Lymphocytosis (cauliflower spots) hasn't improved over 4 months - what now?

[hbeth82]

Mid-October last year, I noticed a growth or mass on my convict who's probably about 4 years old. It's on her right side near the caudal fin (pictures, and more pictures). At first I thought it was either a parasite or some cartilage sticking out (first post). Moved her into a 10gal QT and noticed that the spot appeared really inflamed and almost a bit bloody. After my second post a few weeks later, HUKIT diagnosed it as lymphocytosis. I read up on it and the description fit exactly with what I was seeing. From what I could find and what HUKIT said, only thing I could do was keep her water clean and it should clear up.

Since then, she's been in quarantine but the spots look exactly the same as they did four months ago. I've changed the water every 2-3 days, kept the nitrates below 5ppm, and consistently feeding NLS food, but she hasn't improved. She acts fine, eats eagerly when she comes out of hiding to get it but just doesn't seem to be healing. I know it's not good for her to be in such a little tank for so long and I'm starting to really feel bad for her. Water temp is 76-78, 0 ammonia or nitrite, and I have an air stone in there to help with oxygenation.

Has anybody had success with other treatment, or have any suggestions? Or should I just move her back to the main tank and hope it doesn't get any worse? Other than the BN pleco, she's the most aggressive one my main tank, though I do have tiger barbs who can be pretty pesty.

 

[hbeth82]

Sorry, just realized I'd been misspelling, that should be 'lymphocystis'.

 

[jlk]

Has the growth changed at all (shrunken or grown)?

I agree with Hukit's assessment based on your pictures. However, as this issue is viral in nature, there honestly are not any miracle cures. You have been handling the situation in the best way possible (pristine water, lots of wcs and a good diet). If the growth has remained unchanged after four months and your fish is active and healthy,moving her back is a reasonable option at this point as her condition has remained unchanged. Just keep an eye out for any new developments. Good luck!

 

[hbeth82]

Has the growth changed at all (shrunken or grown)?

Last night I took a closer look at the pictures that had been taken previously and noticed that the mass has actually grown slightly. In the pictures taken soon after moving her over to the QT, it almost looks like there are two separate little growths but now those have expanded into one larger mass. It doesn't protrude from her body any farther, but it stretches farther from her dorsal to her ventral side, parallel to her caudal fin. So, basically it's grown longer. She's pretty skittish so I can't get a clear picture of it but I'll keep trying and post it when I can. I'm going to do a WC today and I'll try adding some API salt.

Now I'm having my doubts about moving her back, but at the same time keeping her in QT doesn't seem to be helping.

Any thoughts?

 

[jlk]

There is something you can try but no guarantees here. Acriflavine baths (daily) are used by some goldfish breeders to help mitigate the effects of the virus and facilitate healing as this is a fairly common problem in goldfish. Worth a shot!

 

[hbeth82]

Excellent, thanks jlk for the suggestion! The best stuff I can find is either FishVet's Acriflavine-MS or API's Fungus Cure. Do you have any recommendations, or know of a better formula? I'm thinking that I could order the Acriflavine-MS and until it gets here, treat her with the Fungus Cure as I can find that at most of the LFS's.

Also, you suggested treating her with 'daily baths', which I'm guessing means I'd have to fish her out of the QT every day for treatment. She's so nervous and skittish that I'm worried she'd either stress herself to death or bash her little head in before the treatment began to help. Is it necessary to do it that way? I can do daily water changes if that helps.

 

[jlk]

I would give the fungus product a try now as it is intended as a tank treatment rather than a bath. I would order the other product as long as it is plain acriflavine without other meds. Although goldfish breeders that swear by this suggest it's use as a bath (long baths), I am sure we can figure out a reasonable schedule of dosing and wcs to mimic the bath method that's generally suggested.

I am going to stress again though that this is not guarantee of a cure but something that's worth a try. If budget is not a concern, an aquatic vet would be able to perform microscopics to specifically ID the nature of the growth and provide additional alternatives. Please keep us posted!

 

[hbeth82]

I am going to stress again though that this is not guarantee of a cure but something that's worth a try.

No, I understand completely but thank you for the reminder. I was actually worried that the consensus would be to euthanize her since it's gone downhill rather than improved over the past four months so treatment suggestions are

As much as I love her, I don't know that taking her to an aquatic vet is an option I can afford right now but I'll keep it in mind. I'll update with any improvements from using the Fungus Cure (going to pick some up today) and when the Acriflavine-MS gets here.

 

[hbeth82]

UPDATE:
After two full treatments of the API Fungus Clear, the sores on Vickie's sides are looking a bit better though still far from being healed. I finally received the Acriflavine MS today so I can begin treating her tomorrow with her next water change. The instructions on the bottle recommend 1tsp per 10 gallons as a standard dose, or to use as a bath to add 1tsp per 5 gallons. However, for the bath, it only suggests this as a treatment for infected fish eggs, and at the bottom stipulates that it can only be used at this dose once.

With those instructions I'm a little nervous about giving her the "bath" dosage more than once, or at least make sure there's a long interval in between. I'm thinking of doing a large water change tomorrow, adding in 1tsp/5gal, let that set for 2-3 days, do a 30-50% water change and start in with the daily recommended treatments of 1tsp/10gal. Any thoughts or other suggestions? What I'm thinking of doing is pretty arbitrary, just going off of other treatment schedules.

 

[jlk]

I would start with the dosage suggested on the bottle (1tsp/10g). Acriflavine doses vary based on strength and range from 1ml per 100l to 10ml per 100l. I would still do frequent wcs and only add back the amount of acriflavine that's being removed. If things seem unchanged in a few days, you can gradually adjust the dose some. Thanks for the update! Let us know of there is any progress!

 

[Berylla]

Angelsplus.com sells acriflavine. They use it to prevent fungus on their angel eggs.

 

[hbeth82]

I would start with the dosage suggested on the bottle (1tsp/10g). Acriflavine doses vary based on strength and range from 1ml per 100l to 10ml per 100l. I would still do frequent wcs and only add back the amount of acriflavine that's being removed.

Ok thanks, guess it would be smart to follow the instructions that come with the medicine I'll put the first dose in tonight after her WC, then do the daily 25% WCs with 1/4 the dose added.

Thanks and hopefully I'll have good news soon!

 

[katiekelsey]

That looks like something my black skirt tetra has. He/she has a cauliflower like thing just behind the dorsal fin. It doesn't seem to bother the fish and it's been there for several months. I noticed yesterday that the thing is mostly gone. It must have broken off. The fish still seems fine.

 

[hbeth82]

I came home from work today to find Vickie dead, laying on her side at the bottom of the tank. Last night after the water change I accidentally spilled some of the AcriflavineMS in addition to her 1/4tsp dose and I think this may have been what killed her as she seemed fine yesterday.

Thanks to everybody on this forum for helping me to identify what the problem was and offering suggestions on how to treat her. I'm so sorry I messed it up.

Rest in peace pretty fish.

 

[jlk]

I am so sorry!!!