ristin

OK, maybe that title was a bit dramatic.
We were given an established tank with fish. I didn't want them, but was overruled by the wife. However, once they were here, I got really attached to the fish and enjoy having them.

We have a Pleco, Weather Loach, 2-Fantails and 2 that I'm not sure what they are. I think they are Bubble eyes? They look like goldfish, but are black and have bubble eyes. I'm going to call the fish in question, Bob, so I don't have to type bubble eye so much.
Bob is a black bubble eye with a globoid body shape. About 2 months ago, Bob developed a white pimple looking spot on his side a few milimeters behind his gill outlet. At first I thought it might be ICH but I took a picture to my local fish shop and they said it was not ICH. I also took a water sample and they said my water was excellent. The white pimple grew significantly over the next two days, and finally exploded, leaving a 1mm hole in the side of Bob. At the fish stores recommendation, I started using a half dose of aquarium salt. I figured Bob was history, but the hole healed over and within a few days there was no evidence anything was wrong. During this, Bob's appetite and activity levels were normal. Bob is very active and social.
Couple months later, Bob has two of these white pimples, one on each side and in different locations. One near his tail and one near his gill outlet, but on the other side of his body. The spot on near his gill outlet, grew fast and was an angry red color for two days, but now is white and about 3mm in diameter. Bob's appetite and activity levels are normal. I just looked at Bob and see the pimple near his gill outlet has exploded and there is about a 2mm hole in his side. There is no fluid excretion that I can see. The white pimple near his tail has gone away.
Any idea what this could be?

I perform weekly water changes and vaccumn the tank every other weekend. I run a Tetra Tech 10-20 filter and use a half dose of aquarium salt.

Thanks

mathas

I realize this post will probably sound like I'm presenting you with a list of things you're doing wrong, and I don't really intend it that way, but to hasten recovery and prevent future problems, it helps to be aware of certain things.

So to get some of the bad news out of the way first, your tank is grossly overstocked.

A general guideline for goldfish is 20 gallons for one, and 10 gallons for each additional goldfish. This is in part because they produce a lot of waste, and can quickly pollute the water of a tank that is too small. Add to that another messy fish, your pleco (which can reach upwards of 18+ inches given suitable accommodations), and you have the makings for recurrent ammonia/nitrite problems. I would assume that the weather loach, with it's potential size of 10", also produces a fair amount of waste, but I'm not certain.

I bring this up because even if you are successful at treating the current problem, you are likely to run into further issues in the future if you keep the tank stocked the way it currently is.

Two other potential sources of stress are salt and temperature; neither plecos nor loaches tend to tolerate salt well, and plecos need warmer water than do weather loaches or goldfish.

Now on to specifics... one thing I would definitely recommend is investing in your own liquid test kit (such as the API Freshwater Master Kit), rather than rely on your local store to test it for you.

As far as Bob's blister/pimple problem goes, can you provide any further details? Are the white growths translucent or opaque? Can you possibly post any pictures? It may be worth reading over the list at http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_dis...disorders.html and see if anything matches what you've observed.

ristin

Thanks for the reply so long ago.

Yes, I know the tank is over stocked and have been looking for a bigger tank.,but money is very tight right now. We were given this tank with all the fish and I think if we hadn't taken them, she would have dumped them....

She claims to have had the tank and fish for over ten years and based on the grunge in the tank I doubt she ever cleaned it. The first time I vacumned the gravel, the water was black. Since I know we're over stocked, I do weekly water changes and I vacumn ever other weekend. Now the vacumned water only has a little gunk in it each time. I change filters often as well.

On your recommendation, I have stopped using the aquarium salt.

I wasn't able to get a picture of Bob's pimples. They appear, pop, and heal fairly quickly. I have a very old digital camera and it's not quick enough to catch Bob as he swims by. He had 1 more outbreak after my first post and has been fine since then.

I followed the fishyfarmcy link and reviewed the ailments listed. None really matched what I am seeing. If he breaks out again, I'll try to snap a picture.

Blub

I think the best thing right now it to get a bigger tank, or give some fish to your LFS. If you need a bigger tank, Craigslist has good deals and freecycle is great for these things.

ristin

Bought a water test kit today.

GH=180
KH=120
pH=8.5
Nitrite=0
nitrate=20

Blub

Ammonia?

What test kit did you get?

Those levels look good. I suspect it is down to crowded conditions.

Fishies-for-me

I had what sounds like the same thing many years ago in goldies I had at the time. Other than unsightly it never seemed to bother the fish much. I never found out what it was and eventually it went away ...or I stopped keeping goldies...whichever came first I can't remember as this was almost 30 yrs ago.