Golden Arothron Puffer weird growth

[jpmunoz]

I have a 6" golden arothron puffer in QT right now. I acquired him from DD. He arrived on 3/27. QT is a 40 breeder. 5 gallon water changes every day or every other day depending on how much poop he made. He is eating well and acting appropriately. He is getting either a whole shrimp or a whole squid 3 times a week. Other days frozen krill and mysis shrimp.
He has an odd growth on his tail. At first I though it was a clump of poop or something stuck to his tail. It has not gone away and I am unsure if I should treat it or ignore it. I have attached a couple pictures.
I must sheepishly admit that I am not sure if it was present when he arrived. The DD picture is from his other side.
Any advice is appreciated.

 

[HotRocks]

It's really hard to see in the pic. It could be a trematode or some other sort of fluke or flatworm.

Can you get more up close pics?

Id recommend a 5min FW dip and see if it will dislodge.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I feel like we have been seeing these brown fin trematode "lumps" frequently the last few days... in the last two threads, fw dips, general cure, and formalin had no effect... weird coincidence.

Do please report back after the fw dip with your results!

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

I feel like we have been seeing these brown fin trematode "lumps" frequently the last few days... in the last two threads, fw dips, general cure, and formalin had no effect... weird coincidence.

Do please report back after the fw dip with your results!

I agree I was asking the other two if LA was the source of their fish. I know one said yes and the other is checking. A supplier may have an infested holding system.

 

[jpmunoz]

I have attached a couple more pictures, but I am not sure that they are any better. I just completed the 5 minute freshwater dip for him and his tank mate, a regal angel that came in the same day. The regal has not shown any signs of parasites nor does it have any external anomalies that I can see.
They both handled the dip well, but the concerning area did not detach or change in any detectable manner.
My next step is going to be adding prazi to the qt after I feed today.

 

[ngoodermuth]

See, and that last picture looks a lot like this guy to me... OP, does this picture look like what is on the puffer’s tail?

 

[jpmunoz]

Yes it does look similar to that. Before the dip it looked a little messier and stringy, but post dip it does look similar.

 

[lagatbezan]

just curious, is physically removing it an option for the op? maybe with tweezers without harming the fish? formalin is some strong stuff! if it has no effect I wonder what will.

 

[ngoodermuth]

just curious, is physically removing it an option for the op? maybe with tweezers without harming the fish? formalin is some strong stuff! if it has no effect I wonder what will.

Yep... the other’s that have this have tried General cure and formalin. I think the only thing that hasn’t be tried(or at least reported back yet) is just straight PraziPro. If that doesn’t work, the only thing left is manual removal... but one person has tried to scratch it off with no success so might be difficult even with tweezers [emoji15]

Edit to add. Forgot, one has even been in several weeks of copper...

 

[jpmunoz]

Being that its a puffer I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to taking them out of water or stressing them too much with manual manipulation. If I don't have any luck with the prazi, I can resort to sedation with clove oil and tweezers or a scalpel.

 

[ngoodermuth]

So, I asked a friend..

He thought it might be a species of parasitic crustacean, of the genus argulus.

https://www.nationalfishpharm.com/articles/argulus.html

NFP sells De-Los as one treatment option, another possible treatment would be Dimilin.

 

[jpmunoz]

I apologize for my simpleness, but I can not find a listing for De-Los on the NFP website, nor anywhere else. Does anyone have a source for it? I am also looking at the product "Dimilin-X". Would marine dosing follow the same dosing as freshwater?
As for the prazi, I dosed around 65 hours ago and there is no change in the parasite. Will do a water change this afternoon and dose again in a few days.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Unfortunately, I have zero experience with these products...only passing along the suggestion. I agree, it doesn’t look like de-los is being sold any longer.

For dimilin-x I’m finding a dosage of just under 1/8 teaspoon per 10 gallons for freshwater... but it also says it can be grossly over-dosed with no ill effects on the fish... so I think you should be fine using the same dosage for marine fish.

 

[jpmunoz]

As suspected, Prazi did not have any effect. I dosed twice with 5 days between, today is day 3 of the second dose. I am going to run Dimilin-X on Monday after running carbon over the weekend.
Does any one have a recommendation for a safe high temp? I was thinking of setting the heater to 84 in order to speed up the life cycle of the parasite. I have been unable to locate any info here or elsewhere as to what the puffer will tolerate for a high temp for extended periods.
I am hesitant to even do 84, as I am in Texas. The heat can get out of control quickly. I do not have any alarms or fail safes on the QT.

 

[MSB123]

I would try manual removal.

 

[jpmunoz]

I may resort to manual removal, but after careful consideration, there is no way they can go in the DT until I know how to kill this. It has already had 16 days to possibly reproduce and further infect these fish. I could not stand another out break in my big tank. I had velvet wipe out 20+ fish a year ago, and there is no way I am taking even the slightest risk again.
Even if I had removed the parasite on the day of arrival, there is no way I can be sure there isn't another smaller one going unnoticed.

 

[cmcoker]

Do you have a friendly veterinarian? I wonder if doing a treatment with Sentinel would do anything?

https://fisheries.tamu.edu/aquaculture/diseases/

I was looking at an article about "fish Louse" they mention lufenuron has a similar action to Dimilin and may be effective. Sentinel is a combo of Interceptor (red bug treatment, so has effect on copepod as well) and Lufenuron.

If I had one of these fish it is what I would try, we already know that fish can tolerate the treatment as people were using it as an in tank treatment for red bugs when Interceptor was unavailable.. since i dont believe puffers are often stocked in SPS tanks, you may see if you can find any mention of puffers going through red bug treatment. I know they are a special case fish as far as meds.

 

[jpmunoz]

I was reading the same study, and had no idea Sentinel had lufenuron. My vet is wonderful and has prescribed CP for velvet. If the dimilin doesn't work, she will get a kick out this one! She doesn't get to see too many fish, mostly horses and cattle.

 

[jpmunoz]

Just finishing up the third cycle of Dimlin-X. I treated 1 ml every 4 days in a 40 gallon tank. The parasite did not show any ill effects, nor did the puffer. I found another spot on the puffer that looks to be the same parasite, although much smaller. Tomorrow will be day 4 of the cycle so Friday I will run carbon and continue over the weekend. Monday I will start a course of Sentinel.

 

[cmcoker]

Just finishing up the third cycle of Dimlin-X. I treated 1 ml every 4 days in a 40 gallon tank. The parasite did not show any ill effects, nor did the puffer. I found another spot on the puffer that looks to be the same parasite, although much smaller. Tomorrow will be day 4 of the cycle so Friday I will run carbon and continue over the weekend. Monday I will start a course of Sentinel.

Bummer, interested to see if the sentinel does anything.