the fish out to clean the tank. When we first got the tank 4 years ago we did but it was too scary they might jump out of the net so we stopped. Plus they acted funny for a minute or two after we put them back. So it is always a 75% clean every two weeks. The rocks are cleaned with the gravel cleaner and once a month we take all of the rocks out then swish them under warm water before putting back in the tank.
To clean the sides I wipe them down with a clean cloth that has never seen cleaners or paint etc. The buckets used are only used for the fish paraphernalia.
I tried to download a video ( one was funny with my cat asking for his dinner in the background lol) but I cant seem to do it here. So I added a couple more shots and made them large for you. Hope that helps you.
We tried to buy some rock salt today but couldnt find any. SO we bought COARSE SEA SLAT. Will that be ok?
RYou shouldn’t throw your filter cartridge away u less it is falling apart. I know the manufacturers tell you to but only so they can make a buck. Each time you throw your cartridge away you are tossing out your beneficial bacteria which protects the fish from ammonia and nitrite poisoning. I have cartridges that are way over a year old. Some 2 years or more. Just rinse the cartridge every couple of weeks in some tank water. Don’t use chlorinated tap water as it will kill the beneficial bacteria. He could be suffering exposure to toxic ammonia/nitrite. Do 70% daily water changes for 2 weeks and see how he’s doing. Good luck!
Deanasue has covered a lot of the filter issues.
You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre of them and can be put over the intake strainer of most external power filters.
You can get sponges for different brands of filter and cut these to fit inside your filter. I use AquaClear sponges but there are plenty of other brands. Then you simply squeeze the sponges out in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Sponges will last 10+ years and save you a heap of money because you won't be buying new filter pads every month. Sponges will also hold the beneficial bacteria and you will have more stable water, which is better for the fish.
If you put sponges on/ in the filter, leave the old filter pads in there too. Do not clean them for the first 6 weeks because you can wash out the beneficial bacteria developing on them. After 6 weeks, you can squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water, do this every couple of weeks. You can also chuck out the filter pads when they start to fall apart and put more sponge in to replace them.
If you have carbon (black granules) in the filter pad, make a small cut in the top of the pad and tip the carbon out and throw the carbon away. Then re-use the pad.
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Course sea salt is fine to use.
-------------------------
You need to feed the fish more variety. You can buy marine mix from most pet shops. It consists of prawn, fish and squid. They also do marine green, which has vegetables added to the fish, prawn and squid.
You can feed them raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. Buy some frozen prawns from a supermarket or bait shop (fishing shop) and keep them frozen in your freezer. A couple of times a week you take a prawn out and remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throws these bits away. Then use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bit size pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let the fish eat until full and remove uneaten food. The pleco can eat these too.
You can feed pumpkin, zucchini, apple, carrot, spinach or marine algae (used for sushi) to both fish. Make sure they are clean and free of chemicals. Cut them into thin slices for the pleco, and into small bite size pieces for the goldfish. Feed these items to the fish each day or every couple of days.
You put a plastic storage container outside in the sun and fill it with tap water and add 1 level tablespoon of granular garden fertiliser per 20 litres of water. Then put some smooth rocks or plastic ornaments in the bucket and wait for them to get covered in algae. When they are coated in green algae, put one or two of them in the tank and let the fish clean the algae off them. When they are clean, swap them for a couple of the remaining items in the container. Do this throughout the year so the pleco has some fresh algae to eat.
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The white on the belly is nothing to worry about and looks like colouration.
The white mouth and red in the white part could be caused by poor water quality (ammonia) or something else. Monitor that and take regular pictures to compare it. If it gets more red then it's time to worry.
Same deal with the head, monitor it and make changes to the filter and add salt. See how they go.
You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre of them and can be put over the intake strainer of most external power filters.
You can get sponges for different brands of filter and cut these to fit inside your filter. I use AquaClear sponges but there are plenty of other brands. Then you simply squeeze the sponges out in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Sponges will last 10+ years and save you a heap of money because you won't be buying new filter pads every month. Sponges will also hold the beneficial bacteria and you will have more stable water, which is better for the fish.
If you put sponges on/ in the filter, leave the old filter pads in there too. Do not clean them for the first 6 weeks because you can wash out the beneficial bacteria developing on them. After 6 weeks, you can squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water, do this every couple of weeks. You can also chuck out the filter pads when they start to fall apart and put more sponge in to replace them.
If you have carbon (black granules) in the filter pad, make a small cut in the top of the pad and tip the carbon out and throw the carbon away. Then re-use the pad.
-------------------------
Course sea salt is fine to use.
-------------------------
You need to feed the fish more variety. You can buy marine mix from most pet shops. It consists of prawn, fish and squid. They also do marine green, which has vegetables added to the fish, prawn and squid.
You can feed them raw or cooked prawn/ shrimp. Buy some frozen prawns from a supermarket or bait shop (fishing shop) and keep them frozen in your freezer. A couple of times a week you take a prawn out and remove the head, shell and gut (thin black tube in body) and throws these bits away. Then use a pair of scissors to cut the remaining prawn tail into small bit size pieces and offer 1 or 2 bits at a time. Let the fish eat until full and remove uneaten food. The pleco can eat these too.
You can feed pumpkin, zucchini, apple, carrot, spinach or marine algae (used for sushi) to both fish. Make sure they are clean and free of chemicals. Cut them into thin slices for the pleco, and into small bite size pieces for the goldfish. Feed these items to the fish each day or every couple of days.
You put a plastic storage container outside in the sun and fill it with tap water and add 1 level tablespoon of granular garden fertiliser per 20 litres of water. Then put some smooth rocks or plastic ornaments in the bucket and wait for them to get covered in algae. When they are coated in green algae, put one or two of them in the tank and let the fish clean the algae off them. When they are clean, swap them for a couple of the remaining items in the container. Do this throughout the year so the pleco has some fresh algae to eat.
-------------------------
The white on the belly is nothing to worry about and looks like colouration.
The white mouth and red in the white part could be caused by poor water quality (ammonia) or something else. Monitor that and take regular pictures to compare it. If it gets more red then it's time to worry.
Same deal with the head, monitor it and make changes to the filter and add salt. See how they go.
The 'bag' is too fibrous to save. I have tried to rinse it off but it falls apart.
This is the type of filter system I have. As you can see the bag/pad is quite fibrous. It falls apart. I have to clean it out at least once a week or the motor stops working.
Attachments
It took forever to get a picture of him today because Pumpkin likes to stay in the corner where I feed him, and hardly ever ventures out of there. But when he does its a short swim. Today , however, it wasnt a normal swim. He was jerky like he is shaking something off.
Not a good sign is it?Attachments
Oh and the red has definately spred.It took forever to get a picture of him today because Pumpkin likes to stay in the corner where I feed him, and hardly ever ventures out of there. But when he does its a short swim. Today , however, it wasnt a normal swim. He was jerky like he is shaking something off.
Well, I’m one of the few on here that do go for the meds if Freshwater isn’t working or something is spreading. For the record, my first choice is 70% water changes each day for 2 weeks and aquarium salt at one tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. Each day as you change water put back that much of salt. Example, if you remove 50% of water then add back 50% of the aquarium salt. If the fungus is spreading quickly then go ahead and try some API Fungus Cure. I believe Jungle Cure also treats fungus. If the fish continues to decline then we will have to go to antibiotics such as Kanamycin and Furan-2. Keep us posted.
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