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My Odessa barb has a white bump with red underneath. What is it?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Fish | Unknown - Fish | Female | unspayed

I have bought an odessa barb about a month ago. About 2 weeks ago she started to form a sandlike, white "bump". I then treated the tank for ich, but now my barb has three areas where its red under the white thing. The white bump is more like flesh, i think. Help?..

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1 Answer

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Answered By Miranda Sadar, DVM, DACZM

Veterinarian

Published on August 28th, 2018

Thank you for your question, and thanks for the pictures - they are very helpful! Unfortunately, there are many things that can result in white ares on the skin of fish. As you mentioned, Ich is one of them, and this is a type of parasite. There are other parasites that cause white areas, and there are also types of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that can cause them too. In addition to this, it may be tissue, as you mentioned above as well - this tissue would be abnormal, and may be benign or malignant in nature. Due to this, it would be ideal to have Curly seen by a veterinarian. Your veterinarian can take a sample of the white areas and can evaluate the material under the microscope. This will help to guide what type of treatment would be needed for Curly (example: antibiotics, anti-parasitics, anti-fungals). I hope that gives you a place to start, and I hope that Curly feels better soon!

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