The Puffer Forum

I noticed a few days ago that my F8 had cloudy eyes, some ragged fins and a slight swelling of his left gill. I did some research and decided to start a Maracyn Two regimen. I'm on Day 4 of that, and the cloudy eye problem is gone along with visual signs of fin healing, however the swollen gill persists.

I tried taking a photo of the gill but the fish won't pose for me properly (hamster!). But it's basically a bulge in front of the gill opening. The bulge pulls his skin to where you can actually see inside that gill, whereas you can't see inside the other. He also seems to be breathing harder with the one gill, or it could be that the bulge exaggerates the movements.

Could this be a nematode? Other parasite?

He doesn't seem to linger around the surface of the water, rub against the rocks or anything else that would suggest gill disease or flukes. He actually seems to be ok.

Any ideas?

I haven't tested my water since beginning the Maracyn treatments, but everything was ideal before.

I would treat for gill flukes.

I had a GSP with a similar problem in his gill. He didn't have ragged fins or cloudy eyes but his one gill was pretty swollen and he breathed much harder through it. I treated it as an infection and dosed him with Pimafix and Melafix and it went away in about a week. It may not be the same thing your guy has though. Like PP said it may be gill flukes.

Hope your F8 feels better soon!

What, if anything, should I take from the fact that the swollen left gill is now a swollen right gill? Not both; just the right.