Borelli with what looks like hole in head {pics}

[Apisto ranch]

i was cleaning my tank this weekend when I seen my male borelli with what looks like a zit on top of his head. Right between the eyes. It's not a completed hole but instead has a bump on it.

If it is whole in the head what can I do to stop it?

Will it kill him?

If that's not it what else could it be?

Water primes/ temp 78oF
PH 6.4
GH140ppm
KH 100ppm
nitrites -0-
nitrates -0-
Amonia -0-

Just did a 50% w/c that day I seen it saturday. I do w/c ever week of 25% to 50% . There hasn't been any sickness in this tank up and til my cockato got his belly trouble this passed week. In over 9 months. No new fish added to this tank in 11m.

 

[Noddy65]

Hmmm..Ive got a male nijsseni with an identical lump on his bottom lip.
Mike

 

[fishgeek]

It's not a completed hole but instead has a bump on it.

that statement confuse's me
maybe i am being picky , a hole i take to mean an indentation or impression on the surface
a bump is in my mind basically the opposite

the photos look to me to be raised above the normal level of skin on this fish and so i will list things i think maybe relevant for a raised pale solitary nodule

- bacterial granuloma's though i think of these as having a more rough surface than i see in your photo
- myxozoan parasites can produce slowly growing pseudocysts, these are more commmon in wild caught fish
you picture looks much like a xenoma may do , these maybe due to infection with clinostomum or gluglea
- lymphocytosis though this is usually clusters
- neoplasia like carp pox produce by herpes virus or other pappiloma's

hole in the head should be shallow ulcerations

andrew

 

[Noddy65]

Hi Andrew
Any suggestions on treatment?
Im thinking of sedating the fish (Ive access to anaethetic for fishies) and either doing an FNA or even removing my fishes lump.

He is my only male nijsseni so Im a bit reluctant to go so radical, medical options would be my first preferred action.

Mike

 

[fishgeek]

got a photo of your problem fish mike? i think we may have seen it before?
post again if i am just being forgetful


my best guess on the above photo's would be a xenoma due to some form of myxozoan parasite
fna of these will show the parasite under microscopy, do you have access to microscope and picture book?
impression smears fro the surface of the lesion and gill mounts can also be useful

as yet there is no specific treatment that is 100%
these parasites have a complex lifecycle and a slow disease progression
so spread in the aquaria is not likey
intermediate hosts include various worms and bryozoans(minature barnacle liek things)

experimentally teatment has been with fumagillin
closely related organisms are sometimes treated with a combination of malachite green and fumagillin

i think you will need to ask a gp/medic/vet or someone who can access prescription medication for help in finding this though
it is used in honey bee's if that helps at all, do you have bee keepers near by?

andrew

 

[Noddy65]

Its OK...Im a vet but only really deal with small animals (well the furry and feathered ones anyway).

Impression smears etc should be no probs, gills biopsies again should be no prob but he is so small, Ive only taken gill samples off BIG Angels before.

Mike

 

[fishgeek]

snap mike, i am too bet you couldn't tell with the spelling and punctuation

got any work going in perth , say 4 days week and 100 000 A$ pa and i might be able to fly home and help you out

just yesterday i said i would go back to aus if i didn't have financial commitments over here , especially seeing as the fish seem to be getting better back there
probably just a bad day