weird growth

[Redtailrob]

Hey all.
Hopefully I can get some help on here?
My 30" L.Mammoratus/L.Longbarbis has a growth about the size of a grape on its body where it joins the Adipose fin.
Started off about a monthe ago as a small spot but has grown steadily and is now the size of a grape & looks swollen with blood/fluid.
Never seen anything like it in captive fish.
Any ideas for treatment or what it could be?
The fish seems completely unbothered by it but it looks very unsighlty.

[vieja80]

Hi ,

Is there any chance of a picture of it ? as it would help diagnosis.


You could try Melafix .

Does your catfish life with any other fish ?

[Redtailrob]

Hi all

Will see what i can do with regards to a Picture, bit difficult though as he's in a large Heated Pond so awkward to photograph from above.
Other Pond inhabitants are a RTC 20", RTCxTSN 22",C.Laticeps 18"
Royal Knifefish 16"

They all seem perfectly happy & fine.
Always active & eating me out of house & home.
No Visable sign or behavioural signs of Bacterial infection so Id be reluctant to treat with melafix as I believe its a growth or something has got under his skin rather than an infection.
May have to consider lancing it but dont wish to catch the fish & stress it unduly.

[Richard B]

I think a pic is pretty crucial here - you don't wanna treat an entire pond if not required but conversely we need to know it is nothing serious

[Redtailrob]

Ok all.
Here's a picture taken last night.
Very bad picture though Im afraid, the fish is constantly on the go & would only occasionally settle.
They associate me standing over the pond as feeding time so go bonkers when i enter the fish house.
This swelling looked very sore last night & was actualy bleeding slightly into the water.
Anyway take a look and Ill try and get some better quality shots.

As i described before it started of as a small bump under the skin about the size of a pea but is now the size of a grape!
Could it be a Cyst of some sort perhaps??

[Viktor Jarikov]

Never seen on my indoor aquarium fish. Never seen on the outdoor pond fish either but those do get sometimes some kind of growths, including cysts on koi, which are usually white/off-white.

The following is meant to tell you what I do, not that I directly advise you do it, albeit L. marmoratus/longibarbis is a tough fish and can handle such treatment without any long-term problems. If I see a bothersome sore, usually on my koi, that does not go away for some time (usually after winter I treat the whole 12,000 gal pond with salt, ~2 lbs per 100 US gal, and antiparasitic meds, metronidazole and praziquantel, which I buy in bulk from Fishman chemicals) and continues to grow, I catch them, hold them down on something soft, and apply iodine (a topical anticeptic solution in water for human use) with a cotton swab to the sore. Keep applying for like 30 sec and release them back. Whatever bacteria or parasite was in it should die (at that locale). Usually it works. One can use other anticeptics, like potassium permanganate, or maybe even hydrogen peroxide, although the latter is trickier as it quickly decomposes and may not reach deep enough into the wound to kill what it needs to kill. Efficiency of hydrogen peroxide on human wounds is said to be a myth as it never reaches deep - it decomposes instanteneously upon contact with iron-carrying blood (iron catalyzes the decomposition of H2O2 into oxygen gas O2 and water H2O).

Minus is obvious: stresses the fish. Plus is obvious too: stresses only one fish and for a very short time.

[Redtailrob]

Hi Victor

Thank you very much for your input.
some great tips there for me to try.

What concerns me the most is that it is a Grape sized growth rather than a sore. Im tempted to remove it then treat the infected area with iodine as you have suggested, will see how it looks in another few days.
The fish is still looking for food like crazy & when offered food virtually takes my hand off! So no behavioural signs of infection.
Will keep you updated

[apistomaster]

I have seen quite a few specimens of Corydoras develop small, fluid filled growths on their fins. Always just one, never multiples.
They seem harmless and I can only guess at the cause or nature of these "blisters".
I suspect a virus of low contagion is the cause but it is only a possibility.
On a fish as large as your catfish, I think you could safely remove this growth with a scalpel or single edge razor blade. You can use Mercurochrome or other disinfectant to swab the wound. It should heal quickly. Another possible method that may work is one of the over the counter wart freezing treatments. That would kill the "blob" and be less traumatic than surgery.
I know of no effective medications that may be used to treat these growths. Melafix and Pimafix rarely out perform doing nothing at all.
Real diseases need real drugs to treat those conditions which are treatable.

[Viktor Jarikov]

Being an experimentalist myself, I'd try to remove it, but, again, I am not saying you should. The fact that it is red says inflammation. If it is fluid bubble under thin skin, it may burst out at the slightest pressure/touch. I'd apply iodine after that but Larry is far more advanced in treating fish deaseases, so may be a good idea to find the anticeptic he recommends. Don't know if you considered quarantine. I probably would not bother the fish with that.

[apistomaster]

Iodine, Betadine or neomycin ointment would all be good choices as a wound antiseptic.

[Redtailrob]

Thanks for all the hints & recomendations people.
This "growth" doesnt look nearly as red or as sore as it did, in fact it now is just the same colour as the fish, like a grape attached to his body under the adipose fin.
Still think Ill remove it in a few weeks if it doesnt fall off, which i doubt.
Need to use a medicine/ disinfectant that i can redily purchase over the counter here in the UK, chemists perhaps?
Rob

[MatsP]

I expect iodine solution is available in your local chemist.

--
Mats

[apistomaster]

I wonder if it would be practical to use some Kevlar thread or fine strand monofilament to tie off all the blood supply to the growth? If it is, then the growth may just gradually fall off and there would be no surgical wound to worry about.

[Redtailrob]

Thanks for all your input guys.

As this growth didn't appear to be bothering the fish in any way I didnt want to unduly stress it by having to catch & restrain to remove this growth.
Never easy with a 30" Fish!!
Happy to report that at present this growth has shrunken back in size to around the size of a bean/large pea but is exactly the same look & appearance as the rest of the fish & no longer sore or bleeding
My assumption is maybe something like a small fragment of glass or a splinter got under the skin & this was the fishes reaction to dealing / getting rid of it.
Ill keep a close eye on it, in the event that it swells up like previously and remove.
Thanks again

[Viktor Jarikov]

30"? Common, Rob! Every one saw by now that you had handled that 8' wels just fine You could give him a massage and he'd be fine and relaxed for all we know...

Good news anyway.