shubunkin fish disease

Question
Hi Robyn, I have a garden pond with 9 shubunkin fish. Some of these I have had for 5 yrs. I have noticed that one of the older ones has a few lumps (one almost as big as a pea) around his head area. they are firm to the touch, I do not notice any parasite that is visible. I have pulled him out and  put him in an adjoining pond on his own. If you could give me any info I would appreciate it.  Thanks

Answer
I had a goldfish with similar lumps.  Did they look like this (perhaps less advanced)?
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/photos/fish/goldfish/tumorgf2.jpg
In the case of my dead goldfish there who had been laying on the bottom for almost a year, I'm not sure what the tumors were but they were hard.

Here is my section entitled, "What is that lump on my fish?"
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/health4.htm#lump

If it's hard and not oozing, it's probably an actual tumor, perhaps with fat or rarely cancerous.

Hopefully, it's just some sort of hard cyst.  There's no real treatment for cysts or tumors aside from actual surgery at a fish vet if there's one in your state.  You may try treating the shubunkin with pond salt, MelaFix, and antibiotics which help for general problems and secondary infections from whatever the lump is.  Sometimes, various growths will resolve on their own.  Hopefully, that will be the case here.

Good luck!
Robyn