goldfish- cyst?!

hi!
i have a goldfish who is rediculously big, and quite old. a while ago he grew a whitish clear lump on one eye, i rang a fishery and they told me it was probably a cyst, and that he would be fine living with it, but recently it has gotten alot bigger, and gown a blackish sort of lump on top, although it doesnt deem to bother him much..
can anyone help?!
Thanks!

iv seen this before in goldfish, it most probably is a cyst or a tumor, practically all tumors are untreatable.

you could buy some tetracycline from your pet store which is a broad spectrum antibiotic.

this is really a question for blue or rob who are our fish experts, i will try and get hold of them for you.

would it be possible to post a pic?

First, we will need the basics:

Size of tank?

Other tankmates?

Temperature of the water?

How long has the tank been set up?

If you have a liquid drop test kit, please post the results for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate.

How often do you do water changes? How much water do you change approximately? And what do you do when you do a water change?

These questions are all necessary to know what can be done to help. For now, just do many, many water changes, say 50% of the water once a day.

Thanks!
well: i change the water around twice a month, about 30% each time, and clean the filters ect. He is alone as any other fish he has been with in the past have been killed off by him. we even tried water snails, but he ate them out of their shells... He is around 10 years old, i will try to get a pic.
The tank is 1X1.5X2 foot, although he is beginning to outgrow it, despite having outgrown 2 previously!
Am thinking about expanding my pond, and moving him out there this summer, but im not sure.

Thanks for the replys!!

Alright, do the 50% daily water changes, it will surely help. the pond is a great idea, goldfish need temperate water, and I am worried he is beginning to stunt, so the sooner he is moved to the pond, the better.

When you clean the filter, what do you do? Do you clean the material, or do you throw it out?

How long has the tank been set-up?

I still need the results for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate.

Begin doing 50% water changes weekly if the cyst clears soon, it is not something that can be taken lightly, freshwater fish need freshwater.

Do you ever add salt? What type of dechlorinator do you use, if you use one?

Ok will do, i use aqua plus conditioner, and how do i do the tests for for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate?
ive never added salt before either, should i?

Salt is bad to add in general, only very few instances it should be used.

An Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Kit will test for it, it is what is called a liquid drop kit. There are also test strips, which, in general, are very inaccurate and unreliable, so get the liquid drop kit.

Follow the instructions, and post what the test tells you, some of the colors will be close, but if you do 50% weekly water changes, and the tank is stocked properly and maintained, Ammonia should be 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate <20. Most people try to keep nitrate under 10 ppm.

the test strips are ok, they are also cheaper aswell, and they work fine as iv tried both and had te same results. But if you dont mind spending extra go for the liquid drop kit.

Everything Animal wrote:

the test strips are ok, they are also cheaper aswell, and they work fine as iv tried both and had te same results. But if you dont mind spending extra go for the liquid drop kit.

I have to disagree with this, unfortunately Chris. As a friend of mine once said, "Test strips are almost good enough to test ammonia in cat piss......almost." The difference in my experience has been interesting, and completely opposite from yours. I would have 20 nitrate, and then 40 the next day, then 10 the next, while the drops were consistent. Personally, I would purchase the drops right off the bat, would save time and money now, rather than getting the strips to buy the drops later.

Ok, i was speaking to a friend who works at a fishery who said he could do the tests,
apparently this would give me this same results?

i agree humans ARE animals

ok, well we have had different experences so lets leave it at that plz.
and also can you plz try not to swear on the forum, thanks

Alright, and I do not see any swears?

Make sure when getting the test, that you get the exact numbers, not a "fine" or "bad", make sure you get the numbers. It's very difficult to judge how far the tank is and what the current condition is, without the numbers.

ok will do,
i just cleaned him out!