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Glasstapper
11-05-2006, 05:47 PM
Hey guys. When I brought home my new gouramis last week, I noticed one of them had a very small, smooth, white lump on his side up near his gill. His behavior was and still is very normal. He's just as greedy as the others and is swimming around normally.

In the past couple of days, I have noticed the lump protruding a little more, and today it has turned a pink/dark pink color. Also, it's no longer smooth. Kind of a lumpy lump? hehe.

Anyway, I took a couple of photos, but they're not of the best clarity. you can still the lump, though. There's also a white patch on his tail, but I don't know if that has anything to do with that. It may just be a discoloration. I'm looking over at them now, and all three are playing with each other and swimming all around.

Ok, before and after pics:
BEFORE
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g91/glasstapper/fish/lump.jpg
(very white, small and smooth)

AFTER
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g91/glasstapper/fish/IMG_1038.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g91/glasstapper/fish/IMG_1037.jpg


tank conditions:
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
temp (I just raised it from the usual 80F to 83F)
WC 20% weekly with gravel siphoned


*edit* I forgot to mention that I also took a video of my tank the other day, and you can see how the lump is big, but still white and smooth. It's in the video section with the title "my fish".

Lady Hobbs
11-05-2006, 08:09 PM
Definitely not normal. Looks like it could be an ulcer or something.

Lady Hobbs
11-07-2006, 12:19 AM
I wonder if this fish had an anchor worm and it left the area infected. Sure is odd looking. How large is the lump now?

Glasstapper
11-07-2006, 02:22 AM
well, believe it or not, the lump is smoother today. I don't know if that's a good sign or not, but it appears to be a little smoother. Still dark pink, though.

It's not looking good for all three of them, guys. The guy with the lump has some missing scales above one of his eyes. It's very small, so I don't know... like 3 scales are gone? Also, that white spot on his tail is now a small split. And the other two? Dorsal and anal fins are looking pretty ragged with chunks missing. I see them fighting and chasing each other around all the time. I wonder if they are running into things and stressing each other out? Check that... I just looked again and all 3 of them have missing scales on their foreheads!

All I've done so far is raise the temperature from 80F to 83F. I would medicate, but I don't know what to medicate for and the wrong one could make things worse.

I'm hoping that they are just being a little rough while establishing territores and this will soon subside.

*crosses fingers*

Lady Hobbs
11-07-2006, 02:26 AM
Sounds to me as these fish weren't all that healthy when you got them from the fish store.

Glasstapper
11-07-2006, 02:46 AM
ok, here's some more pictures of the fin damage.

the first picture is of the guy with the lump. you can see he's missing a few scales along his body and the pointy tip of his dorsal fin is gone.

the second picture is of two of them fighting. You can see a little of the missing scales on his head and the tail split.

the third picture is of one of the other guys with a huge chunk missing out of the dorsal, and a small chunk out of the anal fin.

and the last picture is a closeup of the second picture of the guy's forehead with the little patch of no scales.

Glasstapper
11-07-2006, 02:49 AM
Sounds to me as these fish weren't all that healthy when you got them from the fish store.

It's looking to be that way, hobbs. I chose this store because it was privately owned, and the owner himself was there working and helped me on a couple of occasions. I inspected their tanks, and although some of them seemed to have some algae problems, I never saw any dead or obviously sick fish. He's also the same guy that I bought those corys from where 3 out of the 4 died. I thought my tetras killed them, but maybe he just has bad fish.

Looks like I will have to go searching again for another store. :(