Growth on Lip

[Cybreezy]

Hello everyone! My peacock bass has had this growth on its lip for a good while. It gets red and larger from time to time then recedes to a smaller white growth. I have included pictures from both of these stages. He has no other issues, and eats like a champ. Any idea what it could be? Thank you for your help!

 

[jimmie1974]

Aqua oral herpes lol. Im joking. Nice pbass by the way. May be from taking in gravel while taking food from the bottom, before spitting the gravel back out after sorting through it. If it is herpes, your looking at a breakout once a month.

 

[Cybreezy]

Thanks lol! It's been around long enough that I don't think its him sifting the gravel but its def possible. With the way he eats food never hits the bottom =)

 

[jimmie1974]

Thanks lol! It's been around long enough that I don't think its him sifting the gravel but its def possible. With the way he eats food never hits the bottom =)

Yeah idk, never seen anything like that

 

[Cybreezy]

yeah I've looked around and it doesn't seem to be common at all, I was hoping someone saw it before but it doesn't look that way.

 

[davenmandy]

This is crazy, 4 years ago I had a bass that had the exact same thing. I couldn't find a single answer on it, noone here knew. I caught the bass and cut it off with a knife, bass had some slime coat issues from struggling otherwise was perfectly fine and it never grew back. Not something I would recommend for everyone and definitely have a good game plan because that bass will struggle. Sterilize equipment and put a when towel over its eyes. It was tough as can be to cut off, almost like bone.

 

[Cybreezy]

This is crazy, 4 years ago I had a bass that had the exact same thing. I couldn't find a single answer on it, noone here knew. I caught the bass and cut it off with a knife, bass had some slime coat issues from struggling otherwise was perfectly fine and it never grew back. Not something I would recommend for everyone and definitely have a good game plan because that bass will struggle. Sterilize equipment and put a when towel over its eyes. It was tough as can be to cut off, almost like bone.

That's exactly what I was planning on doing Im worried about him struggling and accidently cutting too deep. How was the cleanup and did you treat it with anything after?

 

[davenmandy]

I can't remember, I was an amateur at fish keeping and probably shouldn't have done it then, things would have went better now for sure. You won't cut too deep, it is a hard growth and will be hard to cut through cleanly, I used a fillet knife, but maybe that wasn't the best option either. I would probably cover him entirely with a wet towel and I honestly don't know how to subdue him while you cut it to stop him from squirming because if you hold him down he will get slime coat issues. He will also be quite pouty for a while. I would maybe use a Q tip with rubbing alcohol or peroxide or something after on the wound, but don't quote me on that because I didn't do it at the time and I haven't researched what the best way to disinfect a wound on a bass would be, those are just my first thoughts.

 

[hms01]

You can consider using transmore on the bass to put it to sleep preventing it from trashing around.

 

[888fish]

I've done some "cosmetic surgery" on fish in the past. Simply from my experience, I catch the fish, place in large ziplock bag (protects Slimecoat), push fish to bottom of bag, cut small opening in bag appropriate for surgical site, place fish on flat surface and hold fish down firmly while performing the surgery. Then simply place fish back into tank from bag. I've done this cichlids, datnoids, Arowanas, etc. Sometimes, I don't even do any cutting, simply "rough up" some fins to encourage regrowth that I'm certain would not regrow on its own. I've used sedatives in the past too, can be a bit scary the first time. I do work in the medical field, around procedures all the time.