# Seen anything like this before??



## Tom (11 Jan 2008)

This is my puffer, a T. baileyi. A few weeks ago he got 2 white "spots" on his side which I maaged to treat with melafix. Aparrently it was caused by the bacteria which can cause mouth fungus (according to my lecturer). Now I've noticed he has a similar thing again, but this time it is like circular    Just wondering if anyone has seen this before, and if so, how was it treated?














Tom


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## beeky (11 Jan 2008)

Could it be a heater burn? Unlikely I would have thought being a puffer, but I thought it worth mentioning.


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## Tom (11 Jan 2008)

That's what was suggested last time, but I've never seen him near the heater (he sits on or explores the bottom most of the time and the heater is higher up in the tank). 

I had a bacterial infection kill a green spotted puffer I had a couple of years ago as I didn't know how to treat it. It looked very similar to this, but started on the caudal peduncle, disintegrated the caudal fin and then spread up the fish. I'm hoping melafix will do the job again and I will get a proper heater huard just in case it is that, however unlikely.

Thanks,

Tom


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## beeky (11 Jan 2008)

It's not because of fresh/brackish water is it? Again, unlikely, as you would have known this from college!

Is it wild? Maybe some internal bacteria problem or parasite that is weakening it. Nice fish though, never seen one before.


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## Tom (11 Jan 2008)

He's wild caught (so far not been bred in tanks AFAIK) from Thailand, 100% freshwater. My Green Spotted was brackish though. I've had this one since Oct 06 so I would have thought any bacterial/parasite problems would have shown themselves before now? (no doubt I'll be corrected here!)

Tom


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## Ed Seeley (11 Jan 2008)

I have had an internal infection on some pond fish, but was never able to work out whether it was fungal or bacterial in origin.  It has lain dormant in some fish for a while then flared up at times of stress so it _could _have been there for a while.

Is he on his own as looking at the picture the thing that struck me was how this mark was fairly similar in size and shape to his mouth!  Is there another puffer that could have nipped him?

As for treating, I find Melafix is great at helping healing so think you're on the right track there.  Is also find upping the temperature and increasing the water changes really helps too.


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## Tom (11 Jan 2008)

Thanks Ed, he is on his own. I wouldn't like to see what would happen if I did put a tankmate in    When I was weaning him onto dead foods I had to give him a guppy to start him off and it barely hit the water before he got it   . Luckily he wasnt too hard to train to dead foods. 



> I have had an internal infection on some pond fish, but was never able to work out whether it was fungal or bacterial in origin. It has lain dormant in some fish for a while then flared up at times of stress so it could have been there for a while.



Thats interesting, thanks. 

Tom


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## GreenNeedle (13 Jan 2008)

To make 'melafake' dilute 1ml pure tea tree oil with 99ml distilled or dechlorinated water. Use 5ml per 10 gallons for all fish

El Cheapo me.  This is what I used to use but haven't had the need lately.

The oil and water spereates so either get an emulsifier for carp fishing from your angling shop and use this to 'blend' the two or.....(el cheapo again.lol).....Give it a damned good shake before dosing. lol

Andy


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## Moss Man (30 Jan 2008)

It might be worth trying to get some help from one of the specialist puffer forums like  The Puffer Forum I'm sure there are many people on there who will be willing to help you out, and there are many who keep T. baileyi. 

Very cool puffer BTW, I hope its condition improves.


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## Lisa_Perry75 (30 Jan 2008)

Yeah the people on the puffer forum are very knowledgable.

Is it an ulcer? I am not a fan of melafix, it is quite harsh to fish I think. Are you feeding the puffer a good diet of prawns/mussels/snails etc? If not prepare to be whipped by the puffer forum people.

Good water quality will help and perhaps treat with something that kills ulcer causing stuff... Is it malachite green or meth blue...


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## Tom (30 Jan 2008)

I asked on the puffer forum the first time it happened (I've been on TPF for a couple of years). They seemed to draw a blank too. It does seem to be healing up again with the melafix. 

Lisa, the only thing he is interested in is prawns. Won't even sniff mussels, cockles, whitebait etc although he took a liking to salmon trimmings a while back   Expensive taste eh? The tank is snail-infested by the way! I swear he's a strange one!

It's probably mal green for ulcers. I don't think it is an ulcer though. Best bet I reckon would be antibiotics, Oxytetracycline for example as it should take out most bacterial problems (inc filter  :?  ) in case it's Flexibacter or something but I'll wait and see if it clears up with melafix first. 

SuperColey - I knew there must be a cheaper way of doing it! I looked at the active ingredients and thought this is a rip off! 

Cheers,

Tom


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## Lisa_Perry75 (30 Jan 2008)

Aha, I used to buy them from tescos on bogof... About Â£3.99 for two massive bags frozen...

Its hard to tell from the pictures if its not an ulcer... My fiances GSP just got an eye infection for no reason, and this whole cloudy layer was over it... Seems ok now, so maybe it'll fix itself?

Might be worth getting a heater protector just in case?


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