The Puffer Forum

Hi

I have a mbu about 5" and he is currently in a tank 72"x26"x30" that will be upgraded to a 8x3x3 when he is bigger. My question is he seems to have cloudy white lumps appearing on his back. At first I thought white spot but it is not the normal white spot and he has nothing on his fins. The lumps seem to be comming up from under the skin rather than something on the skin if that makes sense. They are almost like warts but not lumpy.

He is feeding normally and the water is 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and nitrate less than 12ppm so water is OK. It is a mature tank and filters have been running for 6 months. I have had him about a week and he is feeding on cockles in the shell, cockle and mussel mix, prawn, bloodworm and lance fish and swimming around fine. Everything else in the tank is fine with no signs of lumps or flicking.

Has anyone got any ideas what might be the problem?

Can you tell us what else is in the tank with the Mbu please?

There is an adonis plec and 4 Geophagus Proximus that are roughly the same size as the mbu.

Any way to get good, clear, close-up pics of the bumps?

This is the best I can get as he doesn't keep still long enough.



You can see 4 Lumps clearly.

Clooney (my Mbu) gets these every now and again, I have never had to treat them and they seem to go away on their own. It could be a minor irritation to something, I would perform a large water change just to be on the safe side. It could be a stress response to his new home.

Have a look at the article in my signature

Thanks for that manutius.

I wondered if it was stress from the move as the lfs said they had had them for 6 months since they were small and had lots of them, so obviously it has been a change for him. I checked the parameters of their water and they were very similar to mine pH only .1 different and I acclimatised him very slowly. I will do a big water change and keep an eye on him.

I have admired Clooney for a while now. I have read your article and it is very informative. I know they need a big tank and like I say I have been offered an 8x3x3 but if needs be I will go bigger.

Thanks again for the help.

No problem The tank you have been offered will be good especially if its a deal. Obviously the bigger the better but I would be more than happy with a 8x3x3 for Clooney. Where are you based?

I am happy with Ziggy (my Mbu) in the 6ft at the moment and have been offered the 8x3x3 so I thought it would be good for the future or if he doesn't get on with his tank mates.

I am based in Lincolnshire.

You lucky thing, I would get the bigger tank asap to be honest it will be easier to catch and move Ziggy when he is small

I have actually tried to do some research on these white spots.... My MBU had them not so long ago, I treated the tank for Ich but they continued to come and go over a period of about 3 - 4 weeks.

I have later found out these are not uncommon in MBUs, and not that harmful, but it is a sympton of poor diet and/or poor water quality. I put boomer's down to poor diet as this was during a time when all i had to feed him was what i could find in tesco.... raw prawn and mussels - not the best i know. Since introducing cockles, snails and the odd crab claw back into his diet they havent returned.

Try as best you can to keep his diet varied and obviously it goes without saying, keep up the regular water changes to keep his environment in pristine condition.

Good points there Boomer, I agree and personally I think that poor watr is a more likely cause though you cannot discount diet either. To me they appear to be small localised infection of the spines/pores. A bit like whiteheads that we get

Thanks for the information. Ziggy has a diet of cockle, mussel, prawn, bloodworm, lance fish, Krill , peas (on reading Manutius's post) and an occassional earthworm so I think this was just down to the move as water is spot on and I do large regular water changes. They have all cleared up now but the research is interesting and I have since heard of other MBUs with similar problems. It is like spotty teenagers!!!

I forgot to mention peas actually!! Boomer likes them too.... very strange

It is odd. I can't get the kids to eat them but Ziggy does!