red lump on tetra, HELP!

blacklabel3

One of my black skirt tetra has developed a rather large, pimple like, lump near his nose/eye. It's kinda of red and white looking. My first instinct is to setup a quarantine tank and find medication for him. I'm going to try and hold off on doing anything until I get some advice.

He's the one in the center on the picture facing the camera.

Attached Images

1294197009800.jpg (16.5 KB, 29 views)

blacklabel3

I think what I really need to know is what it is, is it fatal, can it spread, and how to treat it.

Ellador

Hi... I want to preface my reply by admitting that I've never kept tetras, but I did a google search for "red lump on tetra" and the word "lymphocystis" came up a lot. Here is a link to an article about it: Lymphocystis in Marine and Freshwater Fishes

I hope this helps...

blacklabel3

I tried my butt off trying to get the little guy out of the tank for like 30 minutes. no luck! He's too fast, too many decorations/plants to hide under. I got him a hospital tank setup and everything. Very frustrating. In all of the fuss he actually popped his little growth....not good I assume.

Ellador

Hello again, blacklabel3 : ) I'm sorry your tetra's giving you so much trouble. I often wish I could speak fish, so I could explain to my own that I'm really just trying to help them-- and so they could give me a heads-up about what's wrong with them. ("Is it ich, guys? Oh, okay-- well, lets take care of that now, before the spots appear." In a perfect world, right?) ; )

So, I did some more research about bumps/growths and found a website that seems to cover a wide array of these things, and more. Here is the link: Tropical Fish Disease Identification with pictures and cures.

It seems like a good starting point, and very descriptive-- the pictures on this site should help diagnosing the issue. Good luck, and please keep us posted.

blacklabel3

I finally got the infected fish out of the community tank, and into a hospital tank. After looking through those links, I'm pretty sure it's Lymphocystis. I'm going to keep him separated and comfy for a while, see if it clears up. Thanks for the help

Ellador

You are very welcome-- I hope he gets better!

blacklabel3

He looks better already, the lump has went down a ton