Lymphocystis

Humblefish · Jul 16, 2016

Lymphocystis

What You Need To Know:

* This is a virus that many fish carry for life. The white nodules (cauliflower-like growths) can grow both externally and internally; so symptoms are not always visible.
* There is no known cure for Lympho. However, feeding vitamin-enriched foods and maintaining pristine water conditions will help send the virus into remission.
* Lympho is rarely fatal; typically only older or weakened fish are at risk.

Additional Information

Lymphocystis appears as a white or beige colored wart-like growth that usually starts on the fins and spines and sometimes spreads to the body. It can also grow over internal organs, including a fish’s gills. Initially it may be small (looks like Ich), but then grows in size (which is how you know it’s not Ich). Lympho is a virus that many fish carry for life. Fortunately, it is rarely fatal or even harmful to the fish, and symptoms will come and go.

Treatment Options – No known cure or treatment exists. However, feeding vitamin-enriched foods and maintaining pristine water conditions may expedite the “going away” process. The lesions/nodules typically clear in 2-3 weeks, but can also take months in rare instances.

More detailed information: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa181

4FordFamily · Jul 16, 2016

Very common and as you said, often not dangerous at all.

I did have a queen angel that almost had this grow over her mouth to the point she could not eat that I needed to scrape off once until it started to go away. She did recover and a few months later the giant cauliflower growths were gone from the face, gill, and fins. On rare occasions I have heard where this grew over their gills and suffocated them. This would seem to be very unlikely as the gills are always moving and this stuff grows slowly.

melypr1985 · Jul 16, 2016

I see this in butterflies quite a bit. I try to explain to customers what it is and that with time, and good water/nutrition it will go away.... but they are always put off by how ugly it makes the fish look and leave it to me to fix them.

DracoKat · Aug 10, 2016

is this contagious? can other fish get it in the same tank?

Humblefish · Aug 10, 2016

DracoKat said:
is this contagious? can other fish get it in the same tank?

Yes, but it so rampant that its almost unavoidable. Odds are you have a fish with Lympho and don't even realize it.

revhtree · Aug 11, 2016

Thanks for this info!

dochow · Jan 30, 2017

Great write up, looks my CBB has a case of it!

pickupman66 · Jan 30, 2017

I had a CBB who suffered from when I initialy got him. it would come and go and it seemed I could feed him out of it. None o my other fishes ever got sick from it. after a certain point though i dont remember it showing up for over a year and I sold him when I downsized.

dochow · Jan 31, 2017

Nice link on Lymphocytosis:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/m/#publication?id=FA181

Hogan · Feb 22, 2017

Thanks everyone, it's it worth treating or just wait it out?

melypr1985 · Feb 22, 2017

Hogan said:
Thanks everyone, it's it worth treating or just wait it out?

There is no real treatment for lymph. You can keep the water clean, stress low and add vitamins to the food, but you won't be able to actively treat it.

dochow · Mar 2, 2017

My CBB which had lymph during QT about a month ago went into my DT about 20 days ago now and has no visual manifestations of the disease now

seaplane · Mar 2, 2017

Will cleaner shrimp try to pick it off, ( read this on a FB page , so it MUST be true) lol? I have a Royal Gramma with a huge one over an eye in QT , I want him out of there so I can get some inverts going in qt, would I be safe putting him in my sump?

melypr1985 · Mar 2, 2017

seaplane said:
Will cleaner shrimp try to pick it off, ( read this on a FB page , so it MUST be true) lol? I have a Royal Gramma with a huge one over an eye in QT , I want him out of there so I can get some inverts going in qt, would I be safe putting him in my sump?

Assuming the gramma has been through QT already, then lympho shouldn't keep you from putting him in the display. It's not a deadly virus, just a virus. The cleaner shrimp might try, but I doubt he will be a whole lot of help.

Humblefish · Mar 2, 2017

melypr1985 said:
The cleaner shrimp might try, but I doubt he will be a whole lot of help.

Some will eat it off, some pull it off, some just ignore it. The ones that pull it off can sometimes be the worst, as they aren't too gentle and will often pull part of the fin off with the nodule.

Then you have to worry about a potential infection.

Monkeynaut · Mar 26, 2017

Anything else that normally starts at the tip of the fins like this does?
I have a new captive bred Hippo that I think may have the start of this. Or I hope at least. I saw a bad case of this on a copper band at the store, though it was in a different tank.

If a white dot or a couple white dots show up on the absolute tip of a fin, is this the most likely cause? Assuming the fish is acting completely normal otherwise and hasn't even approached the cleaner shrimp in the tank...

melypr1985 · Mar 26, 2017

Monkeynaut said:
Anything else that normally starts at the tip of the fins like this does?
I have a new captive bred Hippo that I think may have the start of this. Or I hope at least. I saw a bad case of this on a copper band at the store, though it was in a different tank.

If a white dot or a couple white dots show up on the absolute tip of a fin, is this the most likely cause? Assuming the fish is acting completely normal otherwise and hasn't even approached the cleaner shrimp in the tank...

The best way to know if it is Lympho or Ich is to wait a week or so and if it drops off before then - it's likely ich... if it gets larger then it is likely lympho.