Something Wrong With A Goldfish

[BlueShinobu]

my mom has a nice big 50 gallon tank with like 6 goldfish four are some random black ones and two are oranda fancy. the biggest one has the body the size of a base ball. but he is starting to get this growth on the side of his head, its well rounded and white probally half the diameter of a dime. it looks like a giant zit. sorry for no pics but the camera isnt working.

 

[fourthtimelucky]

It could be one of several things. Could you try and get some pics up? It is hard to diagnose without them. Is it fluffy / solid / veiney etc? What are the water stats?

6 goldfish in 50 gallons sounds a bit crowded so you might have problems with the water quality, goldfish are very big waste producers. In the short term, you should isolate the sick fish until you have a firm diagnosis and know whether it could spread to the others.

When you have pics, post in Tropical Fish Emergencies and hopefully someone will be able to help you fairly quickly.

Good luck!

 

[WILDER]

Your'e overstocked with six goldifish, you should only have 4 in that size tank.
They are massive waste producers and need double the filter, so you would need a filter that turn over 100 gallons an hour.
A pic of the sick fish would be good.
Does the wound look fluffy, any red tinging around the outside of it..

 

[BlueShinobu]

here are the pics, sorry about the water tests she doesnt have a kit for it.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its hard to say but i would say it is most likely either a cyst or a tumor. In the case of a tumor, there isn't really much you can do about it, but if it is a cyst then the best course of action would be to treat the fish with an anti internal bacterial med so i would advise this .

 

[BlueShinobu]

whats a way to tell the difference, and will the meds hurt the other fish in the tank? my mom is going to have a heart attack if its a tumor

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Well these pictures of tumors in goldfish in the link below show what tumors generally look like in goldfish (although internal ones can display different symptoms to ones that surface on the skin), some of these examples show quite full blown pictures of tumors;

http/i55.photobucket.com/albums/g148/Amp...Goldfish005.jpg

http/i55.photobucket.com/albums/g148/Amp...Goldfish007.jpg

http/www.wetwebmedia.com/CypriniiformPIX...sh/untitled.jpg

http/www.wetwebmedia.com/CypriniiformPIX...ish%20tumor.jpg

http/www.amyclarkart.com/images/tumor.gif

Etc...

Cysts look similar, i can't find any decent pics of cysts on fish for now, but generally speaking the area around the cyst tends to be more evenly raised around the swelling, which itself is filled with puss- tumors on the other hand tend to develop into fleshy off-color lumps on the fish.

I'm not sure what anti-internal bacterial meds are available where you live, but the main thing is to buy one which does not harm the beneficial bacteria/biological filtration in the tank- the other fish should be fine been treated as well in the tank (in fact it may actually be better to treat them with the sick fish in the same tank to make sure that any harmful bacteria that has caused the potential cyst is completely eradicated from the tank).

 

[BlueShinobu]

it doesnt look like most of those tumors, but if it was a tumor and we put the cyst medicine in would that be harmful? just making sure even tho im pretty sure you said it would be ok

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

it doesnt look like most of those tumors, but if it was a tumor and we put the cyst medicine in would that be harmful? just making sure even tho im pretty sure you said it would be ok

If you put in anti internal bacterial medication and the goldfish does turn out to have a tumor then it will not affect the tumor in any way at all, whether for the worse or better .

 

[BlueShinobu]

and you said theres nothing you can do for a tumor? if it is a tumor how long you think till it passes

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

and you said theres nothing you can do for a tumor? if it is a tumor how long you think till it passes

I've heard of some cases of vets who have been willing to perform surgery on fish to remove tumors but i think there's a limit to what can be done depending on how large the tumor is in comparison to the fish, from what i have heard though fish can live for years and years with tumors though, how lethal tumors are varies massively on the aggressiveness of the tumor and where it is on the fishes body and whether it turns cancerous or not etc- some fish last just weeks or months, while others can live with tumors for years without being noticeably stressed by their tumor/s etc.
This fish in the link below had a tumor successfully removed from it via surgery (the fish had to loose an eye though due to the position of the tumor);

[URL="http/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5337358.stm"]http/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5337358.stm[/URL]


.

 

[BlueShinobu]

hey, i just tested the water in my moms tank and i know somethings wrong, i would appreciate it if you could tell me the ideal numbers for each category, and how to fix each one

PH 7.5
Ammonia .25
Nitrate 80
Nitrite 0

the lady at my lfs also said to add salt to the water, is this a good idea?

 

[WILDER]

The water stats are saying your tanks overstocked.
You have ammonia reading, hign nitrate reading.
Water changes.
I would invest in another filter to help with the load of fish in the tank, as your filter not copiing with the waste.

 

[BlueShinobu]

also what about the salt?

 

[WILDER]

The salt will help with there gills as you have ammonia reading.
I would buy another filter to run along side your existing one.
Salt one tablespoon to 5 gallons.