The Puffer Forum

its located right in front of his tail and it it only on one side, its about the size of his eye, across and height wise, it does not seem to be bothering him any.
it just looks like an irregular bump, also the skin around it is wrinkled.

info: i just bought all 6 f8 puffers 1 week ago, when i bought them they were all in fw and i have been slowly bringing the salt content up to brackish, as of right now it barely reads over 1.000 maybe 1.001.

All of the others seem to be doing good.

i am not sure if it is some kind if parasite or if he just got bitten there before. I will be keeping an eye on it to see if it gets any larger or changes in any way.

well hopefully it is just a scar that i have not noticed before.

Does if look like a worm under it's skin?

How big is your tank? How was it cycled?

wow quick response yes the tank is cycled it has been setup for about 2 years with a large oscar and a few other fish that was just moved when they were put in.

and to answer your other question. i do not think it looks like a worm it is not long a slender its more circular, but i guess it could be if it was curled up.

i'll see if i can take a couple more pics its had to get good ones he's really active and my camera does not focus very fast.

also the water specs are good the ph it at about 7.25 the tank is at 78*
and 0 ammonia

It looks like a nematode...a lot of F8s have them, and sadly they are incurable...but don't worry.
Lots of fish, if they're not heavily infested, can live a long time with them, as long as they're well fed and looked after. Basically, as long as their immune system is hardy enough to keep the worm in it's place, so to speak.
I believe that these worms aren't transmittable to other fish or humans, but can someone back me up on this?
Good varied food, vit and veg supplements, plenty of clean water and tlc.
You can't kill the little buggers, though, as they're not expelled like intestinal worms, and so go off under the skin, killing the fish. Thus, as yet, we don't know how to rid them. One member tried to do some surgery on a very heavily infested SAP who was beginning to suffer as a result of the huge numbers of worms, but the procedure killed the fish. He only tried the surgery as a last resort, as the fish was dying anyway. This fish had loads of worms, though, so don't worry for now.
Pami.

I thought they were contageous to other fish.

http://nematode.unl.edu/

After reading your PETA rant, I'm too scared to disagree
But...I'm sure they don't release eggs into the water once they're ensconced in the fish's tissue like that...it's a different part of their filthy little life cycle which does it, and each fish is infected independently from other fish.
Don't beat me, PP...don't beat me.....RTR? RTR???? Help.
Or have I got it buttocks about face? My memory's even more like a sieve than usual at the mo.
Pami.

Hey, I didn't write that PETA stuff, just copied it. But the worm does have a right to live too! ...NOT!

No..I'm on about your response to it...they're just whackoes..but you're like some mythic figure wielding a flaming sword. Atop a chariot with knives affixed to the wheels. And stuff.
I was scared. I'm only little.
Pami.
Oh, and nematodes and their right to live? I think not..NIMFT. Many moons ago....a friend of a friend used to refer to his love rival as Toad of Nematode Hall. Still makes me chuckle...that, my chums, is contempt.

upon a closer inspection i think thats what it is it does resemble a worm that is under its skin thats kinda curled up in a tight S shape.

I ended up calling the store that i bought it from and they said no problem just bring it in and exchange it for another, so instead of trying to treat it and setting up a seperate tank for it to keep it from spreading to my other fish and checking on it i just exchanged it.

i think i also know where it might have come from, i got a rock from outside a while ago, i did put it in hot water for a while and put it in a seperate tank before adding it the tank. I bet that guy hitched a ride on that, next time i'll be sure to leave it in boiling water for a while longer to be sure to kill everything.

Nope, these puffers are wild-caught & come w/worms--no extra charge.

if the water was boiling then it killed anything possibly dangerous to the fish, no worries.