huge lump on Durgeons face

[lakehorse61]

10 " black durgeon has a huge lump on has that has developed 4 or 5 small lumps on top of it.

it has been getting worse over the last month since the injury or bite happened. he is in a 75 gallon hospital tank now being treated with maracyn 2 & copper & he eating very well.

can a lump be removed? or lanced? any experience?

 

[bchristie]

Are you sure the lump is not a lymphocystis nodule? Lymphocystis will often "bud" out of previously inflicted wounds, often times as the wound is nearly healed over; triggerfishes and angelfishes seem to be especially prone to outbreaks of this type, even if they've never broken with the disease before.

Any attempt to remove the lump will most likely result in a lethal secondary infection, and may be illegal depending on your state's laws (surgery is always best left a DVM). You could try aspirating the lump with a sterile hypodermic needle, but the fish would need to be sedated with MS-222 or Benzocaine (again, probably best left to a vet).

Often times draining the fluid from a large lump or abcess will speed the recovery if it is bacterial in origin, though you take a serious risk of creating a secondary infection. If the specimen is eating well the best course of action may be to try incorporating some antibotics directly into the diet. Consult the appendix in Noga's Fish Medicine for antibiotic selection and dosage information.

Hope this helps

 

[Wolverine]

Where is the lump?
Can you get any pictures of it?

Some of the Xanthichthys triggers can get a tumor in their mouth. From what I've read (though it's been a while), no one is really sure what it is; some say abscess, others cancerous mass, others inflammatory tumor. In those cases it ends up preventing the fish from eating, and they eventually die. They also tend to recur if aspirated. There some anecdotes about it being successfully treated with amikacin, but not enough evidence to really recommend that.

I've not heard of the Melichthys triggers being prone to this, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.

Like bchristie said, if you lop off the lump, you will run the risk of secondary infection. And if you're not really familiar with doing this sort of thing, could potentially do a lot more harm than good.

Dave