The Puffer Forum

I recently bought a figure 8 puffer and just noticed a slight lump on its side toward the rear left of his stomach. He's swimming around just fine and eats voraciously. That lump just looks weird though. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

can you get a picture of it?

EDIT:
and please answer the red questions above. thanks.

Aye, we'll need pictures and the information requested at the top of the page before we can recommend much.

Many of the puffers I've purchased had very lumpy stomachs, which were more noticable when they were skinny or hadn't eaten recently.

That said, my current figure 8, that I got from another member here, has nematodes that have gone dormant under his skin, and he's very lumpy. You don't see it if he stays fat and happy, but they are there.

I would quarentine this puffer at least for a few weeks, just in case it is something like nematodes, as they can be passed on to other fish.

Sorry I didn't even read the bright red and pink box stating "Read this before posting!!". I was just anxious to post and get a reply. The tank is a 29 gal and used to be a cichlid tank (I have 3 other cichlid tanks and I've always loved puffers so I converted that one) so the pH is a little high for puffers but not too much. it's about 7.6. I don't check the ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, or salinity really. I do add salt. Aquarium salt. It's been up for over a year and but the other cichlids and rocks have been removed within the last two weeks. The tankmates are as follows : Figure 8 puffer, samurai puffer, green spotted puffer, a red claw crab, two crawfish, a pleco, three snails, and a jacobfreibergi (a cichlid). I feed them freeze dried krill once a day and I change approximately 20% of the water once a week. All my products are made my API. I use the stress zyme (bacteria) tap water conditioner, stress coat (to help with the stress of the water change or when I see nipped fins) and the aquarium salt I mentioned earlier. All are used as directed except the salt. I use a little more than recommended. The cichlid is not aggressive at all toward the puffers. The green spotted puffer has actually been amongst cichlids for more than a year and in the same tank with this cichlid for a while. BTW the F8 came with this lump. The guy at the fish store gave me the wrong one and the pet store is an hour away. Thanks for taking time to help me

Please see my response to your other thread.