# Sick fish w/ blurry pic



## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

Any ideas? This thing is getting huge. Antibiotic treatments did nothing. 29g tank, all typical tests are within normal range, the tank is salted and is kept at 80F, and the guy is fed feeder goldfish. The growth started out as a small bump and has been progressively getting bigger for two months. We think it may be affecting his feeding habits because of his lack of depth perception -- it is kind of blocking his eye.

For size reference the piranha is about 3" long from tail to tip.


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## Froogle (Mar 15, 2006)

holy sh*t i think u should lay off the feeders and chop thaty sh*t off and add plenty of aquarium salt


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## moeplz (Feb 21, 2005)

Stop feeding him feeders immediately. Feed him shrimp or fish from the seafood section of your local grocery store.


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

froogle said:


> holy sh*t i think u should lay off the feeders and chop thaty sh*t off and add plenty of aquarium salt


We've followed the directions on the salt box, which was 1tbsp for every 5 gallons of water. Is more salt a better idea? How much more?

I appreciate your guys' help but a little more depth on the answers would be appreciated even more.


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## Froogle (Mar 15, 2006)

sure sorry just add at least 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons thats what i do. and please im serious take him out and try to snip it off. may seem cruel but u may have to for the health of ur fish.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

Get a clearer pic if you can. Hard to tell since it is so blurry, but it could be a tumor and all the salt in the world won't help it. Is it fluid filled or solid?


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

froogle said:


> sure sorry just add at least 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons thats what i do. and please im serious take him out and try to snip it off. may seem cruel but u may have to for the health of ur fish.


Are you serious? We've kinda joked about doing that, but didn't want to because we weren't sure if he'd survive or not. We're pulling out all the feeders tomorrow and are going to start him on some cod instead. Hopefully with the dirty dirty feeders out of the tank and a better source of food he'll start to get better.

Also, when he was pulled out for the pictures, when we put him back in he went straight to the bottom of the tank and layed there upside down. He was pretty traumatized so I don't know if emergency surgery is the way to go...


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

Cod can be very oily when fed. Watch your water parameters when you feed that.

I would feed instead uncooked shrimp, tilapia filet, or catfish filet.


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

b_ack51 said:


> Cod can be very oily when fed. Watch your water parameters when you feed that.
> 
> I would feed instead uncooked shrimp, tilapia filet, or catfish filet.


Thanks for the info.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

I really dont think salt is the answer to this....

Only thing iv seen that resembles this is fish tumors on koi and goldfish.

I think something else needs done besides salt.

My best guess is tumor, or some parasite is under the skin and growing, I think its a life or death matter for your fish.

Ill do some searches see if i can find anything that looks close to this


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## sassyO (Jan 30, 2006)

that does look like a tumor....I myself look forward to seeing what you come up with mash...thats just nasty.


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## bobme (Feb 17, 2003)

I dont know what to say, but i would belive its life or death with it, and i belive cutting it off might help. I hate to say it but i belive ether way he will die.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

bobme said:


> I dont know what to say, but i would belive its life or death with it, and i belive cutting it off might help. I hate to say it but i belive ether way he will die.


yeah thats what I believe, I cant come up with anything on this but tumor, from what I can see.
I found a web site for a vet, where they used a lazor on a koi to remove a tumor, Im sure the cost for this would be high more then a replacement fish.

I cant be sure on this one what this is, but Im gonna lean more towards tumor...Good luck, keep us posted if you find anything out...


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

Tomorrow (Friday) we're going to go ahead and remove the tumor using a razor blade. Should we cauterize the wound or just toss him back in?


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## sassyO (Jan 30, 2006)

you have done everything you can.....just get some melofix and dose him for the pain. you should actually have a hospital tank set up. I would dab the wound quickly with the gose and then get him back in the water. Good luck and all the best. Please let us know how he is doing, he is not going to be happy but try and get a pic.


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

sassyV said:


> you have done everything you can.....just get some melofix and dose him for the pain. you should actually have a hospital tank set up. I would dab the wound quickly with the gose and then get him back in the water. Good luck and all the best. Please let us know how he is doing, he is not going to be happy but try and get a pic.


I'll make sure to get some pictures before/during/after the procedure. I'll let you guys know how it goes.


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

He's a small RBP that's kind of common.
I'd just put him down and get another one instead of making him suffer and get another one.


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

Well, we performed the surgery. It went pretty well. Here's the pictures:

View attachment 101604

Here's the operating table.

View attachment 101605

Gary's tank.

View attachment 101606

Here's Gary just before the operation. You can clearly see the tumor here.

View attachment 101607

During the surgery.

View attachment 101608

Another action shot.

View attachment 101609

Here's the bloody aftermath. It was most definitely a tumor; it felt all squishy. No post-op pictures of Gary because we wanted to get him back into the tank as quick as possible. He bled during the procedure but it stopped shortly after.

Updates will be forthcoming.


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## kelrx8 (Apr 1, 2006)

we are all pulling for the little guy


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## sassyO (Jan 30, 2006)

Awsome work there







clean and respectful. How is he now? will he make it?


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

sassyV said:


> Awsome work there
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's been about 45 minutes since the surgery. He looks pretty good. He's not moving around a lot and he's hiding in his cave, but we think he'll pull through.


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

The Ultimate Ninja said:


> Awsome work there
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's been about 45 minutes since the surgery. He looks pretty good. He's not moving around a lot and he's hiding in his cave, but we think he'll pull through.
[/quote]

Good news guys, Gary looks like he'll be fine. It's less than six hours post-op and he looks like he's back to normal already!

It was also interesting to note that he got REALLY pissed off during the operation. He kept biting the razor blade; we had to be careful that he didn't cut himself by doing so. He'll have a nasty scar from the op, but it looks like he's going to live after all.


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## I-Eat-My-Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Got any pics of what he looks like...

That almost looked all Discovery Channel with that surgery there....


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

I-Eat-My-Master said:


> Got any pics of what he looks like...
> 
> That almost looked all Discovery Channel with that surgery there....


Once he heals completely we'll grab some more pics -- for right now, we want to make sure he has a nice long recovery period so that he'll heal to 100%.


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## Froogle (Mar 15, 2006)

i told you man u dont understand how happy i am for u sorry if itz kinda late, make sure that u clean the tank and keep up on water changes dont look to good. no offense just wanna know hows ur water changes.


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## Froogle (Mar 15, 2006)

sorry double post


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## The Ultimate Ninja (Feb 28, 2006)

I thought I'd update this topic for everybody, it's been a while now and Gary is back to 100% health. There isn't even any noticeable scar tissue where the tumor was. He's grown HUGE ever since we switched his diet to tilapia and shrimp!

I am still amazed at the hardiness and durability of not only this specific fish, but RBPs in general. From my experiences fish are pretty fickle creatures, and for one to survive (and then thrive afterwards!) something like this is pretty neat.

Froogle, the reason the water looked so cloudy was because that was at the tail end of a MelaFix treatment. Water's gonna be cloudy after that.


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

The Ultimate Ninja said:


> I am still amazed at the hardiness and durability of not only this specific fish, but RBPs in general.


Yeah they can pull through some ridiculous injuries.








on having the balls to put your fingers that close to a flopping p's mouth.


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## sassyO (Jan 30, 2006)

The Ultimate Ninja said:


> Awsome work there
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's been about 45 minutes since the surgery. He looks pretty good. He's not moving around a lot and he's hiding in his cave, but we think he'll pull through.
[/quote]

Good news guys, Gary looks like he'll be fine. It's less than six hours post-op and he looks like he's back to normal already!

It was also interesting to note that he got REALLY pissed off during the operation. He kept biting the razor blade; we had to be careful that he didn't cut himself by doing so. He'll have a nasty scar from the op, but it looks like he's going to live after all.
[/quote]







try and get some pics of the fish swimming around. that procedure was amazing. A ture success story


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## kirch24 (Apr 14, 2006)

good job! sounds liek you really care about your fish, i hope he pulls through!

one question, did you cut it out pretty deep? hopefully it doesnt act like a human wart and keeps growing back good luck again


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