# Goldfish with Lymphocystis



## leopardgecko_stubbs (Oct 21, 2011)

Not sure if anyone can help but this is the story....

...I left my workplace around 2 years ago to move away and have returned recently back to my old job. Before I left I bought 3 new goldfish for the office tank as the others had died after a ridiculously long goldfish lifespan of something like 9 years. 

Upon my retun I saw that they have grown 3 times their size and one has tumour like formations on his body just before the tail along the underneath of his spine fin and a larger one between his eye and gill.

I googled goldfish dieases and found it was Lymphocystis. It didn't seem to offer any help on if it could be treated in any way? All I saw was surgery and thought this was a little extreme for a goldfish especially once I read that is rarely fatal. Is there any water medications that can be bought to help reduce the size/swelling and make him a little more comfortable?

My boss told me not to worry "as it's just a goldfish" but I'm not one to let any animal suffer unnecessarily if it can be helped!

So any advice would be grately appreciated!


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

9 years is indeed a ridiculous life span :gasp:....








...considering they will live 30-40 years in ideal conditions.


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## leopardgecko_stubbs (Oct 21, 2011)

Ok well ive never owned goldfish and had it in my mind they only lived a few years... So apart from that sarcastic comment can anyone help me with my actual problem which answers still remains unknown despite your fantastic input...


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## goldie1212 (Mar 5, 2010)

are you sure of your diagnosis? what are the water readings- ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? how often are the partial water changes done and how much at a time? what size is their tank, and what filtration is running on it? can you post a picture of the poorly fish?


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

leopardgecko_stubbs said:


> Ok well ive never owned goldfish and had it in my mind they only lived a few years... So apart from that sarcastic comment can anyone help me with my actual problem which answers still remains unknown despite your fantastic input...


Let me google that for you


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

AshMashMash said:


> 9 years is indeed a ridiculous life span :gasp:....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Play nice :Na_Na_Na_Na:

9 years is at least better than the 2 weeks a lot of goldies end up surviving in tanks with nemo stickers all over them and no filters.

OP, try melafix and pimafix. They're herbal meds, so kinder on a goldies system. Don't know much about the disease itself, but you can't usually go too wrong with those two. They don't affect the filter bacteria either.

In all honesty, the chances are there's an underlying problem and it's something to do with the water. Who looks after the fish? Do they do enough water changes and are they adding dechlorinator to the new water? Is there a filter running? Also, how big is the tank? 
If you can give us a bit more info someone should be able to work out the problem and a solution :2thumb:


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

If it is Lymphocystis, there is no treatment for it, they can live a really long time with it however it *IS *contagious to other fish and will shorten their lifespan. Hence 9 years or so rather than the 20-30 years.

Dont add any more fish, I didnt quite understand, have all the fish now died? Or some of them? Either way, let fish live their lives out unless it gets too much in which case, be kinder to euthanise them.

When last fish has gone, break down the tank to scrub and boil the heck out of it, replace gravel and everything before any other fish go near it because it can effect other fish too.


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## leopardgecko_stubbs (Oct 21, 2011)

Christie_ZXR said:


> Play nice :Na_Na_Na_Na:
> 
> 9 years is at least better than the 2 weeks a lot of goldies end up surviving in tanks with nemo stickers all over them and no filters.
> 
> ...


Well the problem is, that no one really looks after them, when I got back to the office it was full of algae and frankly just disgusting so I coeaned it out, Buoght a new filter a new plant and gravel etc. And I use the tap-water treatment that the shop. Apparently he has been like this for some time but the other fish has nothing on him (yet).

And thank you, I will look for those two rememdies.



Moogloo said:


> If it is Lymphocystis, there is no treatment for it, they can live a really long time with it however it *IS *contagious to other fish and will shorten their lifespan. Hence 9 years or so rather than the 20-30 years.
> 
> Dont add any more fish, I didnt quite understand, have all the fish now died? Or some of them? Either way, let fish live their lives out unless it gets too much in which case, be kinder to euthanise them.
> 
> When last fish has gone, break down the tank to scrub and boil the heck out of it, replace gravel and everything before any other fish go near it because it can effect other fish too.


Sorry if that wasn't clear. The other fish had died previous to me getting these 2 aound 2-3 years ago, they are the only 2 in there now.



goldie1212 said:


> are you sure of your diagnosis? what are the water readings- ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? how often are the partial water changes done and how much at a time? what size is their tank, and what filtration is running on it? can you post a picture of the poorly fish?


Unfortunately, I wouldnt be able to get you any water readings as 1) I'm not sure how to get them done and 2) my boss wouldn't care enough to pay for it!

Some pics below, the water is not that colour its just dodgy lighting in our office!


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Ouch  That doesn't look nice.

Have to say, personally, I'd be very tempted to pinch the fish and claim they died!! Get him a little plastic one to go in there instead!! lol

Those are comet goldfish. They can, and will, grow pretty big. Ideally, they'll need to eventually go to someone with a pond. But whilst they're not well, moving them is out of the question because of the risk of spreading it if it is lymphocystis. Just wanted to warn you that in the future, it would be a good plan to rehome them. White cloud mountain minnows would be a good replacement, same requirements as goldies (more or less) but a ton smaller and more manageable.

Can you tell us how big the tank is? That'll give an idea of what you need to do to keep the water good for them. It's probably going to be a case of lots of water changes I'm afraid, and possibly adding another filter, but that depends. I'm guessing being an office tank it's probably only a 2 foot or something? Which filter did you buy for them? 

If you can, scoop up a jam jar full of water and run it into a pets at home on your way out of work, they'll test it for free and the results would help a lot 
What you'd need to ask is for the results for Ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte, don't just let them tell you "it's fine" because that won't be too helpful! The results will be either 0 or something like 25ppm, 50ppm etc. If you make out you're wanting to buy some more fish, they should do it for free, you can just claim you'll come back tomorrow for the fish and then don't!

That looks to me like it could possibly be fungus, which is good in a way since it's cureable! But bad since it's usually the result of bad water quality. Is it fluffy looking?

Good on you for trying to help! Hope this can be sorted


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## leopardgecko_stubbs (Oct 21, 2011)

Christie_ZXR said:


> Ouch  That doesn't look nice.
> 
> Have to say, personally, I'd be very tempted to pinch the fish and claim they died!! Get him a little plastic one to go in there instead!! lol
> 
> ...


the tank is around 2ft long 1ft deep and about 1.5ft hight. I have this filter which I bought once I saw the state of the old one (I got the largest one)
Stingray 5, 10 and 15 Underwater Filter by Elite | Pets at Home

I will get the water tested tomorrow after work as I buy my reptile food from an aquatics place so the guy there can help me out!

Yes its fluffy looking and a few weeks back I think he got it caught on something as it looked very sore and raw in a certain area! If they grow too much bigger I will re-home them as my grandparents have a big pond in their garden I'm sure another fish or two wouldn't bother them!

If it is a fungus can I still use the remedies mentioned above?


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

Yes, and the meds should do a better job which is good news. Fungus is pretty common. From the pic, and what you've said, I'd say it's fungus not lymphocystis. You can use pimafix and melafix together with no problems, they don't react with each other.

That filter's good, but not ideal for the goldies. It does up to a 75L tank, you've got around a 100L one, and goldies as a general rule need over filtration. Not the end of the world, still defo better than the conditions they had before!! Did you bin the old filter? If you could run the two together that would do the job until the fish are better and can be rehomed, depending if the old one works still! Otherwise, adding another little filter would be great.

When you swapped them, did you just take out the old one and put in the new one? Or did you transfer any sponges or anything? If you just swapped them, the new filter won't be able to cope with the dissolved waste in the water, it has to mature (google cycling for a proper explanation if you want more info  ) You can sort that by doing regular water changes until it has matured to keep the waste levels down so they won't hurt the fish. 

In the mean time, your best bet is to change about half of the water straight away, make sure you use the dechlorinator you've got in the new water 

See what those tests say, but it'll probably be a case of changing half the water daily for possibly a week or two weeks. 

You're probably looking at around a month to sort everything out, just to give you a rough idea. Could be longer though. Once the fish are better, I'd get them out. Being in that tank, it's only a matter of time before an infection like this happens again I'm afraid. The pond would be great


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

The lumps that are fluffy.. is it fluffy right to the base of the of the fishes scales or is there a lump that is fluffy on top?

It still looks like lympho to me, though if he has caught it on something, it would get a secondary infection in the would.

Easiest way to tell would be to catch the fish and poke it gently, if its solid (the lump that is... not the fish!) .. its either lympho or tumours. Definately dont put him into a pond with other fish if it is! Lympho would spread and whilst it doesnt kill them... its not pleasant!


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

What about putting the fish into the pond once it's cured? Would that be safe whichever it is? Or does lymphocystis hang around?

I've got no personal experience with lymphocystis, but had a look and found an article that said it goes red and bumpy eventually, which fungus doesn't tend to. Would that be a good indicator?


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

Have seen Goldfish live with Lymphocystis for 8-9 years (and thats only my experience) but they can live with it for ages... trouble is it spreads to other fish.

There is no cure for it either so if thats what it is, treaments wont work... soi guess thats a good start!! Treat it and see if that works! Its caused by a virus which cant be treated with over the counter treatments or anything. If they are small and on the fins and you have the stomach for it... you could cut the fishes fins off as they would grow back without it.... but no medication is designed for it and antibiotics dont work for viruses! Same as with human colds... you cant treat it but you can treat the symptoms. The biggest cause of death with lymphcystus is secondary infection (bacterial or fungal) from catching the growth on something.



> Lymphocystis is highly infectious. When infected cells from the fish�s skin or fins burst the virus is spread throughout the aquarium and can remain contagious for periods of up to two months. Fish not showing symptoms should be removed from the aquarium and placed in quarantine, away from other fish, for at least 60 days. Note, remove uninfected fish, not the other way around because the aquarium has become contaminated. The infected aquarium should be emptied and thoroughly disinfected before returning any fish to it. Do not use soap to clean the aquarium.


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