The Puffer Forum

Hi all (especially Pufferpunk- you’re kind of my fish keeping idol)

Parameters and such first.

55 gallon tank, one lone very large GSP or Saba puffer (unsure)
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate between 20-40 ppm (going to be doing a water change as soon as this posts)
1.005 SG

Feed schedule: a large shrimp or middle neck clam every 4 or 5 days. It’s been mostly shrimp lately
Water change schedule 30% weekly, with the occasional miss.
Tank has been cycled for a year. Only recent change is that we were out of town last week. Decor includes plastic soft plants, silks, and a large fake “log” piece.

I noticed a day or two ago Tiberius had developed a small bump/cyst on his back near his dorsal fin. Decided to hold off on dumping meds on it to see if it was an injury (he’s prone to jumping and hitting the lid when startled), or something else. My guess now is it’s either a parasite or opportunistic fungal/bacterial infection.



Just fed him a shrimp dosed with Kanaplex and metro. Besides stepping up my water change game, any other thoughts on what I should do? His dorsal din seems to be catching fungus as well, and he might be getting another spot on his chin- tough to tell because he’s being a skittish bugger

Super appreciate your time and advice.

Update: just realized the high nitrates could be due to a laaaarge amount of dead algae I’m working on getting rid of. Ooof!

Def looks like a Saba to me. Is the circle raised or flat? Growing?

Circle seems flat. Ring wasn’t there on Wednesday, but not sure if it’s growing. It started as kind of what looked like a pimple before coming to a head and flattening out Once I get home from work I’ll check it again.

How's it look today?

Hey Pufferpunk! Thanks for asking

His spot has definitely changed.



It’s filled in completely white now? About the size of a pencil eraser, almost like a slight impression on him

Not thinking worm anymore. Thankful to report the fuzzy bit by his dorsal fin has healed up. Husband thinks the edges seem irregular/shrinking now, but of course Tibby won’t hold still long enough for me to get a good close up.

Pleased to report I did a huge deep clean of his tank and filter yesterday, took out a TON of dead algae and his nitrates are down to 10 ppm. Nitrite and ammonia are holding steady at 0 ppm. I’ve been treating his food with Kanaplex, started Maracyn 2 yesterday. Still eating like a champ and active as ever.

Do you think it’s maybe just a healing injury? He’s stupid notorious for startling and bouncing off the glass hood.

Yes. looks like it's healing now. This pic looks like a saba but it's so hard to tell! Really, the best way is if his head ever turns yellow. And of course, saba grows much larger than GSP.

Quick update: spot is healing and getting smaller! very relieved! Thanks for the confirmation. I’m pretty sure he’s out of the woods now.

Yay!