Big Spot on Pearlscale

Question
Hello,
We are sorry, but Amber Worman wasn't able to answer your question:

Hi, i have a pearlscale named Blimp. I noticed that after i got him he
had a big crater-like thing on his side. It's like this
[IMG]http://i28.tinypic.com/zwki9g.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i28.tinypic.com/zwki9g.jpg[/IMG]

is it from an accident or is it a disease? Maybe it's just me but
sometimes it looks like it's getting bigger.
Thanks! :)

Answer
Hi Anna,
Looks to me like some sort of sore or possibly even a tumor. Usually sores become huge and ugly like that when they are exacerbated by bad water conditions. Do you keep your goldfish in a 20 gallon tank or larger? Are there any other fish there? You should have at least a 20 gallon tank, due to the fact that Goldfish need a large surface area and plenty of water to dilute their massive production of ammonia. Also, the sore may have been caused by another fish initially biting it, and then infected by poor water.
You can start his recovery by adding some sort of conditioner to the water to replace his slime coat, which will have been removed by your handling him - and please don't do that anymore as it stresses out your fish unnecessarily. >.< Also, any aggressive fish that you may have noticed nipping at him or chasing him around should be separated from him. Make sure he has a large enough tank. If not, consider getting one. Also make sure you have decent filtration, such as a bio wheel or even better a canister filter. Keep his water quality optimum doing several small water changes weekly (up to 25% every few days).  Do some water tests to make sure his ammonia and nitrates are at 0 and if not do a larger water change (40%, and gravel vacuuming is a good idea too.)
For any other questions you might check out www.flippersandfins.net , they are very informative and may help you out as well. Hope this helped,and feel free to write back any time.