Goldfish With Red Lump

[mark4785]

My aunty has two goldfish and one of the goldfish has developed a pale red growth on the side of it's head. The growth has been getting bigger over a 3 month period and both myself and my aunty don't know what it is and as such don't know how to treat it.
 
I suspect that it is some form of cancerous growth and as such gave her some high qualify pond fish food and a vitamin solution to help prolong the fishes life.
 
It would be great, however, if somebody could provide a diagnosis as it would be nice to treat the fish.
 
 
Please see the images of the red lump below.
 
 

 

 

[mark4785]

Any ideas?

 

[mark4785]

Bump.

 

[mark4785]

Bump.

 

[Flute]

Sorry you haven't had a reply yet Mark. I think these kind of things are always tricky to diagnose, which is why the thread has stayed quiet. Can you tell us more about the lump? Might give some people some ideas. Does it look hard or soft, filled with fluid, is it smooth or lumpy? Etc.
 
Without any more info at the moment then my only suggestion would be to make sure that the water is very, very clean. Sorry I can't help beyond that

 

[mark4785]

Sorry you haven't had a reply yet Mark. I think these kind of things are always tricky to diagnose, which is why the thread has stayed quiet. Can you tell us more about the lump? Might give some people some ideas. Does it look hard or soft, filled with fluid, is it smooth or lumpy? Etc.
 
Without any more info at the moment then my only suggestion would be to make sure that the water is very, very clean. Sorry I can't help beyond that

 
Hi Flute,
 
It looks soft. It looks as though it is full of necrotic tissue. It has protruded to a certain extent only to then suddenly stop and followed by a second lump of the same type protruding out of the original lump.
 
As can be seen from the image, the majority of the lump (the sides of it) are pink, while it's tip is a white colour.
 
My Aunty has watched the lump grow for about 3 months now and it's this longevity that I think concerns her.
 
My Aunty and uncle don't keep fish in the conventional way in that they haven't done a fishless cycle, don't de-chlorinate the water and every few months (I believe) the fish are removed from their tank and the whole tank (including decorations and substrate) are bleached down. The fish are kept in some kind of holding bucket while this is done.
 
I have provided my Aunty with an ammonia testing kit and a highly accurate Seachem ammonia sensor. To my knowledge, the seachem ammonia indicator has always indicated 0ppm of Ammonia.

 

[Timberbatch]

I'm very sorry for your aunt's fish, I wish I could be of help but I've not had any experience with goldfish unfortunately. 

  I'll use this post as a bump and hopefully someone with knowledge of this kind of problem will see!
 
Best of luck!

 

[mark4785]

I'm very sorry for your aunt's fish, I wish I could be of help but I've not had any experience with goldfish unfortunately. 

  I'll use this post as a bump and hopefully someone with knowledge of this kind of problem will see!
 
Best of luck!

 
Thank you for your concern and the free bump.
 
I'll just keep my fingers crossed that someone somewhere has first hand experience of this issue as it doesn't feature in any of my fish disease books.

 

[Flute]

I'll have to dig about for some proper information, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that not using dechlorinator can lead to this sort of thing. I'll do some searching and get back to you Mark

 
In the mean time is there anyway you could try and encourage them to look up on proper fish husbandry? Goldies are super messy things as it is, and this little guy will need tip top water conditions to make sure that lump doesn't become infected.

 

[mark4785]

I'll have to dig about for some proper information, but I'm sure I've read somewhere that not using dechlorinator can lead to this sort of thing. I'll do some searching and get back to you Mark

 
In the mean time is there anyway you could try and encourage them to look up on proper fish husbandry? Goldies are super messy things as it is, and this little guy will need tip top water conditions to make sure that lump doesn't become infected.

 
Hi Flute,
 
Thanks for the advice.
 
I will give her a call tomorrow ASAP, as its now a bit too late in the day, to explain the need to de-chlorinate and perhaps to cut out bleaching the aquarium as its probably over-kill. I've not said much about how I go about fish-keeping as I don't want to be perceived as condescending.
 
I explained to her that septicemia or infection would be unlikely since the skin barrier doesn't appear to be broken anywhere on the lump. However, its probably just a matter of time before some tank decoration pops it open!

 

[VickyChaiTea]

Hmmm... unfortunately, a proper diagnosis isn't possible without a biopsy and I would think an x-ray. No water test results, I assume? That would help a tad.
 
Does it look like it's full of fluid? Or solid? It could be a tumor but that doesn't mean cancer. It doesn't really look like an abscess or cyst from the photo, unfortunately. There isn't really any treatment for tumors other than removal if possible. So all you can do is keep an eye on it, keep the water pristine, and consider euthanasia if it gets bad enough.
 
As for causes, I'm afraid I don't know what causes tumors in fish.

 

[mark4785]

Hmmm... unfortunately, a proper diagnosis isn't possible without a biopsy and I would think an x-ray. No water test results, I assume? That would help a tad.
 
Does it look like it's full of fluid? Or solid? It could be a tumor but that doesn't mean cancer. It doesn't really look like an abscess or cyst from the photo, unfortunately. There isn't really any treatment for tumors other than removal if possible. So all you can do is keep an eye on it, keep the water pristine, and consider euthanasia if it gets bad enough.

 
As for causes, I'm afraid I don't know what causes tumors in fish.

 
Right ok, I'll pass this information on.
 
My Aunty doesn't test her aquarium water so I'd have to take my water testing kit around to get any idea of the state of the water quality.

 

[mark4785]

I have contacted my Aunty and advised that she use de-chlorinator at all times and never use bleach.
 
I've donated some Aquasafe (500ml) to her and will get one of those Seachem ammonia sensors that continually monitor free ammonia concentrations very accurately.
 
 
If there is anybody out there that can diagnose the problem with 100% certainty, I'd like to hear from you as it will help to put our minds at rest!

 

[supermarioworld]

Lymphocystsis
 
See here:  http/www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Lawler_Lymphocystis.html
 
and
 
Here:  http/www.fishhelpline.co.uk/health/lymphocystis.html
 
 
Generally speaking, there's no need to completely tear down an aquarium (except in special circumstances like a serious disease/outbreaks.  I had to throw out a tank with the filter because of suspected tuberculosis, which there is no cure and not only poses a threat to any future fish, but also to people).  
 
Additionally, pick up a book at your local pet-shop about keeping fish.  Particularly, read about the nitrogen cycle and diseases.  Follow it.
 
Lastly, there's numerous opinions about "cycling," and surely some of you out there will find the following comment controversial, but hey, it works:  You can buy this pack at stores that has water conditioner and a bottle of bacteria.  It'll set up your tank instantly.  Just Google "API Aquarium Start Up Pack"

 

[fluttermoth]

Thanks for your post, supermarioworld.
 
This is an old thread, so I'm going to lock it.
 
There is much debate on this forum as to whether those bacterial starters work, but this isn't the place for those discussions