sphaeramia nematoptera pajama pants

Colleen McLain · Oct 24, 2023

My tank is 75Gal - 2 pj cardinals and 2 cardinal - rock blenny a few shrimp and emerald cabs and a watchman. Tank has been running problem free for at least the last 18 months. Suddenly one of the pj's has a clear boil on his chin. No other fish appear affected. My worry is as the boil grows it may rupture which I am sure will kill the PJ but I don't know what the material exposed will do to the rest of the tank. Any thoughts on what it might be and what could be the cause. Thank you in advance for any insight and advice. CM

Jay Hemdal · Oct 24, 2023

Colleen McLain said:
My tank is 75Gal - 2 pj cardinals and 2 cardinal - rock blenny a few shrimp and emerald cabs and a watchman. Tank has been running problem free for at least the last 18 months. Suddenly one of the pj's has a clear boil on his chin. No other fish appear affected. My worry is as the boil grows it may rupture which I am sure will kill the PJ but I don't know what the material exposed will do to the rest of the tank. Any thoughts on what it might be and what could be the cause. Thank you in advance for any insight and advice. CM

Yes, it could be an abscess, but it could also be just a minor rub mark. Can you post a clear picture/video of it?

Thanks,

Jay

Colleen McLain · Oct 28, 2023

Any advice welcome

Jay Hemdal · Oct 28, 2023

Colleen McLain said:
Any advice welcome

Oh - I see that now. We see this on fish (rarely) but I've never had a fish of mine show this, so I've not been able to run any histopathology to find out a cause. The technical term is "fluid filled vesicle".

I had one case here recently that seemed to be related to edema (fluid buildup) but that fish had other symptoms (swollen abdomen).

Is the fish still eating o.k.?

Jay

Colleen McLain · Oct 28, 2023

voraciously. He seems happy all the time.. chases the goby and the cardinals for fun.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 28, 2023

Colleen McLain said:
voraciously. He seems happy all the time.. chases the goby and the cardinals for fun.

I would just observe it for now - this certainly isn't a treatable disease in any event.

Jay

Colleen McLain · Oct 31, 2023

oddly enough the boil has now shrunk to the size of a top head - I can only see it cause it looks slightly pink. Fish still eating well and swimming well and seems to be normal.