FishProfiles.com Message Forums

My goldfish has a large bulge on the side of it's head. It covers the entire left gill. It has a slight redish tinge, and the bottom has a dark red splotch that looks much like a burst artery. It's fins are usually closed towards the body (they weren't normally like that). The two fins on each side have dark red splotches on them looking much like the bottom of the bulge coming out of its gill. My fish is lacking energy and has gasping, labored breathing. Also I have noticed it twitching and having convulsions. This, I hope is an acurate description of it's problems. If anyone knew what this could be a response would be greatly aprreciated. Obviously these are not all syptoms of cancer. Could this be a combination of a tumor and an infection? I am desperate for help. If you know anything concerning this or have any suggestions, your response would again be greatly appreciated.

Raised veins and burst blood vessels can be signs of ammonia poisoning, or septacaemia, or aggressive cancers, it could be an abcess or a cancer from that description, and yes it could be a combination of the two, cancers often debilitate fish making secondary infections more likely. If you can post a pic? It can help make things a bit easier to diagnose.

Goldfishdude,

I just had a problem with a sparkling gourami with a similar problem. i tried to treat the bulge for several days but unfortunetely it just got worse and worse. The fish began to isolate itself more and she looked miserable so I put her down. Often this kind of thing is untreatable and if the fish is showing signs of distress then it may be best to euthanize it rather than let it suffer.

---

Back in the saddle!

Thank you two both for responding to my plee for help . I am going to be purchasing an ammonia testing kit (I had no idea i needed it until I researched some ). It seems the cancerish bulge is now shrinking slightly after a 100% water change. Although that has changed, more blood vessels and veins are raised and possibly burst in his fins. Would this be ammonia poisoning and if so what would be your advice? I will try and post a photo and get some water readings soon (ph is good, I do have a ph tester kit!). Also I will be performing another water change over the weekend. Any advice? Thanks.

Whoa there!

Theres a few basics that need to be reiterated here.First, 100% water changes are only for extreme emergencies , ammonia is better countered gradually, perhaps aiming for a 100% change over the course of a week or two with small daily changes, if you change 100% of the water in one go you will effectively be forcing the tank into a mini-cycle by damaging the filter and pushing the ammonia and nitrite possibly higher over the next few weeks. The other problem now is that if the cause was bacterial and not because of ammonia your fish has septacaemia and you will need to use antibiotics, and that will probably damage the ailing filter still further. To ensure the filters survival you will have to treat the fish elsewhere instead of in situ, which he would have found infinately less stressful. For future reference, do the test and then change the water if required, usually a 50% change is enough to knock ammonia spikes on the head until you have a definitive test result.

To correct what you have already done ease down on the water changes, to one 10-20% change a week, and if you can get some bacterial cycling aids from your lfs to get that bacterial filter colony up and running properly asap , do so. Make sure any water changes you do have the water replaced with some quality dechlorinator and conditioner (like aquasafe by tetra for example) added.
In the meantime feed your fish sparingly so as not to overburden the filter and pollute the water.

If the fish has a bacterial infection you may need to put him in a seperate quarantine tank for treatment and just put a few fish flakes in your main tank to keep it ticking over. The treatment itself will probably have to be a bit hardcore, melafix wont make a dent on septacaemia, and you may have to ask the vet for proper antibiotics.

When hes recovered, and the old tank registering 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and less than 40 ppm nitrate, then you can pop him back in ( make sure you bag him for at least 15-20 minutes, so as to prevent thermic shock when he goes back in. Your lfs should be able to sell you a bag or two for practically nothing. Hes likely to need at least a week to recover from septacaemia in quarantine, so that gives you some time for things to sort themselves out.

If you can, please post a piccy of him, we might not be as good as vets, but we probably can tell whats up with him if we can see it. If you can, give us details of the filtration you use, your tank size etc.

If its cancer, theres nothing you can do anyway.

Hope this helps.