The Puffer Forum

Please could someone help me identify just what this creator is on the head of my GSP? It doesn’t seem to be affecting him in any way, but it is slowly getting larger. The photo doesn’t really do it justice to give an understanding of the ailment.

High Range PH: 7.8
Nitrite: 0
Nitrates: 0
Ammonia: Less than 0.25
Salinity: 1.008

So it looks much worse than this pic?
Please answer ALL the questions above, in red.

Hi Pufferpunk, thanks for reading.

It's not worse, so to speak, but hard to get a photo that shows the detail - it's not fluffy (doesn't look like ich), but has sort of small craters in it. I guess how a sloughy scar looks, if that makes sense.
We first noticed it after a clean of algae (not a water change), so we weren't sure if he'd banged his head. It wasn't this big, and had a flap of what we thought was skin coming off it. Then the flap vanished and part of it went a brown/yellow colour. We thought it looked like it was knitting back together. It stayed that way for a day or so and know it's like this. He's still as active as he was, eats when he's hungry, and comes out to say hello if he's feeling sociable.
We are wary of using medications as we lost an entire tank (tropical) following fish shop advice (a renowned/respected fish shop in the UK, not a chain store), and we would hate to have a repeat.

Sorry for ignoring the other questions above - answers below - thank you for all and any help!

1) Your water parameters - High Range PH: 7.8, Nitrite: 0, Nitrates: 0, Ammonia: Less than 0.25, Salinity: 1.008
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants - 125L, just the one GSP, with an external Eheim Professional 4+
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank - 30L weekly change with RO water, salt used H2Ocean Pro. No other products added. He eats fish, cockles, crayfish and scallops, 3-4 times weekly. If he comes asking for food he also has dried shrimp and/or mealworm in between main feeds
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so - around 10 days ago manually removed algae from the glass (it builds up on the back to a thick layer that you can't see through, we only do this periodically as it takes a long time to build up)
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? It's been set up, with only the GSP ever in it, for around 4 years. Before that he was in a different tank. We cycled this one for around 2 weeks (if I recall correctly), adding his other tank water, some Prime, and that's all. He was fresh water when we got him (were told he could stay that way). He has been i slightly higher salinity but he prefers it a little lower it seems!

Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for all that info! I am curious--even though I see you have had that tank cycled for some time, why you are showing no nitrate & "some" ammonia? Also, why RO water? Is there something wrong with your tap?

At 1st I was going to say heater burn but when you mentioned the flap, it looks like he might have bashed himself on a rock.

Well, the ammonia colour was ever so slightly different coloured from zero, so I didn't want to say zero (though that is probably what it is). Sometimes the colours are a little tricky to read!

We use RO water because our tap water is so hard, and so chlorinated, that it used to take almost a full day to get enough water through the filter jug (one of those Brita ones for drinking water) to do the change, so getting 30l of RO a week is simpler/quicker!

I hope he has just bashed himself. Should we be watching for anything, just in case?

Hard water is great for these fish. Prime should dechlorinate it OK.
Keep an eye out for it getting cottony.

Thanks, Pufferpunk. We try and avoid adding anything if we can, after the mass loss we had. As long as we keep an eye on the PH, will the RO be Ok?

Will keep an eye on it and keep our fingers crossed!

RO might be OK at the SG you have. Usually it has to be reconstituted with minerals.

Hi!

So, our GSP has carried on eating and swimming, white belly, bright head. However the cavity has gotten much, much worse.

Any ideas on how we can stop this? It’s very deep, and we’re not totally convinced it hasn’t got to the bone..

Very many thanks in advance.

I really am not familiar with this kind of injury so I forwarded your info to some puffer expert friends.

Here's what I got:
"WaterLife Myxazin would be my choice of medication to treat the tank and promote healing."

I'm confused about why you have no nitrate? What test kits are you using?

Thanks, we will try and source some.

We use the API master test kit. Our nitrate result is as attached..

Just to update - we've just ordered some WaterLife Myxazin, it should be arriving tomorrow - thank you again for your help!

I find it very odd you have no nitrate. Did you shake the chemicals as per the instructions?

Yep, we add the first, shake, then the second, shake for 30 seconds, then wait 5 minutes... The colour never changes!