Fish is covered in bright orange substance with an orange lump

[SandyCheeks]

Last night I noticed this little guy covered in orange with a bright orange lump. I've had guppies for a few years and have never seen anything like it. It looks like the poor guy got into a bag of cheetos. He is supposed to have a silver body with a purple tail. Now he looks like one of those guys who paint themselves for a football game.

I was up til 2:00 am checking all the other fish and they all look healthy. But after seeing him I did treat the tank with Mardel Quick Cure and aquarium salt, 1 tbsp per 5 gallon. I am going to do another treatment of Quick Cure tonight then do a big water change the next day. I have had great success treating gill flukes and ich with quick cure and aquarium salt combo, and thankfully it has never disrupted the cycle. I do not want to lose the whole tank. Any advice from someone with experience with this orange covering is very much welcome.

75 gal., Am 0, Nitates 0, Nitates 40,*Ph 8.0, GH 12, KH 5, 78 degrees, Weekly water changes.

 

[SandyCheeks]

Sorry, having trouble uploading photos, it's giving me a parse error

 

[SandyCheeks]

Another

 

[SandyCheeks]

From top

 

[emilygupps]

I have no idea... I'm sorry.

But wanted to tell you that he is beautiful and I hope you get it sorted out because he needs to make lots of babies and you need to send me some

 

[SandyCheeks]

I have no idea... I'm sorry.

But wanted to tell you that he is beautiful and I hope you get it sorted out because he needs to make lots of babies and you need to send me some

Thanks! He looks better when not painted orange, poor guy! Oh man, I've got lots that look like him. I sure would send you some.

 

[Brookster123]

Velvet perhaps

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[SandyCheeks]

Velvet perhaps

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Is velvet a parasite? Not sure how to treat velvet...I will have to look it up.

 

[SandyCheeks]

Ok, from what I am reading, it seems that copper is used to treat velvet. I don't have any copper Meds. I have prazi and quick cure (malachite green and formalin). Looks like a trip to the petstore tomorrow. Has anyone used any copper products and which ones? Like Copper Powder vs Mardel Coppersafe? And would this harm my plecos?

 

[SandyCheeks]

I wouldn't use anything to lower the ph, because the products cause ph swings which is hard on fish. As long as you get some that tolerate high ph, they adjust.

 

[SandyCheeks]

{please disregard that last message it was from another post. :-( I am using the app, doing copy/ paste from notepad because the ipad app hangs when I hit send, and I am confusing myself so enough for now, am going to bed.. .}

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I've seen this before on people. It usually results from a spray on tan or extreme usage of the tanning bed. Has the fish been visiting the tanning salon often lately?

....sorry I can't be of any other assistance.

 

[Andy Sager]

It looks to be an internal tumor. Not much you can do for it. This is one of the results of all the breeding that has been to to this fish to get all the pretty colors. First thing is to get the nitrate level down. The lower the better. You may have some success with an internal antibiotic such as maracyn2 to help ward off any infection that may be causing the lump. The addition of salt in a hospital tank setup may also help draw the fluid inside the tumor ( if there) out thus returning the body to a more normal shape.

It is definitely not velvet. Velvet will appear as a dusting of orange or gold looking areas, usually around the dorsal area of the fish, not causing a protrusion of that magnitude.
This "thing" may not be a death sentence for the fish either. Without more conclusive testing of the area, it's hard to say for sure. At this point, it's easier to say what it isn't more than what it is. Sorry

Hope this helps

 

[SandyCheeks]

It is definitely not velvet. Velvet will appear as a dusting of orange or gold looking areas, usually around the dorsal area of the fish, not causing a protrusion of that magnitude.
This "thing" may not be a death sentence for the fish either. Without more conclusive testing of the area, it's hard to say for sure. At this point, it's easier to say what it isn't more than what it is. Sorry

Hope this helps

Thanks for replying and for the info. I have owned lots of guppies over the years and have never seen anything like this, so I guess I'm lucky they have been really healthy stock. Unfortunately, a certain percentage of all living things get tumors.

Just to clarify, In the first post I said that he does have a "dusting" of orange all over his body (excluding his tail) like he got into a bag of Cheetos. It's not really a dusting, because it doesn't come off when rubbed. Yes, I tried with a cloth because I was curious. I know I shouldn't do that.

In fact I am now calling him Cheeto. He is NOT supposed to be orange, his body is normally silver.

However, the orange does appear to to be slightly reduced, so I am hoping that the Quickcure, salt and daily water change has helped somewhat. Is is possible his lump is a pustule or a reaction of a parasite infection?

It's a mystery to me. I am going to treat it for now (because I dont know what else to do) like a parasite (ich or velvet), and raise the temp in the hospital tank, add salt, and keep the tank dark. Honestly I am more curious than ever to see if he goes back to his normal silver color.

If I thought he was suffering I would get out the clove oil but he seems spunky and is eating well.

Anything else I could try?

 

[SandyCheeks]

I've seen this before on people. It usually results from a spray on tan or extreme usage of the tanning bed. Has the fish been visiting the tanning salon often lately?

....sorry I can't be of any other assistance.

Haha, he does look like he had a spray on tan that turned orange. Maybe he was trying to look good for the ladies but it went bad, poor little Cheeto

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for replying and for the info. I have owned lots of guppies over the years and have never seen anything like this, so I guess I'm lucky they have been really healthy stock. Unfortunately, a certain percentage of all living things get tumors.

Just to clarify, In the first post I said that he does have a "dusting" of orange all over his body (excluding his tail) like he got into a bag of Cheetos. It's not really a dusting, because it doesn't come off when rubbed. Yes, I tried with a cloth because I was curious. I know I shouldn't do that.

In fact I am now calling him Cheeto. He is NOT supposed to be orange, his body is normally silver.

However, the orange does appear to to be slightly reduced, so I am hoping that the Quickcure, salt and daily water change has helped somewhat. Is is possible his lump is a pustule or a reaction of a parasite infection?

It's a mystery to me. I am going to treat it for now (because I dont know what else to do) like a parasite (ich or velvet), and raise the temp in the hospital tank, add salt, and keep the tank dark. Honestly I am more curious than ever to see if he goes back to his normal silver color.

If I thought he was suffering I would get out the clove oil but he seems spunky and is eating well.

Anything else I could try?

The reason I discounted velvet is because your pictures show an enlargement of the area. Velvet is actually a parasite and is seen as a "dusting" when multiple parasites are present. (You should google "pictures of velvet disease" to see the difference with your fish.) They do not usually cause a distension of the body. This is where the tumor theory comes from. If this is a pustule and is filled with a liquid, the salt may help absorb the liquid and reduce the swelling. If it is a solid mass, the salt should have little effect and an antibiotic might help the situation. If the fish is still eating and swimming "normally" it may not be effecting him at all so be careful with overdoing the treatment.
The orange color may in fact be a natural color that he would have changed to even without the growth. With Guppies, you never really know what color is actually in their DNA. lol
As for treatment, if you are seeing some reduction in the swelling, I'd continue with the treatment you are doing now and not raise the temp as this may increase the activity of the condition not remedy the condition.
That's my opinion since it is most likely NOT an external parasitic situation.

Hope this helps