ID shark surgery HELP

[ecuaaron]

I have an 7" ID shark in a 120g that I believe has a fast growing tumor on his left lateral line. It is the same color as his scales/skin and just looks like a big bump on his sides. It did not cause him problems when he was smaller, but now that the tumor is growing it is starting to cause him to list to his side. Anyone ever have experience removing anything like this from fish before and could give me any advice? I am not going to a vet, I'd rather flush him or remove it myself, I just don't want to see it get worse and have him suffer, it does appear to be superficial as well, so it probably is not affecting his internal organs. Any ideas? help

 

[kzimmerman]

Can you post a picture of what you are describing? If it is in the epidermal layer, you MIGHT be able to do it, but the resulting stress would probably kill the poor fella. I would have to say that your options are: let nature take it's course. It's probably gonna happen anyway, but it will probably suffer. Second, euthanize it, freezing is the easiest and the easiest on the fish. Thirdly, you could try the "surgery". The risk to the animal is very high, as you probably don't have acess to the required equipment to undertake such an endeavor.
My personal recomendation would probably be for euthanization. I just don't think it's fair to subject the animal to that kind of agony.
Still, before you do anything to the fish, please post a picture. There are other things that can cause something like you describe, and are treatable.

 

[ecuaaron]

well, i performed the surgery this morning, and it was successful, it turned out to be some sort of epidermal cyst which i removed with a scalpel. I am privy to such surgical instruments as I work in a hospital. I used rubber gloves, and held the fish with only his head and gills under water. It turned out to be rubbery and jelly like, and it did not puncture his skin/scales. I used a topical antiseptic on him after the "surgery" and he seems to be swimming around normally. Now to see if it grows back.

 

[swede]

add some aquarium salt to the water to help promote healing