Parasites or Normal?

[mtex]

To start,

PH: 7.6

Nitrates: 0

Hardness: Unknown

Nitrite: 0

Ammonia: 0

KH/Buffer: Unknown

Water Temp: Constant 78.9F

Tank Mate: 1 Amazon Puffer

   This is my Figure 8 puffer that has been in my care for about 4 months now. Recently I have noticed a spot on his front right area of the stomach and i'm worried it may be parasites. He is on a steady routine of frozen blood worms, bladder snails, and occasional live ghost shrimp. He eats like a pig and his behavior doesn't seem to differ at all from his usual happy self. About 2 months ago I had an issue with parasites in another figure 8 and amazon puffer I had (both unfortunately didn't make it) which led me to use the only deworming med I had at the time, API General Cure, to save the remainder.

   I have a HOB filter with carbon sponges in it and a bacto-sponge running in tandem to keep water quality near perfect, I run a test every 3 weeks and have had no changes in quality since starting the tank and letting it grow in. I have treated in the past with Fritz Coppersafe and a light dose of API aquarium salt. I have Prazipro if needed but since I used General Cure several months ago I wanted to hold off till I was sure I needed it. It may be nothing but i'd rather ask than be sorry later. Thoughts? 

 

Edit: There was one odd behavior pattern, very rarely he will flash once or twice on the tank decor but only if i'm present and I thought it might just be due to playing rather than an internal issue because it was very infrequent. 

Edited October 14, 2022 by mtex

[DiscusLover]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:06 PM, mtex said:

To start,

PH: 7.6

Nitrates: 0

Hardness: Unknown

Nitrite: 0

Ammonia: 0

KH/Buffer: Unknown

Water Temp: Constant 78.9F

Tank Mate: 1 Amazon Puffer

   This is my Figure 8 puffer that has been in my care for about 4 months now. Recently I have noticed a spot on his front right area of the stomach and i'm worried it may be parasites. He is on a steady routine of frozen blood worms, bladder snails, and occasional live ghost shrimp. He eats like a pig and his behavior doesn't seem to differ at all from his usual happy self. About 2 months ago I had an issue with parasites in another figure 8 and amazon puffer I had (both unfortunately didn't make it) which led me to use the only deworming med I had at the time, API General Cure, to save the remainder.

   I have a HOB filter with carbon sponges in it and a bacto-sponge running in tandem to keep water quality near perfect, I run a test every 3 weeks and have had no changes in quality since starting the tank and letting it grow in. I have treated in the past with Fritz Coppersafe and a light dose of API aquarium salt. I have Prazipro if needed but since I used General Cure several months ago I wanted to hold off till I was sure I needed it. It may be nothing but i'd rather ask than be sorry later. Thoughts? 

 

Edit: There was one odd behavior pattern, very rarely he will flash once or twice on the tank decor but only if i'm present and I thought it might just be due to playing rather than an internal issue because it was very infrequent. 

When I use to take care of f8p they had black spot as well but it didn't really have much harm so I would say it should be fine. I would only start getting concerned if that black spot turns into black patches.

[mtex]

On 10/13/2022 at 9:31 PM, DiscusLover said:

When I use to take care of f8p they had black spot as well but it didn't really have much harm so I would say it should be fine. I would only start getting concerned if that black spot turns into black patches.

The spots i'm not as concerned about, it's the white lump on his stomach about 1cm below his eye that has me wondering. It's perfectly circular and it looks like mole on a person but I can't recall it being there since I first got him. I see something similar much further down on their stomachs after feeding harder/lumpier foods and I know that's just food but this seems a bit high up to be that. 

[DiscusLover]

On 10/13/2022 at 7:54 PM, mtex said:

The spots i'm not as concerned about, it's the white lump on his stomach about 1cm below his eye that has me wondering. It's perfectly circular and it looks like mole on a person but I can't recall it being there since I first got him. I see something similar much further down on their stomachs after feeding harder/lumpier foods and I know that's just food but this seems a bit high up to be that. 

If your talking about 2 clear small moles that are between both of its eyes, its part of their body I am not 100% sure what its called. Do you mind sending a picture of the mole near the stomach?

[mtex]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:06 PM, DiscusLover said:

If your talking about 2 clear small moles that are between both of its eyes, its part of their body I am not 100% sure what its called. Do you mind sending a picture of the mole near the stomach?

Sure thing, sorry it is a little hard to get a clear photo of this guy because he is a bit camera shy. It's kinda hard to see but since i stare at them all the time I end up noticing any change even if it isn't a concern. 

[DiscusLover]

On 10/13/2022 at 8:14 PM, mtex said:

Sure thing, sorry it is a little hard to get a clear photo of this guy because he is a bit camera shy. It's kinda hard to see but since i stare at them all the time I end up noticing any change even if it isn't a concern. 

never heard about or seen that before. are you keeping these guys in brackish?

[nabokovfan87]

@mountaintoppufferkeeper might have some experience with this too.

[Hally M.]

There was a recent submission in diseases of a Pea Puffer who was having white bumps like that too. Maybe take a look at that and see if you can get any answers.

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Thanks @nabokovfan87I have not seen that spot in any of my puffers I would observe it for changes and if and  feeding or behavioral changes are noticed consider treating if it were mine. My guess is it could be a superficial bacterial skin infection/abcess/cyst

I have had a bit of an abcess which that could be in a hairy before

It self healed in this hairy puffer with no impact to appetite or long term health. I tend to think the nature of the skin lends itself to the occasional skin blemish. 

 

[mtex]

On 10/14/2022 at 10:40 AM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

Thanks @nabokovfan87I have not seen that spot in any of my puffers I would observe it for changes and if and  feeding or behavioral changes are noticed consider treating if it were mine. My guess is it could be a superficial bacterial skin infection/abcess/cyst

I have had a bit of an abcess which that could be in a hairy before

It self healed in this hairy puffer with no impact to appetite or long term health. I tend to think the nature of the skin lends itself to the occasional skin blemish. 

 

Thanks so much for the help ya'll are awesome for this! I am noticing his flashing has picked up today and he's being a bit standoffish. Something is bugging him but i'm not sure what since the water quality hasn't changed. What would you recommend for a treatment? I have Prazipro but not sure what i'd use in this scenario. 

On 10/13/2022 at 10:31 PM, DiscusLover said:

never heard about or seen that before. are you keeping these guys in brackish?

I am not currently but i'm setting up a rimless 20gal that i'll likely turn into a brackish setup for them. 

[DiscusLover]

On 10/14/2022 at 3:50 PM, mtex said:

Thanks so much for the help ya'll are awesome for this! I am noticing his flashing has picked up today and he's being a bit standoffish. Something is bugging him but i'm not sure what since the water quality hasn't changed. What would you recommend for a treatment? I have Prazipro but not sure what i'd use in this scenario. 

I am not currently but i'm setting up a rimless 20gal that i'll likely turn into a brackish setup for them. 

Sounds good these guys will need a salinity of 1.005-1.008. If you notice his flashing getting worse treat the tank with prazi pro. Prazi pro are safe for puffers and treats flukes very well.

[mtex]

On 10/14/2022 at 6:46 PM, DiscusLover said:

Sounds good these guys will need a salinity of 1.005-1.008. If you notice his flashing getting worse treat the tank with prazi pro. Prazi pro are safe for puffers and treats flukes very well.

I started the Prazipro treatment today on the tank, after watching him for a bit I noticed he would shake his head and twitch a bit before flashing. After some research apparently this may be flukes like you mentioned. I did a decent water change before the treatment and upgraded the HOB filter with an aquaclear using the cut up sponge media and intake foam that was in the previous HOB filter. Already I think my fish like the difference because they are using the outflow current to swim against like an underwater treadmill. I don't think they liked the splashing as much from the Marineland so hopefully this will also give them more activities to do. I'll keep this thread updated after treatment so it can be a reference for people. 

[mtex]

As promised I wanted to end this post with some good news with everyones help. The Prazipro seems to have done the trick. Full tank treatment for two cycles and a careful eye on food amount and tank cleanliness. The bump on his stomach as pictured before has pretty much vanished after entering cycle two of the Prazipro so likely this was an internal parasite issue. He also has gotten more active and has just moved into a new rimless 20gal with some new friends. Took some better pictures now that I have my camera back. Thanks again to everyone for the help and hopefully this will help others down the road. 

[mtex]

I need to post yet another update. I am not sure what's going on but I know this isn't good. I moved him to a small hospital tank for the time. I found him this morning on the floor of the tank barely wanting to move. Using a net to scoop him up he was a bit more active but still very weak looking. He's moving around the hospital tank now but he seems lost still. Before putting him in the tank i noticed because of the sand thats in the tank that he had stringy clear mucus hanging off his belly which had collected grains of sand. Could this be epistylis? I didn't notice it anywhere else on the body and the rest of the tank doesn't have a problem. The sagging below the eyes is what really startles me as well. Any thoughts? 

[Colu]

Possible Epistylis with what your describing what I would do is a course of kanaplex in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days and also treat the tank with Expel p you can use them both together if your using kanaplex in food if he's not eating dose Expel p then follow up with a course of kanaplex follow up once a week for 3 weeks with Expel p @mtex

[mtex]

On 11/6/2022 at 2:51 PM, Colu said:

Possible Epistylis with what your describing what I would do is a course of kanaplex in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days and also treat the tank with Expel p you can use them both together if your using kanaplex in food if he's not eating dose Expel p then follow up with a course of kanaplex follow up once a week for 3 weeks with Expel p @mtex

Thanks for responding. After reading a lot of other posts on here I noticed KanaPlex was mentioned 99% of the time so I'm glad I already ordered just in case. I'll order the Expel P but in the meantime I have Fritz CopperSafe in the tank as of two days ago as well as a healthy addition of API Aquarium salt which has honestly given him the biggest boost. I did a salt dip with him the morning I found him. He went from laying around on the sand yesterday to today being able to move around the tank at a decent pace and mingling with the Amazon puffers. His eyes still bother me but at least now he's moving them and being receptive. He won't eat quite yet despite trying to coax him with bloodworms and I even soaked some grapes in garlic (everyone else ate them). Also a note on his breathing it has gone back to a much steadier pace and not as hard as yesterday. Hopefully today or tomorrow I can get some food into him with that KanaPlex. Again thanks for the help!