white tumors on my catfish

Question
I recently set up a 2.5 gallon tank with 4 tiny goldfish and a catfish (janitor fish). I have used stress coat and stress zyme as a water conditioner and biological filtration booster. The tank contains gravel and a few ornaments, such as shells and artificial plants. A few days after, I noticed that my catfish had a pinkish-white growth on its right fin. Then today, I noticed more smaller growths on its left fin and tail. These are on the bottom parts, where it drags it along the bottom of the tank. I don't know if its a disease or if its caused by injury from the gravel. What do you think this is and what do you think I should do? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am beginning to think that I should give it away because it might not live well with goldfish.  

Answer
Dear Shaina,
Although it's very difficult to know what your catfish has without actually seeing him for myself. I would suspect that these growths could be injuries, fungus, or a response of ammonia pollution.
Unfortunately it is not a good thing to keep any number of goldfish in an aquarium of 2.5 gallons. Unless you are planning on moving the four into a much larger aquarium soon. It won't be very long until those little goldfish are crowded and likely very miserable. Also unfortunate is that is still happens that some petstores and books still recommend keeping goldfish in bowls and other tiny aquaria. This isn't good for them long-term at all. Goldfish thrive best in a large aquarium with good filtration, aeration, and plenty of large and frequent water changes. If your goldfish are the common variety or the Comet type, then this gets even worse as these beautiful fish really do best in a good sized pond at maturity. I have personally seen many comet and common (comets have forked shaped tails and commons have normal rounded-end tails) goldfish grow 12" inches and has a lot of body mass. I don't want to keep saying these bad things to you that you were doing it all wrong--not at all. But I just wanted to warn you about a goldfishes potential. I love all goldfish and I try to let everybody know of the proper care that these long-time favorites deserve.

Now lets move on to the catfish. I do know in my experience that many fish develop a small white spot or bump on their fin where a small injury was inflicted. This spot should not be confused with the all-too common "Ick" or white spot parasites which typically make the fish appear to be sprinkled with salt and the fish tends to be very sick.
These injury areas go away on their own in a few days and the fish is fine otherwise. But the redness is what is worrying. Reddened fins could indicate a bacterial infection, or even ammonia toxicity.

Since this aquarium is newly setup. There is very likely no beneficial bacteria colonies or "Biological filtration" present to deal with the waste load. What's worse is the 4 little goldfish will put out much more waste than other species of fish their size. So you could have a very bad deal here. High ammonia levels are extremely hard on fish.
Does the growth on your catfish look fuzzy or 'tufted' in anyway? This would indicate fungus. Fungus typically always appears white and fuzzy. You are better off searching websites with pictures of fish infected with fungus to have a positive diagnosis before you start any treatment.

Then again, it could be that his bottom fins are injured. How is the gravel in your aquarium? Sharp edged gravel or rough gravel can certainly harm bottom dwelling fishes fins and cause red and irritated areas. Make sure your gravel is nicely rounded and smooth. Also I wanted to note about the Shells. Most of the time, shells are bad for freshwater aquarium use. Unless they are fake. Natural shells will cause your pH (A measure of how acidic or alkaline your water is) to raise quite high. This is because seashells are made of calcaereous compounds that slowly dissolve in the water and add in turn to raise the pH level.

I don't think I would treat for disease just yet but look for enviromental causes first. This certainly sounds like it could be some irritant in his tank. The first thing I would do is check water quality for your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. Most likely your aquarium is still cycling so ammonia is probably present. Above all I would begin doing daily water changes on your 2.5gal. Draining the water down to just enough for the goldfish and catfish to still be comfortable and then filling with dechlorinated and conditioned fresh water. Always make sure the temperature of the replacement water is equal to your aquarium's temp and always use water conditioner. You may also continue to use Stress Zyme during your water changes as well. Doing these water changes everyday will really help your fish. But even with these water changes, you may not be able to keep your ammonia levels down with the type of fish and number that you keep. Try to get a aquarium test kit if you can. You should try to test your water everyday for the next several weeks.

Water changes should really help your Catfish's problem as well. But if he seems to be getting worse or the growths appear fuzzy then treatment may be neccesary. For now, medication can do more harm than good as we are not sure of what we're treating. One thing you may want to use is Melafix, which is a all-natural medication for treating some bacterial infections and sometimes even fungal infections as well. This medication is very safe for all fish and won't disturb your bacterial colonies that are developing like other meds will.

I really hope this helps! Feel free to write or keep me updated about your catfish if you don't mind.

Best wishes, good luck!
Karen~