Just looking to get opinion on what I should do. I’m a pond tech and builder. While doing a repair to someone’s pond I was given a gold fish with hole in the head to kill. Well I didn’t have the heart to….. so he’s living in a tank at my house now. I treated him with melafix for about two weeks and half. His hole in the head went away and a tumor was in its place pretty fast. He went from a hole to a tumor ina day. I’m pretty sure it’s a tumor it doesn’t seem to be getting bigger. It’s an older fan tail with small benign tumors on its fins. The fish seems fine eats and bumps into the tank with its tumor.
Goldfish had hole in the head now a tumor
- Thread starter Dillon S
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Colin_T
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi and welcome to the forum 
Tumors don't grow in a day. They take months to get to something that size. It's more likely to be tissue pushed out from the head with fluid from inflammation. There's no cure for tumours and a wound like that is not going to be healed without some sort of vet treatment, which will probably kill the fish anyway. As much as you dislike the idea of euthanising the fish, it's probably the nicest thing you can do for it.
Tumors don't grow in a day. They take months to get to something that size. It's more likely to be tissue pushed out from the head with fluid from inflammation. There's no cure for tumours and a wound like that is not going to be healed without some sort of vet treatment, which will probably kill the fish anyway. As much as you dislike the idea of euthanising the fish, it's probably the nicest thing you can do for it.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
You have to consider that since these are man made fish, they could have genetics in them that would have them create a wen ( fleshy crown of an Oranda or lionhead, etc) because if the fish did have hole in the head, that is usually caused by poor water quality and/or vitamin deficiency, there should be no excessive skin growth that comes from the holes regenerating.
As Colin mentioned, the rate of growth is concerning, as concerning as the amount of tissue that was extruded or is growing.
Since this is an unknown tissue, it's unlikely that it is a treatable disease short of a biopsy of the tissue. The tissue could be muscle, brain, a cyst, wen tissue, etc. To be honest, keeping the fish in a 10 gallon tank is going to be a major chore to keep the water clean enough to prevent future diseases even tho the fish is eating. As mentioned, it could be more humane to euthanize this fish than keep it in the 10 gal.
On a side note, Fish are a miraculous animal. At Coral World observatory in the Virgin Islands, I once saw a Doctorfish, in a school of other Doctorfish hanging under a bridge, swimming fine, that was missing almost an entire side of flesh.( I could see bone :^0 ) One can only surmise that it's because the fish is in a fluid environment that it was able to survive in that condition. I think this is a similar thing with your Goldfish. There's no telling what long term effects this condition is going to bring on. If you intend on keeping him/her, I strongly suggest a larger aquarium, not putting any other fish in with it and keep it as clean as possible.
As Colin mentioned, the rate of growth is concerning, as concerning as the amount of tissue that was extruded or is growing.
Since this is an unknown tissue, it's unlikely that it is a treatable disease short of a biopsy of the tissue. The tissue could be muscle, brain, a cyst, wen tissue, etc. To be honest, keeping the fish in a 10 gallon tank is going to be a major chore to keep the water clean enough to prevent future diseases even tho the fish is eating. As mentioned, it could be more humane to euthanize this fish than keep it in the 10 gal.
On a side note, Fish are a miraculous animal. At Coral World observatory in the Virgin Islands, I once saw a Doctorfish, in a school of other Doctorfish hanging under a bridge, swimming fine, that was missing almost an entire side of flesh.( I could see bone :^0 ) One can only surmise that it's because the fish is in a fluid environment that it was able to survive in that condition. I think this is a similar thing with your Goldfish. There's no telling what long term effects this condition is going to bring on. If you intend on keeping him/her, I strongly suggest a larger aquarium, not putting any other fish in with it and keep it as clean as possible.
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