The Puffer Forum

Hi there! im doing a favor to a friend ho has some puffers, hes does not has an account here (probably he´ll create one) but one of his puffers has developed a very very strange stuff (disease), here are the Q:

1.- water parameters: ph: 7.7, NO2< 0.3 mg/l, NH3/NH40 mg/l, and 1.002.

2.- Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants: 204 lt, 4 puffer (2 nigroviridis & 2 fluviatilis at 2.5") and 1 Scatophagus argus.

3.- water change schedule: he changes 15-20% every week and does a 30-40% once per month, he does nor use chemicals at all (his tap water does not contain chlorine or chloramines); He feeds them with zophoba Morio(live), snails (live), prawns(frozen), Tenebrio Molitor (live), mussel (frozen) every day uses a difrent food.

4.-What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so: he add the Scatophagus argus a month ago, and he said that the puffer ate the mussel and after 2 days the protuberance appears.

5.-How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? Yes it was properly cicled, has 2 years working and the sick puffer has 1 year in the tank.

Pictures:

Here is how it started:


The became like this:


Now, the poor guy is like this:


¿what could it be? i suspect about a degenerative melanoma, like in angle fish, but dont know why it happens or how tu cure it.
Please Help!

¿rise salinity? ¿do 30% wc every week?

He has a 50g with 4 puffers. The salinity is off for both species and does enough waterchanges for a massively understocked tank which his isn't. My guess is an infected bite. Rant over. This tank is a recipe for disaster. Rant definately over.

My 1st thought was a tumor gone very, very wrong... Poor fella.

Yep.... poor, i dont know if i must feel angry or sorrow, or both.

What i told his is:
1.- Separate the puffer to a 30gl.
2.-adquire a 120g for the puffers only, he accepted this.
3.-Then rise salinity to 1.018.
4.- adquire an appropriate skimmer and a sump filter for the 120gl in order to get more water and start a high BW end wc schedule.

It is not an infected bite at all, it was a protuberance as you can see on the second pic, then i guess the puff scrape it on a stone or something, and effectively gets infected, he is now in a 30gl alone ready for treatment ¿which procedure should he follow now?

Does it look infected or just an open wound? At the very least, Melafix.

It looks more like an open wound... i´ve heard about melafix ¿do you know the active ingredients? just in case he does not find it.

Should be able to find it anywhere in the world. Certainly, on Ebay or Amazon.

RVS wrote:i´ve heard about melafix ¿do you know the active ingredients?

Tea tree oil made by the company API now.

If your friend is on well water, I'd go QT, a hose in, and a hose out and continuously change the water. Treat with anti-fungal and anti-bacterial meds.

Although some would be of the mindset that it is too far gone to treat and put it down.

Thanks for the advise, he start to follow everything you told me, and of course, we are ready for the worst but waiting the best, i´ll keep you informed about this little folk.

it would be good to use sera mycopur & sera baktopur in the water, and baths with melafix, ¿ok?

Tea tree oil, really? sound simple lol.

It is more than tea tree oil. Please do your best to find the real product, do not substitute.