# large bump on side of goldfish



## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

Hello everyone,
I've had my 5 fancy goldfish for almost 1 year, 4 of them started off as 1 inch and now they are about 4" now. The other is a larger 5” gold fish. I believe they are ryukin gold fish. I have the 5 of them in a 35 gallon tank, 95gph filtration, heater to keep the temp btw 72-75. I wipe algae off the glass, and rinse out the decorations (minimal decorations, 2 fake plants n a small bridge with no sharp corners) and filters. once a month i do a 25-30% water change and weekly I usually just replace the water as its being evaporated. I do not have any water parameter testing kits. 

The first month I initially got the fish, one got cotton ball fungus and another got clamped fin, both of which i successfully treat. now i have a different problem and nooo idea what happened or how to treat it. 

One of my goldies, Twiddle Dee (he always seemed to be the healthiest one out of them all) suddenly started getting this large bump on its left side, right behind the gills. it looks like a large boil (like something pushing up from under the skin)and i guess it started appearing about a weak ago. I havent observed them much this past week b/c of school but i remember thinking his one side looked kinda raised but with his coloring its hard to tell. Well yesterday I noticed it had grown substantially larger, I’ve upload a pic n u can see how his one side has a large bump on it. There’s no damage seen on the outside, doesn’t look like a cut or scrape. The tip of the bump looks white like the scale peeled back due to the pressure from underneath. There's nothing really for him to damage himself against, the bridge decor in there is kinda smooth with no sharp edges. The only other things r the external canister filters or the heater. Is this a physical injury? Or a parasite? Should I do a water change and turn up the heat? 

Any info on this would be great help, here is the pic of my Twiddle Dee and his injury


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Sorry, the pictures not working. Try again?


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

heres the pic again


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

anyone?


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

I'm probably not gonna help much, but I've always seen Goldfish with those bumps. They're kinda like pimples... Obviously there isn't much you can do to remove it without hurting the fish. If you keep your tank clean with no ammonia no nitrates... he could be fine with it or even heal up. 

I think with 5 goldfish in a 35 gallon you're overstocked, not only because of the size of the fish but how much waste they produce... I think you need a 70 gallon filter just to keep up as well as with frequent water changes.

Is the fish showing other signs of stress? Rapid breathing, clamped fins?


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

no signs of stress, hes acting normal, swimming fine and eating plenty. the bump grew pretty fast, in a few days and he seems to be leaning to the heavier side now and then. 

I read on another forum that it could be either an abscess or a parasitic infection, either way should I do a water change, like 25% or isolate him as of yet? I dont have another tank but I could possible get a 5 gallon tank to house him in temporarily if he starts showing signs of deteriorating. 

additional information: diet consists of tetra fin goldfish fakes (they refuse to eat any other brand), freeze dried blood worms and occasionally cooked split peas.

the water is in good condition, 95gph of filtration and regular water changes. and there's minimal decorations, decreased them as they surprisingly grew fairly rapidly. This tanks going to have to do until they get a bit bigger and i can afford a larger tank.


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

squishy said:


> no signs of stress, hes acting normal, swimming fine and eating plenty. the bump grew pretty fast, in a few days and he seems to be leaning to the heavier side now and then.
> 
> I read on another forum that it could be either an abscess or a parasitic infection, either way should I do a water change, like 25% or isolate him as of yet? I dont have another tank but I could possible get a 5 gallon tank to house him in temporarily if he starts showing signs of deteriorating.
> 
> ...


I think as long as the other fish aren't bothering him, he should be okay in the tank. I'd keep an eye on him though. If he looks more bloated than just having an awkward bump it might be parasites, if it's just a bump it might just be a growth of some kind. Anyway you can get a side view picture of the fish, showing the bump? Picture isn't too clear.


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

Its hard to get a good picture of him from the side partly because of the location of the bump and his coloring and my crappy camera, you wouldn't be able to see it. I tried 
The side of the fish where the bump is seems swollen, he's less active, i think he eyes seems slightly bulgy. The bump is throwing him off kilter and hes swimming slightly to the side now.
I did a 25% water change, and bought frozen blood worms in case he was getting bloated from the food but he didnt eat it and i gave him his normal fish flakes and he ate that. Im debating on whether I should turn the heat up to 80 degress (or 85?). Im thinking of separating him, adding salt treatment and increased temp in a quarantine tank? and antibiotic fish flakes in case it is an abscess or internal bacterial infection it would help and if its a parasite the salt would help once it bursts right? ahhhhhhhhh i feel like im going nutzo


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## baeya (Oct 2, 2011)

I'm mostly into koi and have a koi for dummies book. Do a google search for "bloat" or "dropsy" and see what you come up with. The symptoms in the book are: fish swells with the inflammation (sometimes more so on one side thatn the other).
The pressure pushes the scales away from the body.
The pressure on the fish's air bladder makes the fish swim awkwardly.
The fish's eyes protrude.

I'm not an expert by no means, but a couple of the symptoms were the same. Also, you stated in your first post that you do not have a test kit for the water parameters. PLEASE get one. You may be surprised. 

Good Luck


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

I don't think its dropsy because its not a bloated abdomen its a bump on his side, just behind the gills but not near his belly. More like an abscess and the area around just that is swelling. It kinda started out looking like a pebble was stuck under the skin and then it started getting swollen and inflamed around it. 
I've had fish when I was younger and I've never seen this before. The tank has been established for almost a year and there haven't been any new additions into the tank. I've just removed some of the decorations as they've outgrown them. None of the other fish in the tank are showing any signs of distress.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Fancy goldfish have been bred to enhance deformities so chances are it could very well be a tumor.I looked at the pic but I couldnt tell anything by it.

Sad to know that because of what people think are cool looking fish,the fish suffers in the long run.


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

agreed, I got them when they were small and they just looked like normal goldfish with the long tails, as they grew they started getting the large humps on their backs and became really fat. Had to change their diet because of the gas. My 1 fish, Flipsy, has always had the bad swim bladder issue and as soon as he eats he just cant keep himself down the rest of the day. I've only ever had comets before so I didnt expect any of this. I hope its not a tumor  the picture if a view from the top and the one side is more bloated than the other and raised up, on the left side of the picture.... But I guess I should just leave him in the tank for now, and see if he acts much different... or buy antibiotics fish food if it is a possible bacterial infections to maintain it before it goes sepsis? 
I think he has pop eye now too or I could be getting paranoid, both eyes seems slightly bulged


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

so I quarantined the sick fish in a 5 gallon tank for 8 days and gave him 8 days of fish antibiotics (Maracyn two). The temperature was risen up to 78 - 80 degrees, it got a 25% water change everyday (partially with water from my established tank). I have 2 filters in there but they wouldnt suck up his poo (too big for them i guess) so i removed them myself every day with a small dropper. I tried feeding him some antibiotic fish pellets but he didn't like them and normally spit them out and then they would dirty up the tank so i switched back to his normal fish flakes. 

Currently he is back in the 35 gallon with the other 4 goldies. He is happy to be back. The swelling around the bump has gone down, as has his popeye (I think, i dont remember what they looked like b4 so i dont know if they aever actually got big??) the bump is still there but much smaller. He is just as active, eating a lot swimming a lot and acting normal. 

I think he got really stressed out in the other tank and scraped himself against something b/c he is missing a scale on the 1 side but it doesnt look infected and its the main reason i extended the trestment from the 5 days until i ran out medication (8 days). the 5 gal has some black gravel on the bottom, 1 fake plant from the large tank to hide behind, 2 filters a heater and a thermometer. He is kinda scared of me right now where as before he used to let me pet him! I hope i can gain his trust again with patience but i think i can rest a little easier now that he's visibly started to heal (the bump will probably be a permanent battle wound huh?)


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## seth6xx (Jan 8, 2012)

My standard goldfish has exactly the same problem; a bump that is growing just behind his gills. I believe he nicked it on something sharp and I hope he gets better with a little time. I don't have a smaller tank to quarantine him in but I will just keep an eye on him.
Anyway, thanks for this thread, it reassured me that it probably isn't anything infectious.


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

Well my goldfish suffered a long painfull death . He lived that way for 4 months, I treated him with whatever I could but nothing helped (aquarium salt, sulfa antibiotic, doxy, an antigungal). I feel like it was an infection but I couldnt figure out what was wrong, maybe a tumor. I dont think he cut it on anything because the only decor i have in the tank is 2 plastic plants. His lump formed randomly and slowly got bigger, he got sluggish and then he started bloating up like a blimp and the lump tore open! he was so bloated that his scale were sticking out and he couldnt eat or swim. The current from the filter was dragging his face across the bottom (gravel) of the tank. He came and went from this phase for 4 months before he finally died, it was painful to watch and I tried everything to help him.  I still miss my tweedle dee

That aside I want to help you, If you think he nicked himself on something and the wound is open, then I would suggest adding aquarium salt to the tank and treating him with a triple sulfa antibiotic (treat the whole tank) or a tetracycline antibiotic. Treat for the duration it says on the package and if he is still not getting better, give a 2nd round of treatment. Dont stop treating just because he starts looking better, finish the course of treatment. Also remove any decortation that you think he may have hurt himself on b/c if its too rough then another fish could get hurt on it too.
If the wound is not open I would suggest adding on an antibiotic fish food and feeding him that (along with the aquarium salt and antibiotic) but that may be hard with a bunch of other fish in the tank but give it a try.


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## seth6xx (Jan 8, 2012)

Hi, thanks for your comment. I'm sorry to hear about your little fishy, you truely did everything you could.

I'm fairly confident my fish will be OK as the lump has stopped growing, he seems absolutely fine, and it isn't an open wound and doesn't look like it ever was a wound really - just a swelling. I may try that antibiotic food you mentioned however, thanks.

I wish you the very best for lump free fish! :fish5:


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

Thanks  my other 4 goldies are all doing fine, healthy and getting bigger. I still treat the tank with aquarium salt, its really good for their skin so I would suggest always using that in the tank. The antibiotic fish pellets worked well for him but they were a pain to give. they were tiny and sank fast but if ur fish swims fine i would give him that until the bump goes away. good luck with ur fishie!


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## Laurencia7 (May 19, 2012)

Sorry about his death, it's hard. It's debatable whether or not your tank is overstocked. I have done just fine with smaller gallons and more fish. But the more fish you have the more you have to check, and less gets noticed. Keep an eye on their skin, the faster you see signs, the easier to treat. 

Ryukin's are very ill bred. They have small heads and fat bodies. I had a few because my mother liked them and they all suffered from bloat, and died very long and painful deaths. Never again! 

I stick with Orandas, while they are bred in different ways they are more hardy. I had my very first fish, an Oranda, and she lived for 12 yrs. 

Just keep an eye on the others, and if you see even the smallest bump/patch/spot, research and treat. 

Also, get emer kits of different meds and water testing kits. If you keep an eye on your ammonia levels, you can know if problems will come. Change your water 25% as you are, they will only get bigger.


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

The tank has bout 95gph filtration and there is only 2 plastic plants in the tank, no other decor so alot of swimming room. It also has air stone on most of the day. I haven't had Any problems others than Bloating with the other fish. I still dOnt know what made my fish sick, wether it was n internal infection that got really bad or a tumor due to genetics or what. I don't think the one that died was a ryukin cuz he didnt have the top bump, he was just a fantail Goldie.


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## sazzle1109 (Jun 11, 2012)

Hi, I'm extremely new to all this but I wonder if anyone can help? We acquired a Biorb 30ltr tank plus fish off my neighbour last July/Aug. the tank had 3 goldfish- 1 fantailed and 1 fancy tailed and 1 standard goldy and 6 male guppies. She'd had them together like this for around 2 years but the goldies were around 5years old. One by one the guppies died-my neighbour said of old age. She then gave me 4girl guppies. 1died with a few months and then the tank seemed settled. Sadly one morning Ellie the standard goldy died-no rhyme or reason we were gutted-they have such characters! The tank went back to normal all happily swimming. Until last month when we noticed Amy the fancy tailed had a lump on her side by behind her gill. I went to the fish place and explained he said it was a bacterial infection as my water was ok bar from a slightly high nitrate level. We medicated the whole tank like he said with Waterlife Myxazin Fin Rot and Bacteria done a 20%water change just before and took out the carbon/ziolite. We treated the tank like it stated and in that time we noticed our beautiful Sprinkles our fantailed fish was looking a bit red(she was a pearly colour with 1 fin and a curve from birth-beautiful with big blue eyes). We went back to the shop and explained this but our water was fine and he said its just becaus of the treatment and to put the carbon back in. Next day Sprinkles was worst gasping for breathe and very red and very sluggish. Amy the other fish was fine albeit her lump and the guppies fine too. It was awful as I googled what could be wrong but I just didn't know-desperate I sent my brother out to get some Interpet Anti Bacterial Treatment done another 20% water change and took the carbon out.....she was so ill and it was so upsetting I just couldn't save her. I watched her die as she looked at me the whole time😢. She died. I took her out and as soon as she was gone the guppies attack Amy so I put them in a new tank on their own. But I've still got Amy with her original problem of the lump! It's getting bigger and she losing her scales. She has had ****** string poos with the odd green one. In fact I think she's getting more lumps. Her personalty has changed-perhaps as she's alone or perhaps as she's I'll? I've still not put the carbon back in and haven't done the rest of the Anti Bacteria treatment as I don't want to make things worst! 
You must think I'm a bad fish keeper for not having the knowledge but I really do care about them and as I write I still cry about Sprinkles-please help me!


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Well I see this hasn't been covered much so I will go there. I would recommend a larger tank for your fish. Goldfish of any variety have a very ineffecient digestive system which makes them very dirty fish. I would recommend getting a 55g tank and at least 400gph of filtration. What this will do is keep the water in a much more pure state. In this case tank size has nothing to do with swim room, it's trying to keep the toxins in the water at a lower level. If you can keep a fish in cleaner water they stay healthier and do much better.


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## squishy (Apr 13, 2011)

I think the moved threw the tank chemistry out of whack. It was much much too small a tank for all those fish (only about 8 gallons there) but the previous owner somehow manager to get it balanced but it just needed 1 little change to tip it over the edge. 

I would say keep up with daily partial water changes with your goldfish, keep the filter in place, add a bit of aquarium salt. The disease seems to have spread far so its pretty hard to treat them as is. Try feeding antibiotic fish food, that may help getting the medication into him internally rather than treating the water.  good luck 

on a side note u have male and female guppies together? bad idea you are gonna have a million of them soon cuz they breed like crazy. Also the number of females should outnumber the males so they dont get harassed. I say best to separate them and if they are fancy guppies they need to have a heater in the tank!. I would say keep the 6 males in a 10 gallon tank and separate the 4 females. Dont keep them with the goldfish.


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