green spotted puffer fish sick

[robinssm]

He had ick about two Weeks ago and began acting normal again and now he is sick again. He seems to be having a hard time swimming around almost as If his body is too heavy. He also is getting a black belly again and different than before when he had ick now he isn't eating. I think he wants to but is too hard. Anyone have any idea what might be going on?

 

[GNarnian]

Well a number of things could be going on. Puffers are brackish water fish, meaning they need a salinity content to their water. Do you have it in freshwater?

Pet stores will sell this as a freshwater fish because when it is young they need freshwater. As they get older they need salt.

What are the water parameters in your tank, including the temperature?

 

[amanda_marie]

+1 to the questions above. GSPs should be in at least brackish when young, full marine is fine as well, and do best in full marine conditions as an adult.

What did you use to treat ich? Puffers are very sensitive being scaleless.

Could his teeth be overgrown? What is his diet like?

Are you just trying one food that he is refusing to eat? If so, maybe continue to try other foods and/or trying soaking in garlic as well. If there isn't anything else wrong he may just want something different.

 

[Loudog3114]

I am actually having the same issue. I dont see any ich, but he had a black belly when I picked him up from the LFS a few days ago. My local fish shop is a dump so I wanted to try and save him.

He just ate yesterday but today hes uninterested in anything I have put in there. (Krill, bloodworms)

 

[robinssm]

I keep the tank at 2 table spoons per 5 gallon of salt. I took a water sample to the pet store and water is fine. My temp is at 79. I've been giving him blood worms lately but his favorite treat is snails and I got him some yesterday and he attempted to go after one but gave up as if he was too weak and fell back to the bottom of the tank.

 

[GNarnian]

Define what "fine" means for water parameters?

 

[Loudog3114]

So, I just bumped the salinity of my temp tank for him up from .008ish to .024 and he perked right up. Before he was sitting on the bottom in a U, now he is swimming around. Still hasn't eaten, but his color is getting better so I am crossing my fingers.

 

[robinssm]

I don't know the exact numbers but everything is normal. I tried adding more salt and it didn't help. It almost sens like his body is too heavy or his head is too heavy...

 

[GNarnian]

Hmmm... does he look bloated? When was the last time he actually ate something?

 

[robinssm]

He is not bloated and its been 2 days since he's eaten something. Now he looks like he is too weak to move at all. I don't think he'll make thru the night if his progress continues this way and I have no clue what's even wrong or what to even do...

 

[GNarnian]

What size tank is it in?

A black belly means it is stressed, not eating is also a symptom of that.

If it has only been two days he's not starving, so that's not the problem. My next guess would be an internal parasite or bacterial infection. Are there any other outward bodily symptoms?

 

[robinssm]

Its a 10 gallon and no symptoms noticeable except a cloudy eye, now white, that he got during the time I was treating him for ick. I've been told that's just another sign of stress not an infection but I feel like if it has last almost two Weeks its got to be something fungal or bacterial but I don't know and the store doesn't think so...

 

[Sillyfishies]

Do you use marine salt? What salt do you use?

 

[robinssm]

I don't know what its called all I knower is the fish store gave it to me for him when I got him

 

[Sillyfishies]

I don't know what its called all I knower is the fish store gave it to me for him when I got him

If its aquarium salt for sick fish (which I've seen people use) is the wrong stuff! Get a refractometer and find out what the salinity is!

 

[robinssm]

No its the aquarium salt

 

[Sillyfishies]

No its the aquarium salt

Marine salt for saltwater

 

[robinssm]

I don't Knorr the exact kind but it is for a brackish tank

 

[GNarnian]

As far as i've read you can use melafix on brackish water, but you need to make sure to add extra aeration to the tank. I would buy some melafix and does for an infection. At this point all you can reasonably do is throw meds at it when nothing else seems off

 

[robinssm]

If it is a parasite would those meds help that?