The Puffer Forum

bertie 83 wrote:Removing the worm would not be something I would consider, I personally would just give the best possible life for the fish until nature does its work.

Mkay. Yeah I would feel even worse if I did end up killing the guy

Has anyone ever thought about a cold dip, or direct application of cold by ice on such a parasite?...im thinking a cold dip may work. If you drop the temperature down enough on the skin, maybe the parasite would try leaving its host to find .a warmer one.

Or an increased salinity qt tank for a week to kill the parasite. Does this parasite live in both fw or sw hosts or just fw to mid brack maybe.


Gotta be a cure out there.

If a worm was crawling in my skin I sure as hell would guide him out....smash proceeding.

I'd try IP meds at the very least. You'd have to treat him and the water though. The water as you said earlier, is almost surely contaminated along with the substrate.

defool89 wrote:Has anyone ever thought about a cold dip, or direct application of cold by ice on such a parasite?...im thinking a cold dip may work. If you drop the temperature down enough on the skin, maybe the parasite would try leaving its host to find .a warmer one.

Or an increased salinity qt tank for a week to kill the parasite. Does this parasite live in both fw or sw hosts or just fw to mid brack maybe.


Gotta be a cure out there.

I haven't thought of that...but that is an idea (both I mean) Im not sure if either would work, all I really read about them was that if theyre under the skin you gotta surgically remove them, like PufferPunk said. But also, I deff want to get it out if there is any way at all..it keeps moving around under him and its really bothering me, no telling how much its buggin him. :/

I.Puff.Too wrote:I'd try IP meds at the very least. You'd have to treat him and the water though. The water as you said earlier, is almost surely contaminated along with the substrate.

Are you saying injections or feeding him medicated food? I heard the food wouldnt work because its not in his organs, just under his skin. But if there is some kind of injection or something...idk, that also kinda goes along with me putting him to sleep and pullin the thing out-I've never done either and am kind of scared to hurt him even more.

Okay..so I have another little side question and I hope that's okay to put in here...
It's about my 40 gallon tank with the two green spotted puffers.
So every few days or so I'll have to clean my tank AGAIN. Algae keeps growing back. I literally just did an almost complete tank clean the other day-scrubed, rinsed off the decore that was really bothered, etc... and the algae has returned this morning! Is there something I can do? Are the nitrate/nitrate levels just screwed up or something? Should I put some safestart in there..? Here's a pic-



Sorry for the off the topic question there...but theres gotta be something wrong. It shouldn't be growing back this quickly. The puffers in there are happy though, and my smaller tank with the infected fish that were trying to figure out what to do with...his tank takes forever for the algae to come back!

Algae could have any number of causes it will likely be a process of ilimination. What are the current water parameters? How much light does the tank get?

Meds will not eradicate a nematode under the skin. It MUST be surgically removed.

Would it be possible to do the surgery and use this product along with peroxide and melafix as a disinfectant? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006 ... g=au026-20

Also found this that may be of interest:



Of course these are different fish under different circumstances but surgery can be done.

I personally wouldn't try it unless the worm is an immediate health risk. As long as its nothing more then a minor discomfort, I don't feel it's worth the high risk of surgery. That's my opinion tho, decision is up to you.

+1

Here is a list of some other general symptoms of nematode infections (besides the above already mentioned symptoms):
• Body Hemorrhaging
• Lumps or nodules on outer body (epidermis)
• Bloated abdomen (the fish may continue to eat or show otherwise normal behavior)
• Cysts, Inflammation, or Granulomas


Just because it appears to be under the skin doesn't mean it is. Lumps on the outer body are symptoms of internal nematodes.

I'd try the IP meds. Soak the food, and treat the tank as well. What do you have to lose if you do? I think you already know what you may lose if you don't at least try...

Source: http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/20 ... -fish.html

bertie 83 wrote:Algae could have any number of causes it will likely be a process of ilimination. What are the current water parameters? How much light does the tank get?

The Light is a full spectrum one by Aqueon. I turn it off at night, but it's on for most of the day.
Water Parameters:
Nitrate:20ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Alkalinity:120ppm
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0

This tank is pretty fine and the puffers seem happy most of the time..but the algae grows extremely quickly.