Puffer Fish??!!!!!!!!!!!

[popothemailman]

Hi i have had my porcupine pufferfish for about 3 weeks. Recently he has white dots on his body and fins, i thought it might be ich but he doesn't rub himself against anything he just "lays down" on a rock. He is usually perky and enjoys when people are around the tank(likes to follow fingers) but he seems lazy now. his color is brown but when he lays down he is very pale, until i tap on the glass, he then follows my finger and he gains his color back.

Any ideas? if it is a disease how do i cure him.

hes the pride and joy of the tank, even though we have a majestic angel...thats how perky and fun he is

thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

never seen a puffer scratch them selves ! id try to keep your water quality as high as you can and watch him !

 

[popothemailman]

water is perfect, and has been. we got 4 new fish about 5 days ago

 

[scuba_steve]

thats allot of fish to add that fast to any tank! puffer can shake of ich better than most fish imo but ya might have allot of issues with the others

 

[electrikat]

We just got rid of our porc puffer but he recently had ich. He never scratched, was covered in ich and even his eyes turned white instead of blue. We used coppersafe on him and he completely healed up and was in excellent health when we got rid of him. That's the first case of ich that I've ever seen reversed and fish lived. They must be very hardy fish and they are big on personality. Good luck with yours. I didn't hear you mention quarantining the 4 new fish 5 days ago.

 

[seaham358]

My guess would be Ich... from what I have read the PP are ich magnets.

 

[popothemailman]

some on my other fish are starting to get it too, what should i do? what is the best ich treatment since i have live rock?

thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

the only treatment with lr is to pull the fish :-(

 

[ellisz]

I have always heard that porcupine puffers were prone to ich and they should not be treated with copper based meds. It can burn them.

That said, I have had a few puffers over the years and none ever had ich.

 

[scuba_steve]

ditto mainly sand stusk to them which i thought was ich

 

[popothemailman]

I put the 3 fish infected, the puffer, a majentic angel, and a fairy wrasse(the corprate) in a 10gal qt tank. I bought some ich treatment that the lfs recommended. It says not to combine with other chemicals. I put some stress coat in. will it still be ok to add the ich medicine. Also the majentic ange has an open wound. I have some MelaFix, but should i first treat the fish with the ich medicine the keep the angel in the qt tank and add melafix to repair him?

thanks

 

[scuba_steve]

keep the water quality high and he should heal up ok !

 

[popothemailman]

I just set up the qt tank today... I put in substrate and water from my main tank, and on the little freshwater hangover filter i put in 3 bioballs and a pad from my main tanks wet dry. everything fit fine and im hoping the bacteria will be ok...

my question is when i do the 25% water changes should i add new made water or water from the main tank? the water in the main tank is perfect

 

[scuba_steve]

use fresh water but i like dripping my water ! feel its safer and easier on the fish ! and i dont have to worry about it being perfect ! use a airline and a bucket ! keep a powerhead running to keep things moving

even though your water in the main is good it will degrade faster than new water will

 

[popothemailman]

i woke up today and all my fish are laying on the ground!!! is it lack of bio? im going to do water tests and post them

 

[popothemailman]

my puffer has cloudy white eyes... the wrasse seems to be doing better, and as soon as i put a heater in there(was 72) and lights...

ammonia - .24
nitrite - .3
nitrate 10
ph 7.9

OUCH what happend?

please help my fish are not looking good, should i just put them in the main tank and treat them from there?

 

[theatrus]

You need to do some water changes to bring the ammonia and nitrite down.

 

[scuba_steve]

if they are way stressed i would out back into the main and hope for the best alot of fish in a small qt can cause more issues than its worth

 

[seaham358]

You had them in a QT with no heater???? A big temp drop is no good either...
When you used dirty water from the tank you may have brought over the high nitrates.. I would do some small water changes with clean new water and make sure the water is heated up to temp. I would also put in a couple PVC fittings to give them something to hide in. If you have LR in the main tank using certain meds will hurt it.. Not sure what you have for a set up.