Bump on honey gourami’s side

[Karen B.]

Greetings! I was wondering if someone could help me. (Maybe @laritheloud as you know so much about gourami). 
 

2 days ago I noticed this bump on my honey gourami’s side. It’s near the fin. The other honey gourami, the school of chili rasboras and the 15 false julii corydoras all looks fine.

It’s a female, she still swims, eats and poops normally.

Any idea of what it might be? How to treat it? Should I place her in quarantine?

30 gallons community planted tank. 0/0/30. Temp 75. Ph 6.6, Gh hard(About 200 on aquarium coop strips), kh low (about 40). No chlorine/chloramine. HOB filter and sponge filter. 

 

[Theplatymaster]

@Colu

what do you think it is?

Edited March 15, 2023 by Theplatymaster

[laritheloud]

Oof. Looks like an internal infection or a tumor. Personally, I’ve never had success with medically treating these kinds of things. If I were you I’d give the sweet fish supportive care and feed/change water as normal; likely the condition is not contagious if no one else in the tank has a problem. Let them live out their little lives for as long as they will.

you CAN try to treat, but in my experience, it is more stress than it is worth and the outcome rarely improves. You’re allowing the fish to live happily and that’s what counts — gouramis are often the luck of the draw when it comes to longevity and health. I only have one honey gourami and one thicklip left at this point, and it was nothing I did wrong — they are simply from a supply chain that doesn’t raise them up with health and longevity in mind.

I’m sorry I don’t have better news!

[Colu]

Looks like an internal growth possibly a tumor treatment wise theirs no a lot i could recommend I would add some Indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties if it develops any redding of the lump then I would do a course of maracyn2 in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days @Karen B.

[Karen B.]

On 3/15/2023 at 4:05 PM, laritheloud said:

Oof. Looks like an internal infection or a tumor. Personally, I’ve never had success with medically treating these kinds of things. If I were you I’d give the sweet fish supportive care and feed/change water as normal; likely the condition is not contagious if no one else in the tank has a problem. Let them live out their little lives for as long as they will.

you CAN try to treat, but in my experience, it is more stress than it is worth and the outcome rarely improves. You’re allowing the fish to live happily and that’s what counts — gouramis are often the luck of the draw when it comes to longevity and health. I only have one honey gourami and one thicklip left at this point, and it was nothing I did wrong — they are simply from a supply chain that doesn’t raise them up with health and longevity in mind.

I’m sorry I don’t have better news!

Thank you. It hits hard as my betta also has a tumor. 
 

@Colu @laritheloud When do you know it’s time to say good bye to a fish? It’s hard to judge their quality of life…

[laritheloud]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:02 PM, Karen B. said:

Thank you. It hits hard as my betta also has a tumor. 
 

@Colu @laritheloud When do you know it’s time to say good bye to a fish? It’s hard to judge their quality of life…

My marble betta developed very bad tumors along his face, behind his gill plate, and in the stomach area. As long as he was still interested in food I cared for him. When it was clear he could no longer swim or eat, I knew it was time. It's rough -- they're so personable, all of these fish are! I just wish breeding and supply chain practices really kept the health of these animals in mind and not just looks.

I'm having a hard time justifying getting any more 'fancy' domestically bred labyrinth fish at this point, though my male honey is still doing well (almost two years in the tank now!). If I were to get more, I'd go for the bigger species of gourami that are closer to their wild coloration, like a three-spot gourami, moonlight gourami, pearl gourami. For now I'm really happy with the cichlids I'm keeping (don't have too many, most are small species except for my electric blue acara), so my focus has shifted a little bit.

[Karen B.]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:07 PM, laritheloud said:

My marble betta developed very bad tumors along his face, behind his gill plate, and in the stomach area. As long as he was still interested in food I cared for him. When it was clear he could no longer swim or eat, I knew it was time. It's rough -- they're so personable, all of these fish are! I just wish breeding and supply chain practices really kept the health of these animals in mind and not just looks.

I'm having a hard time justifying getting any more 'fancy' domestically bred labyrinth fish at this point, though my male honey is still doing well (almost two years in the tank now!). If I were to get more, I'd go for the bigger species of gourami that are closer to their wild coloration, like a three-spot gourami, moonlight gourami, pearl gourami. For now I'm really happy with the cichlids I'm keeping (don't have too many, most are small species except for my electric blue acara), so my focus has shifted a little bit.

I agree with you. And for some reason I can’t keep shrimps - so I gave up.

I will only have 1 honey gourami left. I got her at the same time as Daliah. I am not too sure what I will do. A different centerpiece fish? More gourami? But the pecking order will have to be re-established… and the gourami that will be left is my dominant one.

Here is my sweet Gandalf. He still eats and swims but is more often resting at the bottom then he used to. I just hope it’s nothing I have done, you know? I didn’t change his water every week, did I neglect something? Was it because his snail stressed him (he hated his snail so much. I moved it eventually as to not cause Gandalf too much stress)? So many questions…