A big spot on my puffer (and it's not a spotted puffer!)

[jassz]

Hi,
I came home today to find this white spot on Olivander's nose (he's my Valentini puffer). It doesn't look like ick. It is a little bit raised right in the center. I wonder if he injured it, or maybe got poked by the lion fish? Or the anemone? He seems fine, not overly scared (of the lion fish or anything else and he has an appetite.

I have a 135g SW tank with a 40 gallon sump, protein skimmer etc. It is a FOWLR tank with a lion fish, a wolf eel, a picasso trigger and little Olivander. The pH is 8.2, SG 1.023, temp 82.2 and neg for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

[blueyota]

Hey there this is just my opinion but it looks like an anemone sting to me ..my red lip blennie used to get stung all the time till i moved the anemone to another tank .. I think my blennie did it for fun as he would hang out just out of reach of the anemone

[jassz]

Thanks for the opinion. How long did it take for the spot to heal?

I'm feeling kind of bad now, because I have this type of anemone that I guess it like a weed, but I kind of liked it (hey dandelions are pretty too when they're not on your lawn ) so I left them be. Some of them have gotten quite huge.

Which leads me to another question... I'm still not clear on 'what' type of growth is considered good and what isnt. You see the red growth on the gravel in the picture? Is that considered 'live' now? Is it the type of growth you want? Again, I think it's rather pretty, but then I read about 'the terrible red algae' and I wonder if that's what I've got. Same with the algae.... I have all this long algae growing on the back wall, kind of like the coat on a golden retriever (or maybe not golden) and it sways so gracefully in the current. But is it a bad thing???

Sorry if these are stupid questions!

[hillegom]

As far as the algae on the back wall goes, I would try to suck it up when you do water changes. That algae is taking out nitrates and phosphates from the water when it grows, so when you get rid of it, its nutrient export. A good thing. You are lucky that it does not grow on the LR.

[blueyota]

the sting would take 2-3 days to heal up

[jassz]

I don't get it... if the algae takes nitrate and phosphate out of the water, shouldn't I leave it? That's a good thing, isn't it?

Just this week I have started to see a bit on the rocks too. I've had some issues with 'bald rocks' on one side of the tank, so I thought it might be a good thing, but I don't actually like the look of it there. And it's spreading so fast. I had some trouble with ick some time back (and no luck quarantining) so I treated the whole tank. I was told nothing would grow again, but it's not entirely true. I do get growth on one side of the tank, like the red stuff you can see in the first picture as well as some green. It seems to grow and die a lot, but there's always some there. But the other side of the tank... not so much. Do you think it would help to change the rocks?

What about the anemone? It's not that clear, but here is a picture of one of hte big ones. Is it a bad thing?? For the fish I mean?

[hillegom]

Originally Posted by jassz

I don't get it... if the algae takes nitrate and phosphate out of the water, shouldn't I leave it? That's a good thing, isn't it?

Yes it is a good thing. But if the algae dies, it will just release all the nutrients it absorbed . Best to take it out and let new algae grow.
A lot of people put chaeto in their sump, and harvest that, for the same reason.

The anemone looks suspiciously like a majano pest anemone. But not 100% sure