Puffer Pimple??

[eslowfiddy]

I've had my masked puffer for about 2 months now. I noticed about two days ago my puffer has what looks EXACTLY like a pimple on his side, It even had a "black head" on the tip.
I've tried to take pictures, but they all end up blurry.
The LFS thought that maybe my dragon wrasse bit him. There is only one spot. He is active and friendly.
Any ideas?
-E

 

[beth]

It could be a growth of some kind. I'd keep a close eye on the situation, as well as any aggression that might be going on behind the scenes, to see if it becomes problematic.

 

[eslowfiddy]

here's a picture if it helps?? he's had it about a week now.

 

[beth]

Wow, kinda looks big. Has it grown, or does it appear to be growing? It is a bump with the flesh coving it, or is it raw fish. How does the site around it look, normal or irratated?
It could be scar tissue from a wound, or a tumor.

 

[eslowfiddy]

>Wow, kinda looks big. Has it grown, or does it
>appear to be growing? It is a bump with the flesh
>coving it, or is it raw fish. How does the site around
>it look, normal or irratated?
It's stayed the same size. It looks like raw fish to me. I don't think anything is under it.
As crazy as it sounds, I would I could feel if it was h ard or soft bump. Would that matter? (not that I'm gonna try! lol)
The site looks normal color and texture.
In the last two nights, my dragon wrasse has had two different chunks from it's tail taken out.
Do you think the puffer and wrasse are fighting or has the eel snapped? Which is more likely?

 

[irenicus]

My puffer has white head pimples/growths on his back and sometimes on his side. About 10 of them. They come and go, I think it my be Lymphitis?? I don't know. He's still very active and eats a lot.

 

[eslowfiddy]

The piple has popped leaving a pink/red area and a recessed area in the middle of the mound that used to be the pimple.
Any ideas what it was or if my puffer will be ok? He continues to be active and eats well.
-E

 

[beth]

How is the fish doing now that the "pimple" burst? Can you tell if the effected area is raised? or is it smooth with the rest of the body flesh?
Can you QT the fish? How is he acting a behaving otherwise.

 

[eslowfiddy]

The bump is still raised some but I think it is going away. The center of it is a pretty deep hole though where I can see pink/red flesh. I could probally put a BB in there! The bright pink/red is slowly fading in color and appears to be healing.
It appears to be healing but I'm not sure what to do at this point. I guess I'm mostly curious as to what it was and why it happened.

 

[beth]

Well, Terry is the expert, thus I would tend to put weight on his assessment; however, the bottom line is that we just can't say for sure now.
If you place the fish in a hospital tank, you could treat with antibiotics. What type of tank do you have?

 

[eslowfiddy]

I have a 125 as my main tank.
I have a 30 long for a hospital/QT tank.
I have a 30 breeder tank for aging water for water changes. (I hate breeder tanks but got it used for $10! )
I could stick him in the 30 long with the TetraTech power filter I have on it.
Is there a specific kind of anti-biotic that you can reccomend?
I've had the puffer for oh.. 2-3 months now. Would it take the parasite this long to show up?
-E

 

[beth]

How is he doing today? Healing up, or getting worse? Antibiotics may not be necessary if the wound is healing.

 

[eslowfiddy]

My puffer seems to be doing alot better now! The mound that was the pimple is almost flush with the rest of this body.
I think it is healing well. The spot is getting smaller and the bulge has gone away. The spot is still a little dark, but I think with some time it will go away too.