I have a fancy tail goldfish, not sure the age, but I've had him 3-4 years, he's big. Orange/white/calico colors I call it, fat body and huge fancytail.

Anyway, shortly after we got him, a growth developed on his dorsal fin. Very proportonal, round in shape, protrudes out both sides under the dorsal (more to one side). It grows, gets smaller, and at times I've even thought it fell off. But it always comes back, like a persistant cyst.

Now, I've noticed other bumps appearing, like 5 or 6 of them. Down both sides and rear. Not just the one under the dorsal anymore.

It doesn't appear to bother him at all, but I'm wondering what if anything I should do. It has never spread to the other fish.

Much Thanks for any help.

A single cyst here or there is pretty common with goldfish. If there are many of them, I would worry that it might be something else like lymphocystis or tuberculosis. Fish tuberculosis creates tumors that look like acne boils that can literally erupt and emit cheesy stuff. If your goldfish's bumps haven't burst open after months, it's probably not that.

I have a newer section on my site entitled, "What's that lump on my fish?" at
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health4.htm#lump

I left at least one thing off that list. Under viruses should be lymphocystis, also called cauliflower disease.

Can you post a photo of your goldfish and its growths?

Thanks Robyn, I'll try and get a pic posted this evening.

Okay. Got some pics, I'll edit here and see if they paste in. I tried using Paint to circle the areas, but the line is very thin, may not see it once they resize. We'll see.







Hey, it looks like it may have worked.

What do you think Robyn?

Thanks much.

Has anyone looked at my Freckles today? Any ideas? Robyn?

Hi Johnnyboy, I looked a the pics and they look clear to me. I can see the bumps in question. I can't offer any help but that sure is a nice looking fish :D

Thanks TLc. Yea, he's one of my favorites. I brought him inside last year.

Where's Robyn today? Maybe she's looking the sores up, but usually she's here by now.

I thought I saw her online earlier today :blink:

My next dilema is; what to do with him this year. I've had him since my pond, one of the first batch of fish I bought, he's made it through thick and thin with me, sustaining all my mystakes.

To be quite frank, out of all my 50-75 fish, he's the only one I need to overwinter inside. I'm not a tank person, just set it up for the fish, for the shortest time possible. I bought him a buddy to tank with last year, black moore, because I think they need companion, but I haven't seen him for a month. His last buddy was a black moore, but I think the dog that was visiting got him. Have never seen any trace, other than the dog being in the pond, but one day Fudge (Blk Moore) was just gone.

Here's the deal. I'm wondering how long my Freckles life span is. Do I keep buying him friends to overwinter with?; then he dies of old age, and now I have a lonely young friend? Or is Freckles okay being alone for winter in a tank?

The tank is one of those acrylic style bowed front, with a nice filteration system, like a little stream across the back and a biowheel. I think it's only 17-20 gallons though. It's amazing how small Freckles looks in the pond, next to the others, versus in a tank. The tank really shows his size, he's a fat boy, and a hit with everyone.

Thanks for letting me ramble on. All suggestions/comments are welcome.

Where am I? I get on last thing on Saturdays before going to bed. I have 12 hours of animal chores to do first. Right now, it's 7:49 pm EST, a little earlier than I usually get here. The times that show up on the forum are London times I think. I was on yesterday around 3 pm. It looks like you put up the photos 10 minutes after I left the forum for the day.

It's a little hard to see the growths in the photos but it looks like some sort of cyst or tumor. It doesn't look like it's viral and maybe not bacterial either but I can't be positive. You'd have to have a fish vet biopsy it to know for sure. Goldfish seem to get a lot of growths. There's nothing you can really do to treat it aside from the usual (good water quality with some salt, maybe antibiotics).

Freckles doesn't need to have a friend with him. I think goldfish do seem better when they have a friend but it won't physically harm them to not have one, especially just over the winter.

Fancy goldfish can live 20 years but most that avoid predators, water problems, health issues, calamities, etc. live about 8-12 years.

Good luck with Freckles! I see no tubercles on the gill plates but that could be because it's not breeding season. Do you know for sure that Freckles is male?

Thanks very very much Robyn for all the information.

Should I take closer-up photos, or do you think you've see enough? The large sore on the dorsal (last pic), you should be able to see real well (can you zoom in). I'm afraid the sore is so big, looking at it you may be thinking you're looking at the fin.

Freckles has had the dorsal sore for a couple years. This year the smaller sores on the sides are new. Interesting, the sores looked much smaller after I pulled Freckles out of the water versus under the water. Maybe the magnification of the water.

My neighbor and wife are both animal Vets. I showed them Freckles last year. Neither specialize in fish, not sure what the sore is, like you said Rob, they'd do a biopsy. The vet and I talked about lancing and trying to remove the big sore.

I really have no idea what gender Freckles is; male or female. I read the how to sex stuff; I don't seem to get it. Like tubercles, someone has to show me because I can't find them; most likely don't know what I'm looking for.

I don't think you'll be able to get better photos. Have you touched the lump? Is it like jello or hard? If it's like jello, it's probably filled with fluid or loose fat. Hard lumps tend to be tumors or cysts. I see in the last photo how it really sticks out. If you try to cut out or lance the sores (if they are liquid filled), there is always the risk of bacterial infection taking hold on the then open area. You'd also want to be sure the fish was sedated (and not overly so) and comfortable.

As for the sex of Freckles, I see no sign that the fish is male but that doesn't mean the fish is female. The males don't always have the tubercles. The fatness of the fish seems to be female but then again that could just be the variety of goldfish.