Death in the fishy family! :-(

I lost a fish that I've had for the last 3 years or so. I noticed it was breathing hard and didn't know why. No appearance of ich it was swimming and eating normal. Water Parameters were good aside from the phosphate test since I don't have a test kit for it. I did an Autopsy sort of. I will post pics just so you can see what I seen and hopefully know what this is so that I can be prepared for it next time. I have no clue what it is. Look inside the gills of the second image. I've never seen this in 11 years of keeping fish.

 

Looks like a tumor to me.

Sorry for your loss, RGs are great fish.

 

Sorry for your loss.

 

Sorry to hear that; they really become part of the family after you have had them for months/years. Any other issues with other fish, or is this an isolated case?

 

Isolated case. The other two seem fine. I have a Maroon clown and a Majestic Angel. They live in a Mansion now. 125 gallons with two fish. I got some upgrades to get done before adding any more fish. I think part of my issue is water flow. I'm not really sure.

 

A tumor? not much I could of did for it then? I don't think.

 

Could it be a gill fluke? Looks strange for sure?