My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Shakestand
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:03 am
Location (country): United States

My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Post by Shakestand »

A few weeks ago my mom noticed this little wormlike thing on my little brother’s pufferfish. It’s grown extremely fast, and you can see it very clearly. I’m very worried about the little guy, and I’m wondering where he may have gotten it because we have snails in our tank.
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Pufferpunk
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2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
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Re: My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Post by Pufferpunk »

That's a big one! Is he alone in the tank? Usually, there's not much you can do with those but just keep the puffer comfortable but this is so close to the surface, I might try to cut it out with a clean razor blade. I'd also have antibacterial meds on hand to prevent infection, including Melafix.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Shakestand
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Re: My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Post by Shakestand »

He is alone in the tank, yes. Are there any videos of said fish surgery, or if any vets will preform it? And will he die if we leave it there (because it sounds a bit risky and we’ve never done surgery on a fish)?
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Post by Pufferpunk »

Yes, eventually it can kill him. I can't find any vids of this but I would tranq with 1 drop of clove oil/cup of water, then perform the incising & then wake him up in tank water dip. Use 2 containers.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
User avatar
Shakestand
Puffer Fry
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:03 am
Location (country): United States

Re: My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Post by Shakestand »

What about the wound
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: My F8 puffer has a nematode!! Please help! (With pictures)

Post by Pufferpunk »

You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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