I got a pearl gourami yesterday and when I got him acclimated and in the tank i noticed a "ZIT" (for lack of a better term) on his tail. I went back to the LFS with a photo and he said "it could either be something, or nothing" He advised me to keep an eye on it and if the bump changes to let him know. He said if its a parasite it should come out, itcould also be a calcium deposit just under the skin, or a tumor. But that it is hard to tell right now.

Any ideas?



you can see it just above and in front of the large spot at the base of his tail.

it dosent seem to be bothering him any. He is VERY active. almost too active. but as you can see his colors look good, and I picked him because of the 2 males the store had he was a little more aggresive than the other.

If it is a parasite it may kill him if it comes out. Try getting some medication, and soaking his food in it. Then target feed him so he ingests the medication soaked food.

You will have to go into defensive mode, as there is a chance it is fish tuberculosis (Mycobacter marinum). I doubt very very much it is a parasite.
Fish tb is communicable to humans, so if you have open cuts, do not put your hands in the water. It is very commonly seen on Singapore and Thai farmed fish - less on gouramis but often on rainbows.
You should either purchase high gloves, or return the fish. It should be euthanized, unfortunately.
Fish aren't like dogs or cats with lots of diseases that transfer to us - there are only two we can catch from them.Mycobacter marinum will give you the same 'zits' running up your arms close to the surface, and can only be cured with about a six month course of antibiotics. I caught it seven years ago from some Celebes rainbows, and it was a long expensive process to get rid of it.

I don't have personal experience with the disease like navigator black but in pictures I've seen of fish with Mycobacter marinum the sores looked red and festering which doesn't seem to be the case in your fish.

This information looks good:
http://www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html

The article's not perfect - I was diagnosed by a lab at a major hospital as having marinum, from a freshwater fish. The article states that's a saltwater form - it isn't.
My fish had lesions that were not open or festering, but they were red, raised bumps on the skin. In humans, the bumps are squarish, red-brown and about an eighth to a quarter inch across.
I'll admit, I saw it on my fish and thought it was a scar - thought nothing of it til after when the strange pimples started moving up the back of my hand and up my forearm. Having been through some 'unfun' times with it, I'd suggest it's better to be safe than sorry.

I think fish TB is not the case here and frankly a rather extreme call based on the info given. It is a disease that is out there and maybe more common than you may read about, but not as common as something like your fish has. Watch it like the store person said. I have had new fish have similar spots as sometimes they get a tad roughed up when they are being netted if they are a difficult fish to catch. Plus from that pic, it could be just about anything. Wait a few days and see if it improves and re-evaulate.

TB's hard to diagnose even if the fish is in front of you, but I will go back to saying be careful until you know - rubber gloves if you have cuts on your hands and you have to reach into the water.
Pet store employees face this all the time and don't catch it - there is an element of bad luck involved. I live in a city of 3 million, and the hospital I dealt with had 3 cases on record in 10 years - one from a swimmer without an aquarium. I've just become a better safe than sorry guy.

I'm a co0nstruction worker, i always have cuts and scrapes of some kind or another. i actually have some latex gloves in the first aid kit from when a torch blew up in my hand a few weeks ago. i got some pretty good burns and used the gloves to keep them from getting infected.

After doing some research on fish TB i paid more attention to his behavior. he is definately not "listless' he spends most of his time swimming up and down in the corners of the tank. Thats actually driving me a little crazy.
His colors seem good and I'm not seeing any frayed fins.
His eating has me a little concerned though, he takes the food into his mouth and spits it out. Then he takes another piece and spits it out too. I've tried a couple different foods (granuals, flakes and crisps) and he has the same reaction to all of them. I'm gonna try a little baby shrimp tomorrow.

he likes that!

Took "zit boy" to the LFS this evening. To my surprise he reached right into the bucket and picked up the fish. He looked at the bump, flipped him over to look at the opposite side. and gently "squeezed" the bump. He said he dosent think its a cyst or a parasite because it was hard. he thinks it was actually an injury to the tail that has healed a little funny. He noticed that on the opposite side of the bump there is actually a depression. My comparison is to scoliosis. He asked how the fish was acting and I told him about the up and down swimming in the corner. he asked me if I used aquarium salt. I told him I added about a teaspoon or so after water changes. he advised me to add more like a tablespoon for every 10 gallons of water I changed. I also bought a better heater and bumped the temp up a bit.

The fish is back in the tank now, and is much calmer. I dont know if its because of the extra salt I added or from being handled like that. Probably both. Will see what he is like tomorrow.