Today I just noticed a raised area near the head of my sister's male fish; it was on the lateral line scales and there seems to be a tiny spec of white on one part of the raised area. I was thinking it could be fungus, or, just a pimple, which one of my fish has had before without adverse affects. It could be the beginning of this. (It's not a breeding tubercle.) Here are the tank conditions:

Ammonia: .25 (haven't been keeping up with the weekly changes like we should have.)
Nitrite: 0

Not cycling, has been set up for awhile; 10 gal with 20 gal filter, fish is 1 commen/commet, add Prime and AquaSafe, no meds, just started feeding Metro Med now in case it's something internal. Feed mainly pellets, occasionally spirulina and a couple of bloodworms. Active as always, only are of note is afore mentioned lump/raised area.

He's in too small a tank, we were going to move him into his own 20 gal I have this weekend. Should we still do this? The cycle may have to restart, and this would add stress. Should I wait, do it as soon as possible, or do it when he gets better. Will try to get a pic.

Cant really tell without the pic, but have you looked into Hexamita aka Hole In the Head Disease?

Hi and welcome to the forum. As Sandy mentioned,if you could show us a pic,that would be great. The thing is that white spots,whether it be fungus,or a pimple,are not the norm for these fish,and must be looked at quickly.Knowing that your tank params are off is the first sign.You need to get that Ammonia reading back to 0.Sometimes in getting your tank params in check will make these odd little marks disappear. It's when your params are off that these can go into some serious problems. As for placing him in a bigger tank,I'm all for that.You can use the filter's/gravel/decorations from his old tank to help the new one cycle faster. Pristene water is definately needed here. Sometimes it is stressful when moving fish,butif you do the thingsd mentioned,match the new tank temps with the ones that he's in now,etc. that sure goes a long way.

I don't think it's Hexamita; it's not really eroded or spoted; could be the beginings of leasions though, but he's very active and his poop is the normal brown color. I'm going to feed him some baby shrimp or bloodworms; maybe a change of diet will help some.

With the change, ammonia's slightly above zero. I'll change out a gallon or two tonight.

Trying to get pics up, couldn't last night, but I will be able to soon. (My Photobucket account won't let me upload unless I have my settings a certain way; I'm working on it now.)

"As for placing him in a bigger tank, I'm all for that."

I have a half day tommorrow, and that's when I'll do it. Gonna need another air pump; it's a 20 high...

Here's a pictures; tell me if you can't see it. In the pictures he looks dropsied but it's graininess from the photo. The white speck and raised area is on his right.

http://photobucket.com/albums/a334/Roano/?...nt=100_1320.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/a334/Roano/?...nt=100_1321.jpg

Hopefully they show; I have some issues with Photobucket.

Its hard to see, but I think I can make one out in the first picture. Those white spots on the second pictures, 3 all together, are those on the camera lense?
If you could shoot a picture from the side, maybe then its better visible...

Here's a side pic: it's really grainy and close, but there are four dark orange spots next to his head were his lateral line is. It's like those dots on the lateral line but enlarged. You can't even see the white speck from the side, not even in real life.

http://photobucket.com/albums/a334/Roano/?...nt=100_1322.jpg

For the first two pics, there's only one spot; it's tiny and it's right on the edge of his scales. It almost looks like a single Ich.

I'v got his tank set up toady, going to let it sit one night then move him tommarrow.

Spot/raised area doesn't seem any better or worse than it has been. No clamped fins, lehtargy or flashing/scratching either.

He's been in the new tank for some hours now; every thing is going fine; the spot hasn't worsened, and it just might be a little less noticable. I'll just wait to see what happens; right now I've got all the lights in my room off so as not to stress him out. I have some Prime in the water and tommarrow I'll check the ammonia.

Alright; I've just been watching him for awhile; he acts fine, has brown poop and has an appitiete. When I checked the ammonia today, it was a little bit above 0, so my sister changed two gallons. Now, however, there are about three white spots, but their all clustered where the first was, right around the fifth lateral scale. When looking from the side, the scale just looks like it has an extra lateral spot on it, but when he turns sideways, is veiwed from above or turns to the light, I can see the dots. There aren't any other specks anywhere that I can see. So it's not a pimple and not a breeding tubercle, and I don't think it's Ich, because the time one of my fish had that it seemed to spread pretty rapidly and wasn't as concentrated in one spot. Should I salt any to see if it helps?

Any ideas anyone? Doesn't seem to be getting better or worse; same as before.

this is quite similar to the problem i have been experiencing in my thread, very similar but on mine its more a discoloured scale but same symptoms, especially about how you can only view it in a certain light or angle and from what i can see on the pics looks similar

Really? The spots seem to be less and diminishing in color and almost disapearing, and I'm hoping this is the end of it. I'll go check out your thread. Thanks!

Wow, after reading through your thread, sounds pretty much exactly the same. (Minus the Ich, of course!) Thank goodness it's normal and not a disease or a parasite. That's a relif!

Edited: Thanks again for pointing me to your thread, Dico! That really helped; I had no idea someone else was having the same problem.