Pimples on my goldfish?

Question

I have a fantail goldfish and a black placosthamus ( I'm sorry about the spelling) Recently, I changed the water in its 10 gallon tank. I treated the water and added the appropriate amount of aquarium salt and made sure that it was good and ready for the tank before I put it in. Now my goldfish has developed what looks like pimples on its scales, but this is only on one side. I would like to know what is wrong with my fish and if this problem could possibly spread to my other fish. I would also like to know how to treat this. Please do not leave any rude remarks because it is a waste of my time as well as yours. Any help with this would be awesome. Thank you.

This isn't ick. I know because the fish had it once and this is like oozy pimples with pus or something. Not just salt like specks.

Answer 1

It doesn't sound like ich - I've never seen it where I would call the symptoms "oozy".

Could you post a photo (please post here, use photobucket or other photo-sharing software), or give more description of the "pimples" (size, number, changing color or shape?) Is the "white" a clear white or is it iridescent? I'll stop back in a bit to see if more info is posted.

ADDITION: Fish pox is certainly a possibility. This can affect any coldwater fish, not just carp/koi, so your goldfish would be a candidate. To know if it's this, there's usually a waxy iridesence to the pimples and they may change to a pink-red-gray color over time. This is belived to be viral, and go away on its own over 7-10 days. No major harm to your fish, and since you've already added salt, this should prevent and bacterial or fungal infections. Just raise the temperature a little and do some water changes to keep the water quality up.

Tubercules for a breeding male are another possibility, but I doubt these would only be on one side of the head.

Another possibility I came across was nodular disease. I've never dealt with this. It's caused by a "rapidly reproducing sporozoan" which seems to fit your time scale. One of the symptoms is that it may affect your fish's balance. You didn't mention anything about this. Is your fish swimming normally? If this is the cause, there's no known treatment that I can find. Once the spores have errupted from the fish, they'll be all through your tank. From the souce I used (I'll give you the link below) recommends destroying the infected fish and sterilizing everything in the tank before using it with fish again.

I'll cross my fingers and hope it's one of the first two, for your fishes' sakes!

Answer 2

Are the bumps actually on the scales or does it look like they are coming up in between the scales? I have heard of some other people that have had a fish that had what they describe as pimples coming up in between the scales and popping with puss coming out. They never found out what was causing them or what they actually were but the fish eventually died. Some people say they are ulcers, some say bacterial infection, some say a form of columnaris and others have no clue.

I'm gonna keep my eye on this question to see if anyone else knows what this is.

Apparently carp pox is becoming a problem with both koi and goldfish, so much so that shipping koi has stopped in some places and the shipping of goldfish may do the same. I don't know much about carp pox but it might be something to look into.

Answer 3

A few possibilities come to mind, some of which have been covered.

Microspora - the rapidly reproducing sporozoan that copperhead refers to. It's usually not really fast moving, but can come up in just a few days. He is correct that there is no known treatment and it can spread rapidly.

Fish pox or lymph or lympocyctis - All names for basically the same thing, a viral infection. There is no known cure but this will usually not spread and will not kill the fish. Sometimes the symptoms will go away with time, sometimes they never go away, it depends on many factors some of which are only guesses at this point. Virii are not well understood in people, much less fish.

You don;t mention how long you have had the fish or if you made any recent additions to the tank. Both can be very helpful in diagnostics, but one other possibility comes to mind and that is any one of several types of epizootics. Most likely something in the Epistylis genus. These parasites are very common in aquariums and are usually found in even quite healthy tanks at very low numbers and not harmful to fish in any way. However, at times of stress or major change (like your recent water change) they can multiply in great numbers very quickly. It would be odd to see them only on one fish and only on one side, but not impossible. The appearance of these parasites varies greatly and most websites and aquarium texts really over cover the typical appearance, but they certainly can and do appear much like you describe at times. These various parasites are all treated in the same manner, with the same medication you would use to treat ick. To my knowledge heat and salt treatments that work very well on ick have not been teasted against these parasites, so I would stick with the medicaiton approach.

I would suggest you remove the infected fish to a treatment container. Even something like a plastic trash can or storage box with an air stone will do. This is in case it's the sporozoan infestation. Treat the fish with malachite green, formalin or a combination of the two. Basically any good ick treatment for 5-7 days. At the end of that time you will have your answer. If sporozoan, the fish will most likely have died but other infected places will be visible. If viral, the areas will probably be better but still there and no new areas will be seen. If parasitic, they should be gone completely.

Best of luck and I would very much like to hear the outcome of your situation.

MM

Answer 4

"Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is a species of ciliate protozoa which parasitizes freshwater fish. This parasite covers the entire globe. It is probably the most common aquarium fish disease and there are few Aquarists that have not met it on one or more occasions..... The disease it causes is usually called ich or white spot, and becomes especially serious in enclosed areas, where it spreads quickly from one fish to another. Ich is the disease responsible for the most fatalities in freshwater aquarium fish and can cause notable damage to aquaculture. Marine ich is caused by an unrelated ciliate, Cryptocaryon."

That doesn't sound too good.

Answer 5

i have a number of purebred goldfish and it sounds like a disease called lymph, whitch is a virus related to herpes that fish carry in thier bodies and only shows symptoms during times of stress

or

a bacterial skin infection, in either case i love using Melafix with goldfish, you can get it at the pet store and use one capful per ten gallons daily for a week

its has tea tree oil and it soothes the skin and helps fight dermal bacteria,,, good luck

Answer 6

My fish, cake, has a small growth similar to your fishes. It has stopped growing and isn't quite that big. He has had it for 4 years now and he is still healthy. It could have been caused by dirt in the water even if the water looks clean there is still mild bacteria.

Answer 7

From your description I would say your fish has "ick", this is the common name not the true scientific name. It is a fungus on the scales of your fish. It isn't life threatening, usually, but it is not healthy. Go to your local pet store and ask for some Ick remover, it is a medicine you should add right to your tank.

I suggest you move the fish to a new tank because the medicine (at least the brand I use) turns the water a deep blue color, and it stains air tubing.

Hope your fishes get better soon!

Answer 8

Are they on the gills? If so, it could be breeding tubercles. But if they really on the scales then it would be ick and you should treat it accordingly. You really shouldn't house a pleco and a goldfish together, and plecos are not very salt tolerant.

Answer 9

It is a disease that causes ick im preety sure.



A$h

Answer 10

you should take your fish to a vet