# Tumors on my goldfish!!



## bettas

I have never had any problems with this before, but one of my goldfish has white, raised tumor-growths on it and I have no idea of what they are or how to treat them. The fish does not act sick in the least, but the tumors are disgusting and I feel bad for the goldfish! Any ideas of what this disease is or how I can treat it?


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## Lupin

Hi and welcome aboard.:wave:

Here are the following questions that can help:
1. What is the size of your tank?
2. What are the occupants?
3. How long has the tank been running?
4. What are your water parameters(pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates)?
5. How do you carry out your tank maintenance?

Any pictures of your goldfish? Pictures will help us determine the disease faster.


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## bettababy

I know the tumors you speak of, and while the information that Blue requested will help tremendously, I can tell you that there is no "treatment" for this problem. The tumors are ugly, but unless you know how to properly amputate them, I suggest leaving them alone. The fish can live with them, but expect a shortened life span. There are a lot of things that contribute to this problem, and dirty water is one of them, malnutrition is another. I currently have a 6 inch oranda that was orphaned.. stuck in a dirty 37 gallon tank with 4 other goldfish... one of the others, a 5 inch comet. Fed but never cleaned, the person with no knowledge of what they were doing. The fish is now blind in 1 eye and covered in tumors, but so long as I feed him so he can see the food with his good eye, and keep his water clean, he is doing ok. The damage is permanent, and you can expect more turmors to appear, unfortunately. The better the water quality and the kind of food it's getting, the better chance the fish has of living as normal a life as possible. I have seen fish that live for 10 yrs with tumors. 
Please post the info Blue asked for, and we'll do what we can to help you sort this out as much as possible.


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## bettas

Blue said:


> Hi and welcome aboard.:wave:
> 
> Here are the following questions that can help:
> 1. What is the size of your tank?
> 2. What are the occupants?
> 3. How long has the tank been running?
> 4. What are your water parameters(pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates)?
> 5. How do you carry out your tank maintenance?
> 
> Any pictures of your goldfish? Pictures will help us determine the disease faster.


My tank is a 20-gallon with two 5" goldfish & a small pleco; it has been running for approximately 2 years. We have however had this fish for at least 12 years. I change the water about once a month, perhaps more depending on the need and have a filter & air setup; the goldfish seem happy & very active, fed once a day with the normal pelleted food. I don't have pics however; hope this helps.


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## bettababy

Can you please post water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH?
If you don't have test kits of your own, most LFS's will test your water for free, you just need to ask them to write down the EXACT numbers for those tests and the kind of test kits they used.
I am wondering about your fish... a 12 yr old goldfish SHOULD be full grown, about 8 inches. Knowing that goldfish are one of the dirtiest fish there are, and that your water changes are only done once/month, I'm concerned about your water quaity. High nitrates over a long period of time will have toxic effects, stunting the fish's growth, and causing internal damage, shortening the life of the animal and causing problems along the way, such as the tumors you have described.
How much water do you change every month? The food you're giving, is it sinking food or floating food?


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