Hi, I hope you can help.

We have 3 goldfish in a 140lt tank. It has been set up about 4 years now. We have a goldfish and two Oranda.

Wee Walt has had a skin condition for a number of months now - I can't identify it from any photos of fish diseases. Initially it started as a lump on his side, we thought it was a wart as at the same time a similar lesion grew on his fin. This one has continue to grow, looking like a wart or similar but the one on his side is causing us concern.

Over the months he has had the lesion it has sometimes nearly disappeared, only to restart again. Lately it has bled but he may have caught it. He is not unwell, eats well, swims as normal and enjoys the company of the other two fish (they rest next to each other). He doesn't appear to be in any distress - no funny movements or trying to scrape his side against things that I would suspect he would do if it is irritating him. The two other fish have no such lesions.

We have given him perhaps 4-5 separate courses of medication in the tank over time, the latest Protozin ie we have tried fungal treatments and bacterial.

Over the last 2 days it his skin has deteriorated and it looks like an ulcer. He is currently being treated with Protozin.

I hope these pictures help.

Photos now attached. They are a couple of weeks' old and the lesion is more 'angry' looking today.

No photos if you are using 'attach file' you can only do one per post, have another go?

Hi Ange

That sounds a bit like Lymphocystis which is a virus.

Have a look on google images and let us know.

Thanks for your quick replies - I've googled lymphcystis and it certainly looks like the lesions on Walt. I'll have a good read. I was hoping there was something topical I could paste onto the wound.

I'll attach a 2nd photo of the harder lump on his fin.

Thanks so much for your help.

Attach file:

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  Walt1 small.jpg (321.94 KB)

This is the harder lump or tumour on his fin.

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  Walt fin sm.jpg (329.18 KB)

That does look like Lymphcystis indeed. It's a virus, a bit similar to warts in humans. The coming and going and wart like appearance was a clue, as both are true of this virus.

Cancer (tumours) even if benign don't come and go, they just carry on growing.

Best thing for him is to stop using meds, there is no treatment for this and just ensure his water quality is uber clean and safe. It's not very infectious at all, the other fish may never show any signs of it and many goldish will live a long and happy life despite this.

Hope that puts your mind at rest, it just looks a bit awful doesn't it?

Thanks so much Violet. Your advice has put my mind at rest.

Other than keeping a clean tank etc is there a 'savlon' equivalent for fish, that I can paste on the lesion on his side, to stop further infection? This is the lesion that comes and goes and has been bloody (the one on the fin keeps growing slowly and never looks 'sore').

I've just been looking at some other pics too, just to satisfy myself that there is nothing else.

The lump on his tail certainly looks like other pics of Lymphcystis I've just checked/pics we have seen here before. There is something though called Aeromonas Salmonicida (fish ulcer - again have another look at images) and as that pic of the issue on his side is not too clear, could you just have a closer look at him? Ulcers would generally be fairly pink in the middle with a ring of white dying, necrotic tissue round the outside edge, generally much smoother looking than the other blob he has.

That would require a vet visit and antibiotic injections really as far as I am aware Post back once you have had a look.....

Some clearer pics would be great, as V says I'm not sure on lympho, it looks too 'angry' somehow That one on his side, it looks like it's coming out of his body and splitting if that makes sense? From what I know of lympho it's more a surface thing, like cauliflower lumps. Have a read of this for some more info:

http://www.fishtanksandponds.co.uk/fish-health/lymphocystis.html

I think my Rocket has lympho which manifests on her head in times of stress. Hers was worse when she had some other health issues and has not reappeared since she had a long course of antibiotic injections from the vet. It didn't really look like the thing in your pics, it was quite 'clean' and was just a lumpy thing on her head.

If it's splitting open, or seems to be coming out from the body rather than sitting as a lump on top of it I think we might need to think again Are there some red spots near the base of his tail?