Tumor?

[Olympia]

I doubt it.. Cancer is a very uncontrollable thing, unless you've been exposing him to toxic radiation I doubt you caused this.
There's a chance that's it's benign, if so it'll grow at varying rates, sometimes it'll just stop growing and won't bug him anymore.
If it's cancerous, you may (or may not) notice another tumor appear. IMO if you see another tumor on the body, you should think about euthanasia, since at the point it'll be too uncontrollable and obvious that it could spread to his organs.

[Kiku]

Originally Posted by Olympia

I doubt it.. Cancer is a very uncontrollable thing, unless you've been exposing him to toxic radiation I doubt you caused this.
There's a chance that's it's benign, if so it'll grow at varying rates, sometimes it'll just stop growing and won't bug him anymore.
If it's cancerous, you may (or may not) notice another tumor appear. IMO if you see another tumor on the body, you should think about euthanasia, since at the point it'll be too uncontrollable and obvious that it could spread to his organs.

I certainly hope it doesn't come to that, but if so, what is your recommendation for euthanasia? I googled it but everything makes me so nervous....

[BeckyFish97]

I agree with Olympia, whilever your boy's symptoms are relatively managable then don't put him to sleep, but if another tumor does appear then its probably best to euthanize him.

[Olympia]

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?...nasia-of-fish/
Most of them are pretty violent.
The least violent way would be overdosing him on clove oil or another drug.

[BeckyFish97]

I found this link very informative
http://www.oscarfishlover.com/helpfu...euthanize-fish

[Kiku]

Meep....just reading those make me nervous ;__;
Alby seems happy and is swimming around just fine, but I've been wondering for a while if he has septicemia (if you go back to the pictures and look at the red streaks...however, he also may have just changed pigment. It's hard to tell) and the tumor and I suspect popeye....he just doesn't seem like a healthy fellow at all.

[wystearya]

Originally Posted by Kiku

I think the best thing I can do is do frequent water changes and buy some clean plants for him so he'll feel safe and comfortable....I'm scared to even look at him because of the popeye and the tumor. I feel like a horrible owner ;__; I must have done something wrong for it to get this bad.

Tumors can be genetic, and it is very likely nothing you could have done would have stopped it. I'm sure you took great care of him and gave him the best life he could have.

Please don't blame yourself!

[Olympia]

Hmm, well feel free to treat the popeye. At least that might be manageable.

[Kiku]

Originally Posted by Olympia

Hmm, well feel free to treat the popeye. At least that might be manageable.

Yes T.T I think I'm too much of a wuss to euthanize him, at least not yet. I'm scared to wait until it gets REALLY bad, but it's the right thing to do. For now I'm just going to have to depend on clean water....

[Kiku]

Actually....*sighs*

I looked at Alby's other side and I see what looks like a few raised scales....not like dropsy, but like how the tumor first looked. I think it might be spreading. This breaks my heart, especially because Alby's still eating and swimming happily, but I think I should euthanize him before it messes with his internal organs