The Puffer Forum

Hi,

I have a pair of 5" Tetraodon Sabahensis for about 2yrs. Got them when they were abt 3". have been keeping them in FW in a 55gallon ever since.

About 2 weeks back, I notice one of them there was a small little lump under the skin (abt 2mm in diameter) above its right fin. Didn't think much as it was eating and behaving as usual.

Things went bad a week later.

I notice there were more lumps at the stomach region ( have it isolated since ).. one of the lump was almost 1cm in diameter. This lump eventually turn white (over 2 days) and started to protrude more and started to "melt" away, leaving an open sore. The small little lump also became a small open sore. I have doused melafix for about 5 days and it doesnt seems to have any effect on the wound.. there are no visible worms.. more lumps have started to appear.. my puffer now has abt 4 open sore on it smallest 2mm, biggest abt 5mm. Has not been eating for abt a week and seems very lethargic now..

Symtoms - lumps under skin appear >> protrude out of body (white cotton like) >> melts away >> leaving open sore .

Anyone can help me?

The white cotton sounds to me like a fungus. Pick up some Pimafix, that may help. Good luck!

Mine had these lumps when I got him, it was bigger than your specimens, it starts off as a lump under the skin, turns white and then drops off leaving the crater you describe. He had a few on the top half of him and one on his head.

The craters took months to heal fully, very slow healing but they did eventually. I had treated aggressively for IP's and the lumps dropped off after that but this could just have been a coincidence. I was also using Melafix to aid in healing of a portion missing out of his tail and that took a long time to grow back as well.

Be interested to see pictures of yours.

I'd add Melafix too.

This is a pic the illness... Thanks for the helps n replys!

Yeah thats the kind of wounds I had on mine.

Perhaps raise him into a low end brackish for a while, see if that helps. Go to 1.002 and then a week later 1.004

I have no idea if that will help but I doubt it could make the situation worse. I'm wondering if a bit of marine salt might stimulate him to eat a bit, although he looks healthy apart from the marks so no eating for a while shouldnt affect him too much.

Thanks for the reply, will try low brackish to see if it eats a bit.. this morning more of the lumps are starting to blister.. there are white spots on the body too. look alot like ich, but the grains looked bigger... What were u using to treat the IP? I will be trying out the pimafix to see if it helps.

Kusuri Wormer Plus. You can find it on ebay in the UK. They ship to the states so they might ship to Singapore. Basically what you ae looking for is an IP med with flubendazole as the main ingredient. Not sure if it will help, I can only give you the info that happened when I had mine.

Update:

Things took a turn for a worse this morning... Its was breathing heavily and kept drifting to the surface and filter inlet..

Its whole body was almost covered with deep open sores and more blisters..

Cant bare to see it suffering anymore, I regret to say I have to put it down myself.

Looks like some kind of flesh-eating disease. I would have suggested QT & go for some serious antibiotics. Sorry for your loss...

Sorry to hear that.

Im sorry for your loss. He looks alot more like a GSP then a Saba to me though. Which leads me to beleive that the FW could have helped out with his immune system system being low leading to the desease in the first place. Am i the only one that thinks he looks much more like a GSP then a saba?

Well, he said 5inches at 2 and half years...

I am not sure of the official growth rates for sabas....but the saba "looking" puffers I have are pushing into 3 and 4 inches in just a matter around 6 months

I think that his to have Saba characteristics...so maybe a morph..nice thick short tale, eyes and such

But in the end..a saba is a giant, and from what I know..not reaching past 6 inches is some sort of a clue


The FW may have been an issue....isn't the average life span of GSPs in FW substantially shorter with an average of 2-3 years?

It could be a deferent varient but from most of the saba's I have seen and then looking at the bigger GSPs its boddy shape itself then adding the big spots it has makes it look much more like a GSP then a saba. The filler markings make it have a saba appearance but the big dark spots give it a away IMO. Im not blameing the FW on the actual death of the puffer, but I would not exclude it out as being a underlying factor for the poor ammune system. Its sad he had to go through all of that. As for growth rates if i remember correctly PP's GSP grew farely fast aswell. I think that has alot to do with either where the species is cought or how it is handled dureing shipping and how bad its affected by stunting.

scpion, im not trying to bash you or blame you in anyway so please dont take this conversation personal. The GSP/Saba topic has been on this forum for a long time and I dont think it will clear up untill scientific data comes out with exact distinctions and possibly more varients of both species.

To be frank, I am not too sure which family of puffer it belongs to... I got these pair in a tank labelled as GSPs.. but the markings on these 2 are distinctively different from the rest of them. So I tried to do some research on google and finalised that this may be a Saba.. As purplecandle had said, it may be a mixed breed.. Markings on it looked pretty much like Hilly's I thought, fatter maybe..

Any confirmed ID of this species will be greatly appreciated as I still have the other one! And determined to keep it alive!

@Bcummings8521 - no offense taken at all! Any feedback is really helpful. I used to have GSPs but the markings seems very much different..