Harlequin Fish With Giant Syst! Please Help! (w/pics)

[aabrey]

I have a small school of harlequin fish (6 in total) but realized when I get them home that one had a lather large whiteish colored syst on it's side. It's hasn't effected him really, he still swims around with the rest of them. The only difference I'm seeing is that he's not growing as fast as the other harlequin's and is now the smallest fish in the tank.
The syst actually bubbles sometimes and grows a second syst but every few days it pops and starts over again, a bit weird! It doesn't seem to be in pain at all but i'd like to see if there's any way I can help the little guy.

Below are some pictures I took, maybe someone can give me a solution?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Geeze, this one really has me stumped. In the mean time, it would be very useful to know your water stats (ammonia, nitrite, ntirate, and pH), the size of your tank, what fish you have in it, and any chemicals you regularly add.

My only guess is Lymphocystis, aka Cauliflower disease. Check out this picture. http/www.2cah.com/pandora/lymphocystis_larslonstromm.jpg The symptoms of this are "Fish infected with Lymphocystis will present with clusters of whitish, berry-like growths on the skin and fins. These "clusters" may resemble small clutches of eggs or cauliflower (hence, it is sometimes called Cauliflower Disease). They will be clearly visible and may even become extremely large. This disease often affects the fins first."

Another possibility is gas bubble disease. the symptoms of this are "Symptoms include blisters that are clearly visible beneath the skin, particularly in the head area, in and around the eyes. Blisters may also form inside the body. Sick fish will make a croaking sound when removed from the water."

Good luck! Hopefully someone has a few more ideas than I did.

 

[aabrey]

Geeze, this one really has me stumped. In the mean time, it would be very useful to know your water stats (ammonia, nitrite, ntirate, and pH), the size of your tank, what fish you have in it, and any chemicals you regularly add.

My only guess is Lymphocystis, aka Cauliflower disease. Check out this picture. http/www.2cah.com/pandora/lymphocystis_larslonstromm.jpg The symptoms of this are "Fish infected with Lymphocystis will present with clusters of whitish, berry-like growths on the skin and fins. These "clusters" may resemble small clutches of eggs or cauliflower (hence, it is sometimes called Cauliflower Disease). They will be clearly visible and may even become extremely large. This disease often affects the fins first."

Another possibility is gas bubble disease. the symptoms of this are "Symptoms include blisters that are clearly visible beneath the skin, particularly in the head area, in and around the eyes. Blisters may also form inside the body. Sick fish will make a croaking sound when removed from the water."

Good luck! Hopefully someone has a few more ideas than I did.

Yeah I'm stumped too, as for the info above. It's a 33 gallon 6 harlequin, one angel, one erodescent (sp?) shark. Thing is, it had this thing before we put him in the tank, might have been born with it?. It didn't happen afterwards so it has nothing to do with water quality (Although water quality is generally good with regular water changes, etc)

The weirdest part is, he seems unphased he must have a bit of a struggle swimming, but he's the only one out of the six that really does his own thing. Has quite the personality, doesn't seem as scared as the rest of the fish!

Anyways, do you think I should take drastic measures? (Hospital tank/anti-biotics/etc) He doesn't seem sick. That's the hard part to determine.

 

[tttnjfttt]

At a minimum, i would suggest a hospital tank just to avoid any possiblity of spreading. I would hold off of the antibiotics until you know exactly what it is. Do either of these diseases seem to fit the description of what you see?

 

[aabrey]

At a minimum, i would suggest a hospital tank just to avoid any possiblity of spreading. I would hold off of the antibiotics until you know exactly what it is. Do either of these diseases seem to fit the description of what you see?

Well, he's been like this for a couple of months and none of the other fish seem to be getting sick, so I don't think it's contageous. But as for the deseases you mentioned, to be honest, it doesn't seem like it's either of them. I mean, it looks simply like a syst, the weird charactoristic of it is that is bubbles and pops and bubbles again. The last pic shows the 'bubbling' best. The clear little bit at the bottom of the syst is the 'bubble' that bursts and comes back. I'm not sure if the fish is in pain or not when it bursts.. it's really hard ot tell because I never see it actually happening..

Very strange this one..

 

[WILDER]

Lymphocystis looks like a cauliflower or a clump of berries, looks nasty, can you isolate the fish.

 

[aabrey]

Lymphocystis looks like a cauliflower or a clump of berries, looks nasty, can you isolate the fish.

I don't think it's Lymphocyctis, it doesn't look the same. Like I mentioned before, i've had this fish in the same tank as the others for at least two months and none of the other fish are sick, so I don't think isolation is the key here (unless I was isolating him to give anti-biotics)

 

[WILDER]

If the lump or boil ruptures it can pour into the tank putting the other fish at risk.
I would try a bacterial med on him, as without having a fluid sample taken from the lump it's hard to say what it is.