Bump On My Oranda Goldfish, What Is It?

Hi,

I have 3 goldfishes in a 55 gallon tank (1 oranda, 1 black moor, 1 fantail).
3 days ago after work, I noticed my oranda has a little lump on his face, it was also a little cottony looking, more like fuzzy than really like cotton.
I assumed it was fungus disease. That night when I realized he had something, I wasn't able to go to any pet stores to purchase treatment so the next day, I check up on him and his lump got bigger and have little black dots or smudges on top of the very same lump. It still had white fuzzy stuff on it too but became less fuzzy.
It got me weirded out because based on what I looked up and google , it didn't really look like fungus disease anymore. I mean...the fuzziness became less but the lump got bigger, and on top of that, black dots on the lump?
So I took a picture of him and took him to my local fish store. I showed them the picture but she was saying that it most likely could be fungus disease. I asked her about the lump and she said one of their goldfishes had a lump on its side and it got cured using: Seachem Paraguard.
She didn't know anything about the black dots being on top of the lump but I purchased the Paraguard because I've heard great things about it.

"Eradicates ectoparasites and fungal, bacterial, and viral lesions"

If my oranda goldfish's illness falls under any of those (because it's a mystery right now), I'm hoping it'll go well.

I only did 1 day dosage right now, the 2nd dosage will happen again tonight after work.

But I'm still looking around for more answers to what it could be. I came across this disease: Lymphocystis.

It looks the most similar. If it is lymphocystis, I read that there is no treatment for it and to get rid of it, I gotta increase the goldfish's immunity and keep him stress free. And it's a long term process for him to get better. I can deal with that, if it IS lymphocystis.

My water parameters:
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 80

My filter:
Marineland canister filter c360 (and yes I took out carbon for the medication)

My oranda is swimming well, no bottom sitting or gasping at the top. The only abnormal behavior is that he gets a little excited about the food and when the pellets do fall to the floor, it's like he can't see them and just zones out. By the time the other goldfishes ate pretty much all of it, he starts grazing. The lump is not obstructing his view... the only thing that's actually covering his sight is his own head...because he's an oranda and their face skin does somewhat cover his eyes as he's growing.

Has anyone been in this situation? What do you think it is? And if it is lymphocystis, any advice to help him get better?

What I fear is...that it's a tumor. I really hope it isn't but I'm going to continue the treatment with Seachem Paraguard and see what happens.

I have a picture of him.

 

Looks to me like a tumor. Reason I'm saying that is the pattern of GOOD FLESH around the growth ... looks like the growth may have been coming up for awhile.

I could be wrong tho.

I would keep up with the parasite treatments, don't overload it though.

Also - I guess there's no way you can get those nitrates down to something under 20ppm? Lower the better.

EDIT: Regarding your goldfish's ability to "see" food. I have known many goldfish owner's who have had one of their telescopes lose BOTH eyes. They do fine and can find food without seeing. I myself am the proud owner of a ONE EYED dragon-eye goldfish. It's not a problem.

 

Looks to me like a tumor. Reason I'm saying that is the pattern of GOOD FLESH around the growth ... looks like the growth may have been coming up for awhile.

I could be wrong tho.

I would keep up with the parasite treatments, don't overload it though.

Also - I guess there's no way you can get those nitrates down to something under 20ppm? Lower the better.

EDIT: Regarding your goldfish's ability to "see" food. I have known many goldfish owner's who have had one of their telescopes lose BOTH eyes. They do fine and can find food without seeing. I myself am the proud owner of a ONE EYED dragon-eye goldfish. It's not a problem.

Ahh man... I really hope it isn't a tumor. There was a bit of a bump about 2 weeks ago or so, on the same spot... I just thought he ran into a jagged rock (which I removed) and the skin was healing.

I'll definitely keep up with the treatment to see what changes. My nitrate is high. I gotta do a lot of partial water changes to lower that.

Tumor is a possibility...but I'm open to hearing more suggestions or ideas of what's going on.

 

There was a bit of a bump about 2 weeks ago or so, on the same spot... I just thought he ran into a jagged rock (which I removed) and the skin was healing.

The time's I've seen tumors on goldfish ... it usually starts out as a "bump" underneath the flesh but then the tumor grows and ruptures through the skin. There are probably external tumors also but the only one's I've experienced are ones that begin internally, and then grow through the flesh.

Whether it's tumor, or a viral infection ... I would recommend getting the fish into as "pristine" a water environment as possible - this would be particularly true if it's NOT a tumor.

Three fancies in a 55 gallon should be fine and you should be able to keep nitrates under 20pmm for at least about three days before you'd need a water change. Not overfeeding them and keeping the filters cleaned (I never let my goldfish filters go more than three weeks without a cleaning).

When I do water changes - I do MASSIVE ones ... like in the neighborhood of 75% percent or more. Goldfish aren't stressed by large water changes.

I have a nitrate-reduction strategy in place that is rather too complicated to explain here. It will either keep the nitrates in my 72-gallon with four fancies at either ZERO for a week ... or it won't work at all and I'll have to change water every three / four days to keep it under 20ppm.

 

The time's I've seen tumors on goldfish ... it usually starts out as a "bump" underneath the flesh but then the tumor grows and ruptures through the skin. There are probably external tumors also but the only one's I've experienced are ones that begin internally, and then grow through the flesh.

Whether it's tumor, or a viral infection ... I would recommend getting the fish into as "pristine" a water environment as possible - this would be particularly true if it's NOT a tumor.

Three fancies in a 55 gallon should be fine and you should be able to keep nitrates under 20pmm for at least about three days before you'd need a water change. Not overfeeding them and keeping the filters cleaned (I never let my goldfish filters go more than three weeks without a cleaning).

When I do water changes - I do MASSIVE ones ... like in the neighborhood of 75% percent or more. Goldfish aren't stressed by large water changes.

I have a nitrate-reduction strategy in place that is rather too complicated to explain here. It will either keep the nitrates in my 72-gallon with four fancies at either ZERO for a week ... or it won't work at all and I'll have to change water every three / four days to keep it under 20ppm.

Thank you for your response. I'll do a water change tomorrow, try to get it to 20ppm. I would do it tonight except my sink water has traces of ammonia in it. I go to my local fish store to get their filtered freshwater because I trust their water over mine million times over.
I've already cleaned the filter medias inside my canister.

I'll monitor the poor little fella closely and just do whatever it is to keep it IDEAL. (I know it should be kept ideal no matter what)

Let's say it is a tumor, you think feeding him garlic would give him a slightly better chance at fighting back? (Besides keeping the tank's environment good) I hear garlic helps with immunity.

 

Traces of ammonia in your tap, are actually a good thing ... for the fish tank anyway ...

I have .5 ammonia right out of my tap. PRIME completely makes this non-toxic for the fish ... but it can still be processed by the tank's biofilter ... so this is extra ammonia for your biofilter to chew on and will actually give it a "boost" (which is often needed after a water change). You've made the ammonia non-toxic for your fish for at least 24 hours using PRIME (and SeaChem says PRIME locks ammonia for 48 hours I believe - but I don't trust it past 24).

So bottom line, you're feeding your biofilter a bit of extra "food" and not hurting the fish.

Anytime I get an ammonia spike ... I change water but that might not get rid of it all ... so I dose the tank with prime to make sure what's left doesn't harm the fish while the biofilter clears it. PRIME is a MIRACLE and can be used in all kinds of situations.

 

Traces of ammonia in your tap, are actually a good thing ... for the fish tank anyway ...

I have .5 ammonia right out of my tap. PRIME completely makes this non-toxic for the fish ... but it can still be processed by the tank's biofilter ... so this is extra ammonia for your biofilter to chew on and will actually give it a "boost" (which is often needed after a water change). You've made the ammonia non-toxic for your fish for at least 24 hours using PRIME (and SeaChem says PRIME locks ammonia for 48 hours I believe - but I don't trust it past 24).

So bottom line, you're feeding your biofilter a bit of extra "food" and not hurting the fish.

Anytime I get an ammonia spike ... I change water but that might not get rid of it all ... so I dose the tank with prime to make sure what's left doesn't harm the fish while the biofilter clears it. PRIME is a MIRACLE and can be used in all kinds of situations.

Okay, I'll do a water change tonight. And I have Seachem Prime too. I'll use it accordingly.
Do you think garlic will help though? Whether or not it helps with immunity, I'll feed him some veggies drenched in garlic juice. I've been feeding them just pellets for too long.

Thank you again for being so responsive.

 

Hold off on the water change until you test the pH of your tap. If you switch water sources you need to do so gradually. A big pH swing will cause you MORE problems!!

Garlic, I haven't had much luck with but others swear by it. It might work.

The #1 thing is to always address water quality first. NOTHING else will ever work if the fish are in water that is not good quality. SICK fish need pristine water conditions.

 

Hold off on the water change until you test the pH of your tap. If you switch water sources you need to do so gradually. A big pH swing will cause you MORE problems!!

Garlic, I haven't had much luck with but others swear by it. It might work.

The #1 thing is to always address water quality first. NOTHING else will ever work if the fish are in water that is not good quality. SICK fish need pristine water conditions.

My PH is at 8.2. With that, I need to check the sink water PH level to see if it'll match with my current tank water. What if the PH level in my tank is off by like... .2 ppm, more or less? If being off by a little is too drastic, should I do just 10-15% partial water change? (to do it gradually, like you say)