Large moving bump on GSP
Forum rules
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.
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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SuniD614
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:11 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: I currently have one GPS in a 40 gallon tank with 4 ghost shrimp
- Location (country): Colorado, USA
Large moving bump on GSP
Hi everyone I am new to having a GSP. we purchased two puffers from our LFS about 3 months ago, we have no idea what happened but two weeks in one of them died. Now we just have the one puffer in a 40 gallon tank we recently added 4 ghost shrimp hoping he would eat them but has shown no interest!! He still eats bloodworm and snails and clams, Recently he has had this bump about the middle of his back well it has moved to right behind his eye and now down under his gills on the belly, he still eats good and doesnt bottom sit only when he sleeps in his cove. We do biweekly 30% water changes and the salinity in the tank was just increased to 1.015 we are very slowly converting the tank to full marine. Our Ph is at between 8-8.5, the temp is currently 77-79. the puffer is about 3 to 3.5 inches long and is still a very vibrant and seemingly happpy fish I would just like to know if any one else has experienced anything like this all other research I have done says its a parasite but I never see these worm like things in the gills. Very concerned and would like to keep our puffer happy and healthy!!
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RTR
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
Re: Large moving bump on GSP
Almost all puffers are wild caught, so the chances are high that internal and/or external parasites may come in with the fish. Lumps under the skin which move periodically can be a symptom of somatic parasites (perhaps nematodes, but different from those which infect the gills or gut or external skim. The somatic parasites are unfortunately generally un-treatable. There are medications which can be injected to kill them, but then the dead mass of the parasite itself can be toxic or fatal to the host fish. That can makes it a lose-lose situation. My T. mbu had at least one, and I have had at least one, maybe two GSPs with the same symptoms. If the infection is by a small number of these worms, the fish may live an essentially normal life. Those worms have a complex life cycle and do not multiply within the fish, which is only an intermediate host to these parasites.
Such parasites are not always visible under the skin. They may remain in place for months to years or may vanish and reappear later some where else on the body. The parasite does live on the fish's internal fluids, but small numbers are not debilitating (i.e., not significantly harmful).
There are other similar internal parasites which are responsible for "Black Spot Disease" in fish, which is also similarly not harmful to fish hosting only small numbers of those particular parasites.
HTH
Such parasites are not always visible under the skin. They may remain in place for months to years or may vanish and reappear later some where else on the body. The parasite does live on the fish's internal fluids, but small numbers are not debilitating (i.e., not significantly harmful).
There are other similar internal parasites which are responsible for "Black Spot Disease" in fish, which is also similarly not harmful to fish hosting only small numbers of those particular parasites.
HTH
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
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Re: Large moving bump on GSP
![[welcome]](./images/smilies/welcome.gif "welcome")
Look up Nematode worm. That's probably whet he's got. You could try a risky surgery or keep him quarantined (no tank mates) & hope he lives a happy life with the worm.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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SuniD614
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 3:11 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: I currently have one GPS in a 40 gallon tank with 4 ghost shrimp
- Location (country): Colorado, USA
Re: Large moving bump on GSP
Thank you for replying I will look up that worm! Looks like I wont be adding another puffer but that is ok!!
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Large moving bump on GSP
They actually can live quite some time with these worms.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
RTR
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
Re: Large moving bump on GSP
Those particular somatic parasites do not multiply in their fish hosts, so the do not generally present any infection risk to tankmates unless the host fish dies and is eaten by tankmates.
Where's the fish? - Neptune