The Puffer Forum

Greetings,

I saw a small bump growing on Clydes face about two weeks ago and its slowing been getting bigger. It has not affected his appetite or his behavior. I have not checked the water parameters but Bonnie is thriving. The tank is at full salt (1.023SG) has a Penguin 330B filter and a CSS65 protein skimmer and no live rock.

His stomach has been dark the majority of the time since I've gotten him(3+ months) and now I'm wondering if its not just a personality quirk and maybe a consequence of other things.

Also, for the first time last night I saw some damage to his caudal that I hadn't seen before and has me very worried.

For some reason Clyde wanted to hang out in the corner of the tank where its hard to clean the glass. But dont worry the bump is obvious (and yes all images are at max res allowed by TPF).










A cropped and zoomed in view of the tail. The wound is at the top of the caudal (its a 4yr old camera so forgive the quality).





Help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to try and stop by both LFSs at lunch today with the photos and see what they think as well


Thanks
MP

I'd add Melafix for the tail. Should fix it right up. If you have a skimmer, turn it off or it will go nuts for the 1st couple of hours.

The face looks like either a cyst or tumor.

If it is a nematode, there isn't much you can do about it, other than keeping his conditions good and feeding healthy foods. Removal is basically out of the question, and killing it would kill the puffer as well.

I think nematodes are closer to the surface.

Is there a way to tell a difference between Nematodes and tumor/cyst.

MP

All the nematodes I've heard about & seen pics of, looked like round circles under the skin. Like a curled up worm.

The "round circles under the skin" that PP describes are evidence of encysted nematodes. When they are encysted, you could consider them to be in a "resting stage". Its when nematodes are moving through the tissues or in the abdomen and piercing organs with their sharp heads that they cause damage.

I can't tell from pic what this is. How is he doing now?

The round bump seen in the images above is completely and totally gone. No sign that anything was ever there. LFS thought it was a tumor too...

I dont know what to make of it. Time will tell.

MP

Coul;d have been a cyst. They will reabsorb.