The Puffer Forum

Hey folks,

I have a GSP that seems to have developed a nasty infection in the side of his mouth. Half his face is swollen to the point that he can't eat.We noticed it about five days ago and I have been trying to treat him with Maracyn Plus and Melafix with limited success.

The tank has been up and running for 2+ years and the water parameters have been normal (ammonia at 0, nitrite at 0, and nitrates at 0). SG is at 1.025 and I've been keeping up with regular water changes. I have noticed that my pH has been fluctuating recently (after I started the Maracyn) but I have been adding buffer to keep it up around 8.3. The tank is 75 gallons.

Any thoughts on what I can do to make this infection go away? Can anyone recommend a better antibiotic? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan

have you got anything else in there with the GSP?

Does it look like it's his teeth causing the problem, have they grown too long?

Sorry... I have a porc in the tank with the GSP. The GSP's teeth look normal, so I don't think that's the problem. From what I can tell, it looks like he had a small cut inside his mouth that got infected (there are no obvious cuts on the outside, but it looks like there might be one inside his mouth). Any thoughts?

I'd try antibiotic baths - ten times the dose of antibiotic, but twice a day for an hour each. Make up a new bath every day, since light and moisture degrade the antibiotics. If you know a qualified vet, an injection would be much more effective.

Will give it a try. Is there a particular antibiotic I should get?

Furan might work, as might something with erthythromycin. You can try feeding him in the bath, but you say he won't eat.

Thanks Nick. I quarantined him tonight and dosed him with furan-2. It doesn't look promising though... his color looks really bad and he is hardly moving. In addition, the swelling has gotten so bad that he can't eat (he can only push the food around).

Just make sure each bath isn't much more than an hour. Small baths with lots of dissolved antiboiotic have low o2 to begin with, so ammonia can take the fish out very quickly.

Can you post a picture?
This almost sounds like the snout ulcer disease, a disease very common among subtropical tiger puffers.
Antibiotics just as Nick described would have been my choice, too, but if it really is this disease, it cannot be healed, yet.
I'd aerate the antibiotic baths.

George the Puffer passed away last night, sometime between 2 and 6am.

Dan

poor puff.