By Jamie Boyle
Today I received an email from one of my readers who is having a problem with her goldfish with some red blotches on her fantail goldfish. I asked for some more information so I could properly diagnose the symptoms that her goldfish is showing.
Here are the goldfish pictures that Michelle sent me so I can help her out:
As you see in the photos this fantail goldfish has red blotches by the back and tail. You see with ulcers it starts off almost like a rash with red blotches or red marks on the goldfish. As the ulcer disease in goldfish progresses scales will fall off and open the skin will open up to the tissue. Treating goldfish for ulcers is very easy at the early stages when they begin. When you see this happening begin goldfish treatment right away.
The more advanced stages of ulcers can be seen with this photo. Here you will see the extreme tissue damage done by ulcer disease. It has eaten away right into the flesh and body tissue of this koi shown here. If left untreated fish will die for sure. That’s why it’s very important to treat ulcers right away when you notice it. it’s much easier to treat in early stages.
Now when you see red blotches or red marks on goldfish doesn’t always mean that it’s ulcers, it could be bacterial infections. Sometimes bad water quality will cause hemoraging on goldfish. It then appears as red marks coming from beneath the shin which can be seen. Always make sure water quality is kept up to date and healthy for your goldfish. Sometimes there is just too much bacteria in the water causing irritation on goldfish. Just keep water quality in check and at proper levels. Doing water changes regularly and keeping goldfish aquariums and goldfish ponds not overcrowded will help heep their health in order. Overcrowded ponds and aquariums are one of the main reasons that ulcers appear on goldfish and koi.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Other Related Posts:
39 replies on “How Ulcers Begin On Goldfish”
Hi Jamie
I need your expert advice.
My big beautiful goldfish Boss has a problem. It looks like he has an ulcer, but there is pus like stuff coming out of the lump. This pus looks like cotton wool, sorta like fungus, but I just dont think its fungus.
Pet Shop suggested it was a parasite, but the tablets given havent seemed to of worked, and the pus is coming out, and under his ‘skin’ its got a black tinge to it, similar to an abcess on a cat.
Do you have any suggestions? He is still happy and eating, I have put him in a tank of his own but he’s lonely!
Pretty Please Help
thank you
Wendy & Boss – Gold Coast Australias
Hi Wendy,
Do you have access to a digital camera to take a phot of your goldfish and send it to me so I can see this?
Send it to me at jamieboyle100@hotmail.com and I will go and look at this. You mentioned you think its an ulcer but the cotton wool you mentioned sounds like fungus to me. See ulcers can develop and secondary bacterial infections all set in, and fungus may develop, I would love to see this photo so I may properly diagnose the situation and give you the proper advice. If you can send me a photo of your goldfish that would be great.
Comment back here on my goldfish blog to let me know you sent me a photo either way, if you did or your unable to.
Hope to help you soon,
Sincerely.
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hi Jamie,
I’m currently fighting a case of Ick and what I thought was Cloudy Eye in one of our fish (Husband did a water change and used a bad bucket. Overnight… MASSIVE issues, one of our three fish has died). One of our remaining fish shows NO signs of illness, but the other has white spots that are a bit on the fuzzy side and had a white patch covering one eye.
Have been treating with Melafix, water change (with the right bucket), and added salt to the water @ 1 tablespoon per 10 us gallons. Also have been feeding more fresh foods, peeled peas, spinach, in addition to pellets.
I thought our sick fish, Comet, was getting better, but this afternoon her eye looks liked it has been punctured, or deflated? Instead of normal size and shape, it’s almost as if its been pinched flat.
I will gladly send you a picture if you wish, but am more concerned with how to continue treatment, how effective treatment will be, and if she will recover. A one eyed fish? She hasn’t been eating much, if at all, but is still swimming straight…although today she’s spending more time at the surface of the tank, right near the filter outputs, than normal.
We have a 45 US gallon tank, a Penguin filter that’s rated for a 60 gallon tank, and a stainless steel heater which keeps the water right around 80 degrees F. I know that’s a bit high for Goldfish, but we had a parasite problem a while back, and the added heat killed them off so we just kept it up. Our remaining fish are: one Koi, one comet goldfish, both are longer than a man’s hand from head to tail tip.
I have six gold fishes. From few days ago, One of Goldfish cannot swim properly. Because I can see it’s Fan tail is really damaged and some smaller red dots are on that fantail. And also one of it’s eye was getting black, and now it seems like black gell hold on its eye and it can’t see even. It’s other side eyes is evolving like that.It is always being upside down.
Hi Tessa,
Wow, you got many goldfish diseases all happening at the same time. Ick, cloudy eye, and now body fungus mentioned by the fuzzyness on them.
Yeah send me a picture of your goldfish I would like to see.
Melafix should fix some of your goldfish problems. I know Melafix is an all natural medication that won’t harm your filter but Melachite Green will do the trick too. Since your dealing with many issues and diseases I would consider using an alternative medication for treatment of your goldfish and koi.
You mentioned that your goldfish was staying close to the surface by the filter where the water flows in. Do you have maximum air being pumped in, oxygen?? Seems like he is needing some oxygen. You see with warmer water temperatures there is not as much readily available oxygen in the water compared to coldwater. With any gill parasite problems, that cause gill tissue damage it will be harder for them to process oxygen. You really shouldn’t have a heater on your aquarium with goldfish and koi as they are a coldwater fish. For treatment of fish using salt, yes heat the water up to like 80 degrees F as it speeds up the reproduction of the parasite causing it to be in a vulnerable state in free swimming stage for ick. That works well.
A one eyed goldfish will be just fine. I have had some blackmoors before that a koi had sucked both the eyes off of it, and a couple had only one eye. They lived just fine, once the injury is healed over they will be okay.
Yeah that is one of the most common ways in transferring diseases to an aquarium by dirty infested equipments such as buckets or nets. everything should be in a sterilization container to make sure no transfer of diseases can occur.
I would try Melachite Green if I were you unless you see some improvement with that form of medication. Send me a picture regardless so I can see how bad these issues are that your having with your goldfish to jamieboyle100@hotmail.com
Hope they get better soon and one more thing those are some pretty big fish in that tank. Stress causes diseases and so does the increased temperature. Something to think about. Hope they get better.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
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Hi power,
Yeah it seems your Fantail goldfish has swim bladder disease which causes your goldfish to swim upside down. Try feeding your goldfish peas that may help it out.
As far as the black covering over the eye, cloudy eye has a whitish grey film that covers the eye which you can treat with Melafix. For the red dots that you see on your goldfish could be a bacterial infection setting in and Melafix will help treat that as well.
If you can send me a picture of your fish, you mentioned black covering over eye or black gell. Would like to see that.
jamieboyle100@hotmail.com
Hope your fantail goldfish gets better.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hello Sir,I need your help.My gold fish is having black spots on its face and body.the scales seems to be at right angles.the fish is losing its scales.what should i do? will be waiting for an early response.thank you.
Your goldfish who has black spots on its face and body is completely normal after suffering stress and bad water quality at some point. This is also known as Melanophore Migration, the healing after math seen on fish as black spots.
Read my other posts for more information on Black Spots On Goldfish
anymore questions on these black spots on goldfish please comment again.
Thanks,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hi I have a question about my goldfish. Yesterday when cleaning my fish, I noticed that on one side his body was protruding a lot, and on the end of the protruded area it was very red, and had white dots at the end. It almost looked like a bone was about to pop out or something, but they seem to be just growths. I noticed this after I had changed my water, and stuck my hand in it, so being the worrier that I am am afraid of fish tuberculosis. He is the only fish in the tank. Please advise, would you like a picture as well?
Hi again Jamie,
I will be investing in Melachite Green, as you suggested. Unfortunately, Comet, the goldfish with one eye injured…had died the morning after I wrote you.
Thankfully, our last fish, Vincent, has still shown no sign of illness. We’ve improved our water quality and kept up the treatment with Mela Fix and Pimafix. Thank you for your response, as we’ll also be dropping the temperature of the tank substanially. I think all your information will help immensely in the future. Thank you very much.
Sincerely, Tessa
G’Day Jamie, I too need your advice with regard to the same problem as Wendy and Boss from the Gold Coast. I have a beautiful fantail Comet who is pure white and a orange/red “birthmark” spot on her head. She is about 12in long excluding her tail. It is diffcult to see if she has Ich due to her colour but I noticed she had a lump on the side of her mouth which has grown and now has a black head on it. No more than an inch diameter. She is in a 1000 ltr pond indoor which I had the levels checked by the pet shop and all are ok. She shares with one other gold comet who is younger and no health problems at all. They gave me tablets to disolve one in 20 ltrs of water which is for the treatment of Flukes and Tapeworm however when I moved her into another tank to treat her I noticed that this disease (to me looks fungal) has spread inside her mouth which looks blocked with “gunky stuff” and into one of her gills. The other gill is not affected but she is breathing slower than normal. I gave her the treatment 24 hours ago but I am worried after seeing how much it is spread that I might have the wrong medication. To me it looks like the black area has eaten into her skin but it is nowhere near the same resemblance as the Ulcer pics on your site. She is very old and already lost her tank partner about 6 months ago, I don’t want to lose her too. Pls help!! Steph and Dotti (Tasmania Australia)
Hi Jamie,
We need your expert advice. We left our goldfish in the care of a friend for 4-5 days. After we came back one of the fishes had black spots and even a black line around her mouth. She was always excited about food and now suddenly she seems sluggish. Her dorsal fin and tail too might be affected. Kind of ragged now, as if partially fallen off or something. Please advice. Thank you so much.
Salil
Hi Salil,
Well concerning your goldfish and black spots this is normal and okay. This may just be your goldfish changing colour as they do change from grey or black to their shiny orange colour in which goldfish are mostly.
If there is black spots on the body itself this is known as melanophore migration which is the sign of healing fish.
To learn more about black spots on goldfish please visit:
Black Spots On Goldfish
As far as the ragged fins and dorsal area this sounds to me like you have some fin and tail rot going on. You will need to treat your goldfish for fin and tail rot. There are many medications you can use to treat such goldfish diseases such as melachite Green, Melafix, Fungus Control and many others which you can find at any local pet store.
Make sure you speak to a qualified customer service representative and tell them the symptoms your goldfish is having and ask for fin and tail rot medication. Depending on the type of medication you buy for your goldfish be sure to follow directions properly and never add more then recommended. More is not better as treating goldfish diseases most of the time they reduce oxygen levels that which can cause more stress on goldfish and even possibly death. Always make sure to have aeration to the max when treating goldfish and other types of fish for diseases.
If you need anymore help concerning your goldfish with black spots and ragged fins, be sure to ask and I will help you with your goldfish.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
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My goldfish has recently begun to float upside down and has black scales, the other in the tank often has white lumps and a clouded eye any help wud be appreciated
Hi Jamie,
I ran into your site as I was searching for answers. My shubunkin Sebastian has a lump on his left side, it is internal. I just noticed it this morning and I’m in a panic.. I don’t want to lose him and my family thinks taking a goldfish to a veterinarian is a waste of money and a waste of time. I’ve seen a good bit of “there’s nothing you can do” and I’ve heard that he’s just going to die.. but he seems to be acting ok. I’m so confused.
Any help is greatly appreciated..
-Angela
Hi.My big goldfish has a swollen side, it seems that he is injured(looks pinky with open scales) but I have nothing in the tank except the 5 gold fishes two r over 3 inches. I am having a problem with amonia lately.. I cannot get rid of it no matter what number of water changes and washing the 20 gallon tank. Is the water tank very small? I lost last month another large fish and i do not want to lose this one.
To ther person whose goldfish has begun to float upside down. Your goldfish has swim bladder disease. What you can do is feed them crushed peas this has been known to help this issue.
As far as the goldfish cloudy eye, what you can do is treat your goldfish for cloudy eye using Melafix. This will get rid of cloudy eye fast.
To learn more about cloudy eye and how to treat it read my other posts at Goldfish Cloudy Eye
Need anymore help please feel free to comment on my goldfish blog again.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hi Angela,
Your shubunkin Sebastien who has the lump on his left side is unfortunately not good news. This is like dropsy which is pretty much always fatal. You can just hope and pray thay he gets better. Sometimes they do, but not very often I would say that 9 times out of 10 it’s fatal.
Sorry to give you the bad news. The other people are right when they said ” there’s nothing you can really do”. Which is true.
It would be a waste of money for sure taking it to a veterinarian as they will say the same thing.
The lump on the side of your goldfish it’s the whole side that is bulged out now right?
Well I hope he gets better but plan for the worse. 🙁
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Your big goldfish who has the swollen sides wich pinky red injured areas whith open scales id what sounds to me that you have the beginning stages of ulcer disease. Your goldfish has an ulcer forming and you are going to need to treat it right away.
To learn more about goldfish ulcers and how to treat them read my other posts with pictures and videos at Goldfish Ulcers
As far as your ammonia problem is concerned you have too many fish in your tank that it can accomodate. You mentioned you have some bigger the 3 inches. The general rule of thumb differs from person to person but 1 goldfsh per every 10 gallons of water. Goldfish are a very dirty fish and create a lot of waste. You are going to keep having an ammonia problem resulting in sick goldfish.
Sometimes doing water changes is a bad thing when cycling your tank. You need to add beneficial bacteria everytime you do a water change, what happens is that you don’t have enough in your tank to accomodate the waste load being produced causing ammonia spikes to happen. Your nitrogen cycle isn’t working properly.
This is a complete whole article that I will have to write on this subject as there is a lot people need to know.
Another thing you need to know if your ammonia is high and your nitrite is high and you have a high PH this is extremely bad as your goldfish can die from nitrite poisoning. Your goldfish may appear to be healthy but their gill tissue damage causes them to be unable to process oxygen from the water resulting in suffocation. If you love your goldfish and the hobby you should think about buying a bigger aquarium to hold your goldfish. Also use water conditioner and benefical bacteria everytime you do a water change.
How long has your tank been set up? Is this a new set up or have you had your aquarium for a while now but always had ammonia problems?
Get back to me and I’ll try and help you with your goldfish problem.
Did you know it takes about a month to cycle a new aquarium?
Your nitrogen cycle needs to be working properly to have healthy goldfish and less maintenance.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for replying, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get back. Sebastian’s lump has gotten smaller but today after I changed his water (I’ve checked it and everything’s fine! as well as the other three fish..) and he’s not eating, swimming in one spot. I’m grateful for your help, I wish there was more we could do for him but for now I guess I’ll try to make him comfortable. 🙁
-Angela
Hi Angela,
Okay so your goldfish doesn’t have dropsy. I thought your goldfish had a large lump bulging from the side of the goldfish body. What your goldfish had since your saying it’s all better now is simply a pimple like lump right? Goldfish can develop raised lumps on the body which is caused by fluid build up underneath the skin looking like a pimple. These lumps will go away with time and there is nothing to worry about. The only time you need to worry about lumps on goldfish is when you see threadlike organism hanging off your fish known as anchor worms.
Well that’s good news! I’m glad your goldfish is better and give it a couple days and I’m sure he’ll be feeding again soon.
Do you ever feed your goldfish medicated food for internal parasites once a year?
This should be done with pond raised fish every so often to make sure they are healthy but your goldfish is lying around in one spot so may be internal. That’s an option. But I imagine your goldfish stay in your aquarium all the time and you don’t transfer them to a pond in the summer?
Other then that I’m glad the lump on your goldfish has gone.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Jamie,
Thank you for your reply! Yes, the lump looked like a pimple pretty much.. and it’s gone. I’m so glad, he’s doing wonderfully now, and eating again too!
I haven’t tried medicated food, but I have heard about it. My fish stay in the tank year-around, and I’m actually about to separate my shubunkins from my fancies – two huge tanks now! It’s going to be nice once the 55 gallon is cycled though.
Thank you for your time and help!
-Angela
Hi Angela,
Your very welcome! I’m glad I could help offer you some information on your goldfish. I’m glad that all is well and your goldfish are now eating. 🙂
Yeah medicated fish food works good at treating fish. The one I recommend is Debride Medicated Food. So if you ever need any medicated food consider this one.
Your going to have to send me some pictures of your new tank set up. That’s going to look nice 🙂
jamieboyle100@hotmail.com
So how many shubunkins do you have? What type of fancy goldfish?
Yeah cycling tank does take some time but I can just imagine how you’ll have it set up. You sound like a serious goldfish enthusiast 🙂 Keep up the great work and enjoy your new tank as I’m sure your fish will love their new home too. 🙂
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hi Jamie,
I can definitely send pictures!
Right now I have two shubunkins and two ryukins. Sebastian is a shubunkin, and one of my ryukins has swim bladder disease. My father told me she was going to be dead the first week I got her.. now its a whole nine months later! I’m glad she’s doing alright. Her name is Angel.
It was actually a spur of the moment thing back in January.. getting “a” fish. I ended up with three goldfish because for some reason they caught my eye at the store. I don’t recall having any goldfish before. My fourth goldfish I found in a huge tank by himself and I had to bring him home back in February. He’s my red ryukin, Nemo. And Bridget is the other shubunkin.. which I just found out is a male! So.. that’s awkward but will have to do. =)
Just recently I joined a goldfish forum and learned a TON about them.. and I’m loving every minute of it. I can’t wait to get the tanks together and get my third fancy.
Patience is key! Thanks again!
-Angela
Hi Jamie
I have what i think is a veiltail goldfish (not 100% sure about that) and a fantail. Well about 4 months ago another fantail was added to the tank (not by my choice a roomate added when i was not home) then my veiltail ended up getting Ich and then constipated. Well i got that all cured up and now it has two lumps behind its head and its tail is a little ragged at the tips. The lumps are the same size and not discolored. The two fantails are fine no ich, no constipation and no lumps. Should i be worried about the lumps?
Thanks!!
Jenna
The Goldfish lumps that you see on your goldfish may not be something that you have to worry about. You see goldfish can develop lumps almost like pimples that have a fluid build up underneath the skin and they usually go away with time. The only lumps that you need to worry about is the one that have a threadlike worm hanging from it known as anchor worm. If you see something attached to your goldfish then you will need to treat your goldfish for anchor worm, if not leave it alone and it should dissappear with time.
As for the ragged tail you were mentioning on your fantail goldfish, it may have fin and tail rot. Is any of the tail have white film or pinkish area at the tip. If so this would be fin and tail rot and would need a treatment right away. Keep an eye on the tail to see if it gets worse.
I know in your case you didn’t know about the new addition to your aquarium, but when introducing new fish to an established tank people should definitely quarrantine fish for any possible diseases. By doing this it helps keep your other fish healthy and away from one of the most common goldfish disease ich.
Jenna don’t worry about the lumps but let me know if anything changes. Also for goldfish constipation try feeding them peas this will help.
Thanks for stopping by my goldfish blog!
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Hi Jamie,
I really need some help with my goldfish. Three weeks ago I purchased a chocolate pom pom goldfish. After about two weeks he developed two white bumps on top of his head. The bumps are pretty big, bigger than ich and are raised and cotton-like. He still seemed fine, still swimming a lot, still eating reguarly so I didn’t worry too much about it. Then I started to notice a couple small white spots on his fins. I thought that ich might be present so I treated the tank for ich, removing the carbon filter during the process. Nothing seemed to change after the treatment except that the two large bumps on his head started to get smaller. It seemed as though everything was going ok until yesterday I noticed that there are bubbles underneath his eyes, almost as if they are swollen. I think there might be some bacterial problem in the water but I’m not sure. There are also three more raised white bumps on his face, underneath his eye.
Today I then noticed that my fish, Gordo, has many small white spots all over his body. I am pretty sure that this is ich so immediately I did a 25% water change and treated the tank again for ich. He still seems fine, swimming a lot and eating the normal amount.
What do you think he has? I am thinking he has ich and some other kind of bacterial infection. I have melafix but have not used it yet because I thought it might not mix well with the ich medication. I treated the ich first because that seemed to be the worse of the two.
Please let me know what you think of the ich, swelling, and white bumps on his face.
Thank you so much!!
Roseann
Hi Jamie,
I have a fan tailed gold fish for almost 2 years. 2 weeks ago started to see a red spot eatting it’s way up it’s tail,so I treated it with Megaflix bacteria medicine for 7 days,7 days later did a water change as instructed per Megaflix,3 days later my fish has sat on the gravel,becoming weaker every day. I have had the water tested which is fine,but still did a water change,and changed cartridge in filter,he’s getting worse seemingly close to death. I put him in a fish bowl thinking maybe there’s not enough amonia in the tank. The pet store said to try parasite clear tabs. I just don’t know what else to do. HELP!
Jamie!
My fish is doing great,all I did was add aquarium salt to the water!
However is it a good idea to add another fan tailed fish to it so he can be socialable,giving him a healthier more environment?
Hi Jamie!
I have two gold fish, and recently I noticed that they have developed some small round dark greyish spots on their tails that look like bumps. This started right after I got a new pleco. Could you please let me know what this might be? Thanks!
Hi Jamie,
One of my goldfish has two green fluffy growths on either side of it’s body towards the tail. The growths stick out about 1/8 of an inch from it’s sides. It is in an outside pond and none of the other fish have these green fluffy growths.
Ant thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Margaret……..Australia
Hi Jamie
You seem like a very helpful and knowledgeable guy. Would you be able to help me? My goldfish has developed a lump about 1 cm wide under the skin which is pushing out his scales. My fish is about 10 cm body length. The lump isn’t red or bleeding or has any threadlike worms. Is it the beginning of an ulcer or a tumour? It doesn’t look like a pimple like in the other posts. I thought it might be dropsy but the other pictures I have seen of fish with dropsy look bloated, not having a definite lump like this. The fish seems ok otherwise. he is feeding normally. I am trying not to feed too much as I worried it will him worse. Also trying to change a third of the water every week. Before that I was changing half the water every couple of weeks. Can I help my fish get better?
Hi Jamie,
My son won a goldfish last year. He is doing great but he is very sensitive. Today I spot a lump close to his fin. It seems to bleed a little bit. It does not bother him. He still eats, swims, does not scratch. Do you think it could be serious?
Sincerly
Isa
i am not a fish expert and i know little about goldfish, i got ym two goldfish about a year ago as pets, they stay in a plastic fish tank type thing and they have a rainbow castle and gravel. today when i was cleaning them out i notices a kind of purpley blotch on barnacle bob's (BB) head. i looked closer and as i said i dont hnow much about fish but it looked like there was like goldfish skin or something hanging off of it like ontop of it. could it be a wound or an ulcer or something else and how could i cure it? i could sed you pictures if you want? x fiona
barnacle bob is also swimming and eating quite happily if that helps to rule out anything
Hi Jamie,
My goldfish that i've had for four years has a red bump on his side. There is also now a white bump on top of the red one. Yesterday the white bump wasn't there, and I thought I saw some scales starting to stick out around the red bump, so I thought he was getting dropsy and put Maracyn Plus in the tank. He has been acting completely normal the whole time. Can you tell me what to do? Thank you!!
Hi Jamie,
My fish has a red bump with a white spot sticking out in the middle of it. On the other side of him he also seems a little swollen. Yesterday I thought that his scales were sticking out a tiny bit more than normal around the red bump, so I thought he was getting dropsy and put in Maracyn Plus. He has been acting completely normal the whole time, and I really don't know what this bump is!!! Please tell me what I can do!! Thank you.
Kate,
Sounds to me your goldfish has anchor worms. Anchor worms usually cause red bumps as the parasite is sucking fluid and feeding on the fish fluids. This causes a raised bump, it becomes infected and you can see the anchor worm hanging off the bump.
You will need to treat for anchor worms by the sounds of things. Hope you were able to figure it out what it was.
Sincerely,
Jamie Boyle
The Goldfish Guy
Jamie,
Please help my goldfish. It has a large, pimple looking white bump on it’s side. It started yesterday with some spots that looked like it was missing some scales and were kind of red. Today, it kind of all came to a big white head like a pimple. Seems to be acting fine and eating well. Seems like the bump is not bothering it. What should I do? Can I maybe send some pictures to you?