The Puffer Forum

Stuff in red first:
1) pH - 7.5 // Am - between 0 and 0.2 (its in my tap water at 0.1, and I do daily 50% changes) // Nitrite - 0 to <0.5 (tank is at week two of cycling, don't lecture me on the virtues of pre-cycling a tank, as its obviously too late for that) // Nitrate - 20 // FW
2) 15 g. with one SAP and three gold danios and one plant (the smaller amazon sword plant)
3) Puffer gets a couple mysis shrimp in the morning and again in evening, with the occasional snail, 50% PWC's daily, PRIME water conditioner, stress zyme
4) Past week: added plant, the problem precedes this action
5) 2 weeks, still cycling. I know already, so don't waste your typing time telling me about cycling with a SAP in the tank. So far he is active and friendly, and I'm managing levels just fine.

The ACTUAL problem:

The puffer has a lumpy belly. He does not seem to be on the skinny side (from being underfed, malnourished, not eating). I don't think I can get a picture, but he appears to have a just slightly uneven belly. I haven't seen him poop (not for lack of trying) so I don't know how it looks. He eats fine, and presumably poops a plenty. He is very active and friendly, and will eat food from between my fingers at every meal. The lumps do not look like tumors or cysts or anything that uniform. Instead, is it possible that I'm just seeing the digestive tract through the skin? Possibly IPs?

Please help, as I don't know how concerned to be. I hope someone else has noticed this and has a recommendation.

How long did he eat before you saw lumps? It's probably just food. My puffers often look lumpy after eating. If he's not pooping you can try to feed him peas as a laxative

Well his belly noticeably protrudes a bit after eating, then it kind of looks like it's passing through the tubes, and then his tummy is back to sort of uneven lumps. I'm thinking it may just be his bowels. Would not feeding for a day and looking for a reduction in size of the lumps be ok? Id feel bad starvig him for a day because eating is his absolute favorite thing, but as long as a one day fast won't kill him I'll try it. That seems like it would put this to rest...

Did he have snails before this happened? My puffs bellies are lumpier after eating snails. It wouldn't hurt to fast him for a day...if you can be strong and resist the begging...lol!

The begging and the post-shrimp happiness is hard to resist. The little guy hasn't had snails in a few days, but the lump look was there before I ever fed him any snails, so I don't think it's the snails. Do they act differently with IPs? Anything I can do to rule them out?

Typically with ip's the belly will be concave. You probably don't have anything to worry about. Maybe a pro will chime in.

Thanks so much Srkoe, I appreciate the feedback. I agree that unless a pro chimes in or the fish acts unusual, things are probably copacetic, and I'm concerned for no good reason.

Their bellies are never "perfectly" round when filled Different food sizes will shape them differently.

J-P you nailed it. It's not quite flat when the fish is empty either, but your picture looks exactly like mine when full of shrimp.

Unless the lumps appear to be under3 the skin (nematode worms), I'm with the rest--just food. It is a good idea though to skip a day's feeding/week though. As far as your tank... your puffer would fair much better alone in there, since 15g is the bare minimum for a singleton. It would also reduce the bioload without the danios & make the cycling process much easier on the puffer.

More info: library/puffers-in-focus/sap/

Pufferpunk - I added the danios to increase the bioload and speed up the cycling, my logic being that my single puffer was not providing much waste. Since I'm doing daily WCs anyway, figured that I could jump start the process a bit. Additionally, the group will be moving into a 20 long or 30 in mid may.

As far as the lumps go, they are certainly in the puffers tummy, but they don't seem to be subdermal in nature. Thanks for all the feedback.

Also, why is having a skip day a good idea? Not skeptical, just curious.

I don't think you understand the cycling process. All it's doing is adding more ammonia to stress the puffer out further, making it harder for the tank to cycle. All it needs is enough bacteria to support the bioload of the puffer--period. Please do something about removing the extra waste producers.
Read the 2nd part of my sig:

Ok so after 2 skipped meals, the puffer's belly looks a little concave. This is something I haven't noticed before. Do other peoples SAPs get an inny when super hungry? He's still acting totally normal...

How long is 2 skipped meals, 2 days?

Nope. Skipped dinner last night and breakfast today. 3 mysis shrimp for each is the norm, with the occasional snail.