I think my fish is a zombie...

[FishFinatic77]

So, I have an interesting story about one of my Cherry Barbs. I've never heard of this happening before, and I have no idea what caused it, or what actually even happened for that matter, so maybe someone will be able to give some insight. But anyway, here goes.

So, about mid December, I noticed that one of my Cherry Barbs had a lump growing on her. Now, she had been slowing down for probably about 2-3 months prior to this, and she was definitely not young anymore (about 41/2-5 years old), so I thought maybe it was a tumor or something, and that she was getting to the end of her life. Over about a week, the lump grew, but it didn't seem to cause her any discomfort, so I just let her be and made sure she was getting enough food.

But then suddenly, over night, the skin over the lump must have either burst open, or another fish might have bit it, I'm not sure. In any case, there was a hole. Then, over the next day or two, the hole got bigger, and something started coming out. I unfortunately don't have any pictures, because it was honestly really creeping me out, but I regret not taking some now. The thing that was coming out was smooth and a dark greenish/gray color.
Then she started to have some trouble swimming. She had a hard time keeping herself down, and kept floating up.

(Now, before anyone says that I should have euthanized her and shouldn't have let her suffer, I did think about it. I've done it before, so it's not like I just didn't want to. But something deep down was telling me not to. Something was telling me to wait just a little longer and see what happens.)

Anyway, this all probably lasted about 2 days, and then one morning, as suddenly as it had appeared, the gray thing was gone again. I have no idea what happened to it, or where it went to, but it wasn't there anymore.

But my fish still had the wound, and it seemed her swimming got worse. She spent more of her time floating at the top of the tank, sometimes even on her side. There were a few times that I thought she had died. She wasn't eating throughout this time either. (Again I thought of euthanizing her, but like before, something told me not to. Something told me that she could survive whatever was going on with her, if I just give her some time.)

Then, after about 3-4 days of just floating and acting dead, I woke up one morning to find her swimming again, not perfectly, but still, and I saw that the wound had healed. I put in some food, and she swam to it faster, and with more enthusiasm than I had seen in her for months. She ate like crazy, and she was able to keep up with the other fish. Over the next few days, her swimming improved more and more, and her appetite stayed too. It was like I had a whole new fish.

Now, over a month later, she's still doing great. She seems younger and more active than she's been in a long time, and she's just doing fantastic in general. I have absolutely no idea what happened, or what the gray thing that came out of her was. I have no clue. But I do know that my fish somehow managed to cheat death and come back from the brink stronger, healthier, and happier than before.

So, there's my story. Again, if any of you have ever heard of this happening before, or have any idea what might have happened here, I would love any insight you can give. I've tried researching this and found nothing, so it really is a complete mystery to me.

 

[connorlindeman]

That was very interesting to read. I am curious about what that grey thing was. I am glad that the fish survived.

 

[Uberhoust]

Interesting story. I really sounds like your fish had a parasite from your description. I am not up on tropical fish parasites so don't know what is really the case but it would seem to me that the parasite might have left because it was mature and ready to release its eggs. If so the infection might slowly be spreading through your tank. Parasites, and we don't know it was one, can have some pretty complex life cycles so there might not be any hazard because a secondary or tertiary host might be missing from the tank. Or it might be a parasite with a simpler life cycle. Or the grey thing might have been tissue and waste from as cyst or tumor. Without a photo it will be difficult to determine what the real issue was.

If this happened in my tank I would be watching the other fish for small lumps very carefully over the next few months.

 

[FishFinatic77]

That was very interesting to read. I am curious about what that grey thing was. I am glad that the fish survived.

Interesting story. I really sounds like your fish had a parasite from your description. I am not up on tropical fish parasites so don't know what is really the case but it would seem to me that the parasite might have left because it was mature and ready to release its eggs. If so the infection might slowly be spreading through your tank. Parasites, and we don't know it was one, can have some pretty complex life cycles so there might not be any hazard because a secondary or tertiary host might be missing from the tank. Or it might be a parasite with a simpler life cycle. Or the grey thing might have been tissue and waste from as cyst or tumor. Without a photo it will be difficult to determine what the real issue was.

If this happened in my tank I would be watching the other fish for small lumps very carefully over the next few months.

I'm so mad at myself for not taking a picture of the gray thing. I've tried looking to see if I can find a picture of anything even remotely similar online, but there's nothing.
The possibility of a parasite hadn't even crossed my mind. Any ideas where something like that could have come from? I haven't added anything new to the tank in a long, long time.
I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the other fish, but so far they all seem to be doing just fine.

 

[JuiceBox52]

I have a thread around here somewhere about something similar on one of my neons. Hard and gray lump. Weird

 

[GaryE]

Technically, fish do get parasites that aim at birds. These worms disable the fish in the hopes a bird will pick it off, and they can continue their life cycle in the bird. Those parasites don't usually come out of the fish.
The greyness could have been pus.
You could have seen a disease encasing cyst swell and burst. Some of the slower killers are handled that way by fish, and the cysts usually doesn't break until the fish dies, or it breaks somewhere that kills the fish. Your fish may have been short term lucky, but your tank could be full of Mycobacteriosis, and all your fish would have it now.
I almost didn't answer this one, because my answers are so bleak.

 

[Uberhoust]

Here is a very partial list of parasitic nematodes from the Pacific Northwest. I don't know much about tropical ones but in our local waters there are a large number of nematodes in the local fish. If you do a dissection of a local fish you are hard pressed to find one that doesn't have a nematode of some sort. If you consider biodiversity usually increases as you go to a more tropical environment I would expect a whole lot more varieties. Most will die out within a tank because one or more hosts are missing but there are actually are some that can live in only one host.

Not the best site but accessible: https://fishpathogens.net/pathogen/...direct life cycles (requiring multiple hosts).

 

[GaryE]

We have a lot in the east too, also north. They are found on a lot of wild caught minnows. They don't burst out - they wait for the fish to be eaten to transfer to the next stage. And they don't transfer to tropicals. That I looked into when they were here on fish.

I have found them on native fish, and used to keep a few tanks of dace and such. The black spot parasites were super stable, for very long periods. If I recall correctly (it was many years ago), they stayed on the fish until they died, for years. I never did get any fish hawks in the basement.

 

[FishFinatic77]

I have a thread around here somewhere about something similar on one of my neons. Hard and gray lump. Weird

Did your fish survive? Do you have any pictures?

 

[FishFinatic77]

Technically, fish do get parasites that aim at birds. These worms disable the fish in the hopes a bird will pick it off, and they can continue their life cycle in the bird. Those parasites don't usually come out of the fish.
The greyness could have been pus.
You could have seen a disease encasing cyst swell and burst. Some of the slower killers are handled that way by fish, and the cysts usually doesn't break until the fish dies, or it breaks somewhere that kills the fish. Your fish may have been short term lucky, but your tank could be full of Mycobacteriosis, and all your fish would have it now.
I almost didn't answer this one, because my answers are so bleak.

Oh gosh, I really hope that isn't the case here.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Did your fish survive? Do you have any pictures?

The fish did not survive. I can try to find the tread, it has pics

 

[JuiceBox52]

Oh gosh, I really hope that isn't the case here.

Neon tetra has black growth on face

Man I honestly have no idea

www.fishforums.net

 

[FishFinatic77]

Neon tetra has black growth on face

Man I honestly have no idea

www.fishforums.net

Wow, that's very strange, although it's hard to tell from the pictures if it's something similar or not. It did look kind of solid, like how you described the lump on your tetra. The gray thing on my fish came out near the base of her tail, on the left side.