Strange white cyst

[christa]

Hello,
My porcupine puffer has developed what looks like a white cyst on his fin. He acts fine and eats great, all other fish look good. I have looked on the internet and can't find anything on it. Does anyone have any idea what this might be and how to treat it? I love this fish so much and would hate to see him go. Thank so much!

Christa

[Plato]

Lymphocystis, an incurable viral disease. I have delt with this virus and if detected early is not a thret. The only method of treatment is to cut the effected area of of the fin. Treat the tank with a broad spectroum antibotic to prevent secondary infecton. If not treated 1. it will go away like a fever blister (which always come back) or more than likely 2. it will cover the fish and kill it. Deth by warts.

[christa]

How do you cut the affected area? Should I treat my whole tank?
Thanks for help.

[Plato]

You will need to capture the fish. Catch him in the morning befor the lights come on. If you can trap the fish in an acrylic contaner like the ones the pets shops use to put fish in befor they are bagged. Nets damage their slime coating. He will be the most calm and subdued. Make sure every thing is in place. Next to the tank or close by lay out a towl that has ONLY been washed with bleach no detergent, any thing laundered in the washing machein will have residual detergent, the enzymes left will destroy the slime coating and irritate the fish. You will need a sharp pair of scissors, all metal blade no plastic and metal. I keep a pair of hair cutting scissors on hand for aquarium puropse. Laytex gloves so the oil and any lotion or soap from your hand does not get on the fish either. Stress coat or any product that that helps to simulate a fish's natural slime coat. If your tank is a reef you will want to treat the tank with Rally form Ruby Reef this is to protect your fish after treatment from secondary bacterial infections. If it is a fish only system then you can use any products that will treat for bacterial infections. Kanaplex and Focus from SeaChem, I'll explain later. You will also need some lugals reef iodine, usualy comes in a one ounce bottle with droper. 1 lay out towl and have scissors laying in reach. 2 soak it with the slime coat stimulant to protect fish. 3 capture fish in container and put on towl. 4 with gloves on lift fish out of contaner and lay on towl. 5 lightly coat the fish with slime coat stimulant, make sure to cover eyes and gills. The fish will be fine out of water for a minut or two. The slime coat stuff will protect him. 6 cut off affected area of fin, make sure to cut a little extra, aprox 1-2 mm to asure that all of the affected area is removed. 7 use lugals solution and apply one to two drops of iodine to the fin to disenfect. 8 return fish to main tank. That is the surgical procedure to remove lymphsysist. The day befor you do the operation start the bacterial treatment. Three days befor operation mix the Kanaplex and Focus with his favriot food, feed only this mixture once a day-three befor and one after for a total of four, it will ensure the fish from other infections after the stress he will encounter. During the three days befor feed the puffer two other times on top of the medicated food. You will want to feed him squid, shrimp, and scallop. He needs to be fat and healthy in case he does not eat a few days after treatment, that is normal. Squid, shrimp, scallop are high in protien. Try your local fresh market and buy one of each. It will brobably only cost you one or two dollars. As a virus their is no treatment for the whole tank however a UV sterlizer might work but I do not know, UV light scrambles DNA of cells as they pass throuht the sterlizer but a virus is just a capsuel that injects RNA into its host cell. It is unlikley that the other fish will becom infected. Provide good water conditions pH 8.3, DKH 8-12, no ammona, nitrite and nitrate less than 10 ppm. Pleas keep me informed.

[christa]

If I would capture my porcupine and lay him on a towel, he may freak out and inflate and air will be trapped inside him and he would die. Isn't that right?

[Plato]

I do not know. I rember as a kid fishing in the Atlantic off of a peir when you would catch one it would blow up as you realed him up. After the fish was put in a live bate well they would return to normal size and swim as usual, I did not keep and eat them due to tetrodetoxin so I always returned them so no idea of long term danger. I have a friend though who would know, I will contact him and get back to you tomorrow/ Friday.

[christa]

Thanks for the replies, it helps. I saw your interest is spreading the good news. I spread the good news as well!

Christa

[Plato]

Christa,
I spoke with my buddy but he also did not know. I contacted Paul Berington at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. He is director of marine science and fish health maintance. He said weather the fish blows up in or out of the water would not hurt him. He also confermed the usage of the lougals solution to the affected area after treatment. His only other sugestion it to try to scrape of the lymphosystis but, if it would not scrape off then cut it off. I hope this will help, I know it will add to my knowlege about puffers.
Have a Great Day,
Brian

[Bulletsworld]

OMG, to cut the effected area off the fin! ARE YOU CRAZY! That’s the craziest thing I have ever heard! Stop and put the blade down!

First of all, your not even sure what the cyst is? How about a picture to better determine before going and cutting up your fish fins. Also Lymphocystis I have never heard to ever be on porcupine puffers as mostly angelfish get this disease. Its also not a cure thing and will with good water quality go away on its own and will not spread to other fish.

The porcupine fish is also one on my favorite fish. It is VERY stressful when this fish is taken outta water. As it will puff up displaying to you that it is scared! They even advice you when diving with these creature to not stress them out, as they will ONLY puff when they are scared or threatened.

Also don’t treat your puffy with a product called "Rally" by ruby reef as mentioned. The puffers have a reaction to this product and will turn VERY dark in colors (almost black) and produce extreme slime all over their body. You will see puffy will only get sick. Its from the harsh product and water turns yellow. This product is recommended thought o use for Marine Velvet only, which does not work. anyway.

This cyst could be a bacterial infection. Which works best to treat then with SeaChem product called "Kanaplex" which is a blended kanamycin based medication that safely and effectively treats several fungal and bacterial infections, as well as fin rot. Treat in a QT tank only. Gives puffy time to relax and get all your attention.

Porcupine puffers are extremely responsive with their owners and if you even attempted to take your puffer out and cut off his fungus, it would then be wounded and could cause a more severe bacterial infection. Those treatments are not EVER recommended or advised with even the most experienced aquarist. The puffer would be so scared of you and you will find it will hide once put back in your tank, be so shy (hiding) to come up and eat.

Also porcupine puffers are like inverts get extremely stressed when exposed to air and damaged in nets. It’s best even from the LFS to capture these fish in a container. No nets please! They will thank you and you will see a big difference with behavior.


So drop that blade and don’t hurt your puffy!

Good link to read: http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...nfections.html

[Plato]

Bulletsworld,
It may be the crazyest thing you have ever heard but let me educate you on this desease. If it is lymphosysist it my be (in the wild) specific to only one fish, but this is not the wild. I have dealt with this deaease for over fifteen years. I have seen this desease cover a fish's eyes=blindness=death, it will also spread to the fishes gills=death. Yes, it may go away on its on, like I said warts, but if not do you want to be responsible for the death of someone else fish, think about it. I have worked at five differedt fish stores and at every one, what I said to do is protocal =standard. This disease is contagous, Paul Berington at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. He is director of marine science and fish health maintance. He is the one who confermed what I said, he said that they have used this treatment on puffers and it was sucessfull and as for the puffer geting a secondary infection due to a cut fin, that is where the Lugols solution takes it part, it is iodine,Paul recomeded bataiodine but Lugols (patisoum iodine) would do just a well, Bulletsworld why do you want to argue with someone with 30 years of experence. If you will look at my pats thread where I stated Paul the first time, I made a change in what I orrigionaly said, Paul recomended to scrape off the lymphosystic, this is where an ID of the disease would come in, fungus or bacteria wont come off, but lymphcystis may, then if not cut off. Why do you bash Rally, form Ruby Reef. I have treated specificaly puffers (atlantic porpupine) and have never had the negative inpact that you describe. If you don't take my info call Ruby Reef them selves 301-622-3776. I am using it in a reef right now to treat Pop-eye, if the sps, lps, clams, and everything else is not affected, then a fish will definatly be safe. Puffer fish are differednt than box fish, in that yes a box fish would secreat excess slime.
The rally teatment would take care of and bacterial infections, the Kanaplex treatment that I sugested would take care of any infection that is internal.
This is what lymphosysist is=
"Lymphocystis is certainly the best known viral fish disease. This disease often appears first on the fins, but then spreads over the whole body, eventually killing the fish. Lymphocystis infections can easily be seen with the naked eye, since the virus causes the skin cells to grow abnormally large. The often whitish clumps of cells commonly resemble small clutches of eggs adhering to the skin, but sometimes only a few cells may appear over the whole area of the body. The skin feels rough when striked. Internal organs are rarely affected. Lymphocysits is transmited predominantly vis the contents of burst cells. The behavior of any fish affected by it does not reveal any adverse affects. Treatment can be successful when the disease is recognized early enough. Upon early recognition, cut the affected part out of the fin and isolate the victim under optimal conditions. Continue to treat any open wounds like injuries." Handbook of Fish Diseases by Dieter Untergasser THF Publications, Inc, page75. I have six other fish disease specific books, one on trout and one tuna they are based on aquaculture (fish farming). Guess who they quote for treatment .
The information I post on Reef Central is based on (in two weeks will be) eighteen years of fish husbandry and fifteen years of salt water and invertibrate husbandry. I make a living out of replecating God's creation in peoples homes and business. My handle is from Genisis 2:28. God left us, that means you and me in charge of looking after and caring for what is His. This is my basis for helping others, fish or any thing else. I don't shoot from the hip, I have knowlege and experience to back up what I say.