White bumps on fish face

[Neo]

A couple weeks ago I noticed my goldfish in the aquarium had some white spotting on his face and was staying at the top holding it out of water as much as possible so I started looking around and found sometimes a dirty aquarium can cause fungus so I cleaned it out hardcore (even though it wasn't that bad to begin with) and it seemed to clear up.

Today I noticed him back at the top of the water so I figured I'd check and sure enough it's back and worse. I have this pic but it's not great because the shape of the aquarium is rounded and distorts some.

 

[addy1]

is it a oranda?

From the net:

Ok, guyz...listen up!!
HIS FISH IS NOT A FANTAIL BUT A LEMON HEAD ORANDA. PIMPLES ARE AN INDICATION OF THE WEN FORMING....THEY ARE OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR A FUNGUS OR DISEASE AND MISTREATED!!
sorry I couldn't take it any more!!!
Bobbi has these small pimples all the time....at first I thought something was wrong so I read up on orandas and it's very normal. The wen also can look like a whitish mucus is covering it as it goes through development.

 

[Neo]

Nope he's almost 6 years old and they start getting wen between one and two according to wiki.

It's really odd that he acts like it feels better out of the water, just swims in place at the top with his nose out.

 

[addy1]

Sorry I just did a search and found that, no clue ow.

 

[Neo]

No problem thanks for looking into it. I should have put his age also I guess.

 

[addy1]

lol that would not have helped me............. I just looked for white bumps on goldfish head

 

[j.w]

I just found this on the net also. This fish is an Oranda but don't think it matters as any fish can get the fungus:

Oranda Needs Stridex? ZapZit! I have a medium sized orange Oranda in a twenty gallon tank with one other Oranda and five small ( 1 inch size) feeder fish. My Oranda seems to have "pimples" on its cap. The spots are white and tufty like cotton and bigger then Ick spots. They seem to pop within twenty four hours. By pop I mean the white stuff starts to protrude more and eventually fall out. Usually there's a new spot in the morning, but its gone by night. The Oranda does not seem affected by this at all, he's eating and cruising around happy. None of the other fish have anything. The tank readings are fine. I have been treating him with Pimafix for fungi and internal infections and its not working. I did a water change and nothing. What should I treat with. My water is salted as well.

 

[Neo]

Yes that sounds very close to what he's got, thanks for investigating!

I found this on the web last night after noticing the fish was getting worse.

While Ich is white, it's far from "fluffy". Instead, I'd guess that it's infected with Columnaris, which is a bacterial infection that looks very similar to most fungal infections. Most antibacterial medications (Maracyn, Maracyn 2, Maracyn TC, Furan 2, or any erythromycin, minocycline, tetracycline, or nitrofurazone based meds) are extremely effective, as are acriflavine based solutions (often found in fungal medications).

There is a possibility that it's fungus (usually has a yellowish tint, rather than pure white), which can be treated with any of the common fungal or parasitic medications (they usually have identical active ingredients-- malachite green, formalin, acriflavine, copper, etc., and are equally effective against both infections (I just cured a fungal infection with Quick Cure-- an Ich medication).

 

[j.w]

Hope you can find a cure for him. Let us know what you try and if it works.

 

[Neo]

I'm trying Fungus Clear from Jungle, it's all they really had here locally. They are fizzy tabs that you drop in the aquarium, now the water looks dyed green blue.

So far he looks the same but he has quit hanging out at the top of the tank. Hopefully that stuff comes off soon but it doesn't say how long it should take.

 

[j.w]

Hoping it works and that's a good sign him not hanging at the top. So they don't even tell you how long to use it? Maybe go online and see what others are saying about that particular treatment.

 

[Neo]

Well it says treat again after 3 days and do a water change. It looks like it's cleared up a little but not much.

Pond fish seem so much easier sometimes but he's my Son's fish so I can't put him outside even though he is bigger than my fist and probably would love all the extra room out there.

 

[j.w]

A little is a start and hope it gets better w/ each day. Your son must love his fishy and wants him up close and personal so he can see him w/o having to go diving in the pond.............I can understand that! It's his wet pet friend :goldfish:

 

[Neo]

Unfortunately We still haven't gotten rid of it totally yet, treated him twice and it went away but as soon as the meds filtered out it came right back.

Gonna try another couple rounds of this and if it doesn't work I guess we'll try some other meds.

 

[HARO]

Do you realize that more fish die from hit-or-miss medicating than from the original 'problem'?
John