The Puffer Forum

Does anybody recognize this spot on my T. Abei? Sorry about the poor quality pictures. There is a darker patch of skin on his dorsal side with a white ring and a small lose object in the center.

-My first thought was that it could be anchor worm, but the dangling object does not look like the familiar worm of an anchor worm.
-My second thought was that it could be a mass growing or a blister, which broke the skin. Possibly even a wound from the driftwood? The white ring could be the skin peeling back and the dangling object could just be a flap of skin.
-Third thought was fungus, but it isn't really cottony.

Anyway, I picked up some triple sulfa to add to the tank to combat any bacterial infections that may be associated with it, but I don't want to use it if I don't have to.

Temp- 79F
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <10
Soft, Neutral water

20 gallon long with mopani driftwood and some plants. Tank has been up for about a year. I just recently did a 50% water change on it to clean up the recent green blanketing algae that has been covering the wood and plants, it may be cynobacteria but I don't know. The water parameters before the 50 percent were the same except my nitrates were at about 30ppm.

The only reason I am considering a parasite is because I was recently given a large ball of java moss and I put that in almost 2 weeks ago. It wasn't doing well so I removed it. I know the lady who gave it to me though, and I trust her to not knowingly transmit a parasite, but it may not be present on her fish and still be in her water.

Anybody? Thanks

does it have any tank mates? looks kinda like a bite to me...

Looks like either a BAD bite, or a heater burn. Most likely a heater burn. I'd suggest getting a heater guard, or digging it into the substrate a bit so he can't easily wedge under it.

No other tank mates. I never even considered a heater burn. I will bury it down for now, and next time I go to the reptile shop I will pick up a heater cage. It does look just like a burn and he does like to wedge under it.

Any tips on treating? I am going to halt anti-biotic use and use a little Melafix.

I think melafix to speed healing is the best treatment, along with high volume water changes to keep the water very clean.

Fantastic, I will update if I see any change.

eggcellent

You know, now I don't know if it is getting better or worse. The little circle has filled in completely white, and the dangling skin is gone. I do not know if that is new skin regenerating or the start of an infection.

As long as you keep the water clean and use the melafix, infection is unlikely to set in to a fresh wound like this. While I have found melafix to be ineffective as an after-treatment once infections start, it seems to make wound heal very fast and clean if applied right away.

If you had used that other antibiotic, your tank's biological system would have crashed. Good thing you asked 1st! What has been your water change schedule? Did you get a heater guard?

I did not get a heater guard yet. The place I have to get it at is about 45 minutes away, but my friend works there and I am going to have him grab me one on Thursday. For now, I moved the heater to an area where he cannot rest on it. It was originally in the bottom corner laying parallel to the sand with a small gap in-between the sand and the heater. He would just rest in that area and I never even considered it causing a burn. I moved the heater to the top of the tank about an inch from and parallel to the water line. I have not seen him anyplace near it since he doesn't like to spend too much time on the surface.

Yeah, I knew that if I used the Triple Sulfa, it would not discriminate between good and bad bacteria. I would rather re-cycle the tank than lose my fish though so if the anti-biotics were needed, I would have had no problem using them.

Oh, and I do about 25% weekly water change along with a stir of the sand and a rinse of the filter media.

Update- The wound looks as though it is healing well. It is still a white patch, but I think that is just a lower layer of skin or flesh. I have been medicating daily with melafix, and doing partial water changes regularly.

Thanks for the advice guys. If it regresses at all I will be sure to update again.

good to hear