Question:

My goldfish has a swollen lump on him.

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My large shubunkin goldfish has spent the entire day by himself in a corner, swimming lazily. He's able to swim around but seems to prefer staying fairly still if possible. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that he had a lump just inside of his right pectoral fin. It seems perhaps slightly ulcerated and red and when I tried to palpate it, he bled a little. The blood was red, not brown. He also seems to have a slightly swollen wound just below his dorsal fin on his left side and possibly another by the base of his tail on his right side. Our other (14 or so) fish seem mostly fine, but another shubunkin's gills look a little red on one side.

Having checked the pH, it was a little low, 6.6. We've put some pH Up in, to level it out, but I've had pH problems before and have never seen anything like this.

My husband is concerned that the temperature in the tank is maybe a tad high. We've also got a breeding pair of guppies in the tank, so the water is at 24C (75.2F) but I'd read that goldfish were fine until about 25C.

So far we've, as I said, upped the pH to a more comfortable level and have given them Melafix to help repair the lumps if they're wounds of some sort - but can anyone suggest any other reason for the lumps? I can take some pictures if they'd help.

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  1. Sounds like ulcers.  Mela Fix is the best to use to help heal.  Also, the PH is fine.  Adding items like PH up and PH down only lasts until the filter pulls it out then the water reverts back to normal.

    A stable PH is better than one that jumps around.  Having a PH that keeps adjusting places more stress on the fish.

    Also, what are your other water tests coming back like?  Ulcers are usually caused by poor water.

    Goldfish are fine in temperatures around 76 and below so no worries there.  (the cooler the better)

    When using Mela fix you need to remove the carbon if you are running any.  The ulcers can change over into fin rot so keep the water clean.  Treat with mela fix.  He should recover nicely


  2. it sounds like cancer

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