Fish pox?

[ShawnInfirmity]

I've had this goldfish for over 5 years now (raised since fry) and after his first winter in the pond he developed these bumps on his sides. The best anyone could tell me on my goldfish forum was benign tumor or maybe some sort of viral infection? After browsing this forum for a bit the bumps seem to be almost identical to what members have been calling carp pox or fish pox. The images online are also very similar but thought I would just have someone take a look and let me know what they thought.

The pictures are not the best quality but they're the best I could get with the time I had, I can scoop him up with my net and get better ones if needed. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tgonz42]

I have a few goldfish with this same “bumps” on them. It’s been about 4seasons and none have died, so I’m assuming it’s a benign thing. My vets best guess was a virus. I did a partial water change, vacuumed all the crap off the bottom, filled the pond back up with a bottle of a fish stress reliever and fish medicine. I forget the name, but after all this was done and settled the fish did not develop any more bumps, but the ones who had bumps still have bumps. So, I know that’s not the answer you were looking for, but that’s all I got. Test your water and make sure it’s not too acidic or alkaline. Clean your filter and put “good “ bacteria on the filter. Backwash your filter system.

 

[Jhn]

I am not an expert on diseases, hopefully others with more knowledge will chime in. If it is carp pox, there is nothing you can do about it other than maintain your water quality to keep affected fish from getting secondary infections. Fish pox can go dormant and the fish may very well be fine, but stressors, poor water quality, etc. can cause it to flare up again.

No need to add good bacteria to the pond the bacteria is already there, just wasting money.

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

That’s pretty much what I was thinking after it never got better and really didn’t get worse. It actually seemed to get a little better with the warmer temperatures and then they became a little more pronounced again when the water got cooler. This also lines up with what I’ve read and heard about fish/carp pox.