The Puffer Forum

I have a GSP that I have owned for 9years. He is about 2" long. The tank size is 30" long, 18" deep & 24" tall. He is in there with 2 catfish of similar size. I have not done water tests for about 5 years I have always fed him twice a day with a reasonably varied diet (red & white mosquito larvae(both fresh & frozen) frozen krill, squid, mysis. Fresh earthworms/snails. I do a small water change/hoover gravel every week & the external filter is cleaned monthly. It is a freshwater tank & the only additive is tetra aquasafe. (It was originally a brackish tank, but he did not thrive in the conditions I created?) He has been with me a long time/moved house with me 4 years ago & takes food from my fingers. My problems started about 6 months ago - I noticed from an old photo of him that his teeth were a little overgrown, so I took steps to trim them. This was successful. Now on his lower jaw (left side) he has developed a small lump. Firstly I wondered if my trimming his teeth has caused one to be loosened & had developed into a tooth root abscess. Now I wonder if it may be a tumour. Have you heard of anything like this before? His appetite is as good as ever (although he does seem to spit some foods out, like he is having trouble managing it) & his activity level is normal. I know this is rather vague & I am not sure what could be done either way if it was abscess or tumour. Just appreciate some experts thoughts! Thanks guys.

Can you post some pictures of him? That would be very helpful.

Been trying all evening to get a decent picture of him - but he is so wiggly & active!! Having been studying him fairly closely, & comparing him with pictures on here, his teeth still seem slightly long & his mouth does not seem to close properly. Should their front teeth meet top & bottom?

Maybe you nicked his gums? Did you see the trimming article in our Library? It shows before & after trimming pics.

It's my opinion that because your puffer is in FW, he never grew to his proper 6" adult size. I'd start adding Melafix & marine salt now. Raise the SG .002/week, until you are at a high SG of around 1.018 or even go marine with him. You'll have to rehome the catfish though.

Hopefully I will get the pics on here tomorrow. Been a devil of a job though, getting a half decent one! However, as I study him more & compare him with old pictures, his teeth definitely are still overlong & his mouth seems always open. The more I look at him, the worse I think he looks!

God, he looks dreadful up close! As I said before his appetite & everything about his behaviour is normal. Its just his horrible mouth - is it too late to do anything?

It's never too late. Do as pufferpunk said. Add melfaix and pimafix and start raising his sg. You will also need to trim his teeth again. The bottom need to be straight across and the top can use another trimming. If you haven't read the article in the library it may help you. It's located under the learn tab.

He needs more crunchy foods. Buy some fresh clams, put em in heavy duty freezer bags, one clam per bag, beat the crap out of it with a hammer and freeze.

Needs lots of crunchies..

And get him to brackish fast, or even full marine...try to get him to full marine within 2 months (raising the SG by 1.002 per week as not to crash your biofilter)

Its hard to find decent shellfood here. I have resorted to going to the beach & collecting snails from rockpools. He loves them, but won't try & eat them until I have crushed them a little. How short should his teeth be? When I trimmed them last, I was so scared that I think I rushed it. Next time I will take more care. I used clove oil before, but have read that it is not a good idea to use it too much. Would another time be too much or should I get a proper anaesthetic? The swelling on the left side seems to have subsided, although I haven't done anything to treat it.

I don't trust clove oil, if you can get finquel. Are you in the states?

Are those things teeth holding his mouth open? I thought you trimmed them already.