The Puffer Forum

well, I noticed today that my modestus had a bump on his belly, which looked like a swollen "pore" or whatever they have on their belly.
I noticed that he was also a bit more skitish then normal, he used to be bullet proof when it came to noises etc. he was also pacing more, and it looked like he was trying to get my attention.
I remembered that pacing can be a cry for help, so i promptly tested my water, and i found the nitrAtes were high (ill admit i missed a water change...), and the alkalinity was a bit low.

PH: 6.6 ( this is ok for a modestus, but i am still working to get it into the 7.0 range)

NitrItes: 0

Alkalinity: 80

Hardness: 120

NitrAte: 40

I have trouble keeping a lot of the parameters normal becasue of my funky well water, which i dilute with half RO water. ( mostly the hardness and alkalniity are kind funky)

I promptly did a 10g water change to kick the nitrAtes down, although im not sure how much they are down because of the natural nitrAte in my water. im guessing they are down to 20-25 now. it was a little bizarre, because while i was doing the WC, he seemed to want to bite my hand, which is a lot different then his usual self. usually i can hand feed him, or even rub his belly.( i havent tried it butim sure he would let me)

maybe he was mad at me for skipping a WC?

here are pics of his "zit":





thoughts??? suggestions???

lymphosis? a condition of poor water quality similar to a wart perhaps, but just keep watching it and if it gets bigger grab more photos.

hmmmmm, does it go away after conditions improve?


god i hate my well water..... prolly didnt help that i missed a WC....

I thnk it just looks like an irritatation. Anything he could have bumped into?

hmmm, i think you may be right Lisa, ive notcied him "jerking" suddenly every once and a while, so he could be in pain.

hmmm, its possible he got an abrasion from pacing on the glass, or maybe a scrape from a grain of sand stuck on the glass.

either way, id say hes not happy right now, espeacily since he tried biting me!

Aw, I hope your modestus feels better soon!
Don't worry about the biting thing though, he's under the weather right now and in his little world you control all things, so he's punishing you for smiting him with his "zit".
I'm sure your pufferfish doesn't actually want to harm you. As for my Yoshi, he bites me all of the time! I barely have a chance to put the food in the water before he comes barreling in after my finger. Twice he successfully latched on I jerked my hand out of the water (out of reflex), and he hung on until he broke the surface!

Keep us updated and watch his water parameters closely, I know he'll pull through when he's got such an attentive owner!

well, he seems quite a bit better. the "zit" is almost gone. more of a tiny "spike" now.

i think it was probably a sore, becasue there was a black dot in the center, just like the other "pores" ( what are those things called?). maybe just an irritated pore.

it was kinda funky, he started to develop another one almost symmetrically on the opposite side. that one slamost gone now too.

ill check water params and do another WC, but i think he is in the green zone.

Good to hear John.

Awesome! Whew, don't you hate how they like to scare you like that?

Looks like a wart.

well, i hope its not a wart, that would mean limphosistis, although i think its a sore. ive had a fish with lymphosiostis before, and it looked much different.