Unidentified disease - tumor? parasite?

[thexena1]

Has anyone seen or encountered anything like this before? It's on one of my small Balloon Molly fry, and has been progressively getting worse over the last month. It may have been around for longer, but his size and coloration would have made it really hard to tell. I've got him in a small 5g isolation tank.

I've been searching for weeks for a potential solution, and have come up with next to nothing. I've not been able to find anything remotely similar to this. He's fine, other than the "tumor". Still is eating well, color is normal, no respiration or swimming problems. None of the other fry have/had this problem. I'm completely baffled.

I'm struggling with the issue of euthanizing the fish. Read mixed reviews and reports about tumors and such. But if he begins to show signs of obvious distress, I'll put him down immediately. Just keep hoping someone somewhere will have seen something like this before and can tell me if it's treatable or not. I'm leaning towards putting him down, since the growth looks like it's ready to pop and I can't imagine that would feel very pleasant.

Wish I could tell you the past water parameters, but I'm not sure how accurate they were. I didn't know that the test kits were inaccurate after a while, and my kits were all old. The nitrates turned out to be high, but the problem was taken care of with water changes and Purigen. None of the other fry in the tank were affected. Everybody else is fine. If I could i.d. it, maybe I could treat it....

[fishbguy]

i have no clue what to do abuot the fish but those are some really nice photos. if you ever find out what it is and ow to treat it i would suggest you make a page about it in the web. those are very detailed pics.

[thexena1]

Thanks. I had taken a few at the beginning of the month, and they didn't turn out so well. This time, I borrowed a better camera, carefully caught the fish and put him in an acclimation/fish bag container with a piece of paper behind it so the camera had nothing to focus on but the fish. I think that's where I went wrong last time.

I've been sending emails to lots of fish disease sites asking questions and giving them permission to use my pics so other people can learn from it. I've spent so many hours these last couple weeks doing research, my head is spinning, and I can't remember who I emailed, and who I haven't. It's looking pretty hopeless, but I am hopeful that the pics will help someone else someday. Who knows? I may get some answers, but I fear that they may come too late...

The expert that I had been in contact with (ran a large aquarium in Biloxi, MS that was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina) said that it's very hard to id without a biopsy. But the pics I had sent weren't that great of quality, and the growth was much smaller. I emailed him again today with the new pics, so we'll see what he has to say. I'll post it here if I get a response. Actually, I'll try to come back later and post the advice that he's given me so far. Before, I was advised not to treat it, since the identification was questionable. Could be hyperplasia, but it might not be. And that was before the "bubble" appeared. I'll keep updating as I receive (hopefully) more information...

[mousey]

google pandoras box. there are some interesting pics there for tumors and strange growths on fish.

[madame loach]

hello thexena1,
i was wondering if you got any helpful information about your molly. i have a yellow molly that i have had since she was born in the tank and she has developed some lumpy external tumors in the last 6 months that are the same color as the rest of her. they don't seem to give her any trouble. she eats really well and seem very healthy otherwise. what was the outcome with your little guy? let me know!!!
thanks
madame loach...