HELP!!

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

My spotted puffer is turning black/brown on his under belly and he has white flaps hanging over his eyes. What could this be??? His Figure 8 buddy died last week. Could he be depressed and dying as a result??!! What is happening to him and why is he sick?! What can I do? Non of the other fish in the tank look sick. Please help!

 

[wetwetwet]

Whats the water quality like?? maintenence schedule etc..

Do you use salt?

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Not sure of exact water quality at the moment cause Im broke and outta testing equip. But last I checked everything was all good. Like I said, other fish are fine. I dont use salt cause he was in a freshwater tank at the PS and has been doing fine without salt so far, just been sick the last few days. Im about to put him into a sick tank and treat him with Marcel Coppersafe cause thats what a Puffer website I went to seemed to use the most for sick puffers. I cant find any diseases that look like/have symptoms that he has. Should I put a little salt in it with him to see if that helps too? Also tank is a little over due for a clean ) , but I was just about to do it when I thought Id get on here and see if anyone wrote me back.

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Ok, I got him in the hospital tank, and I didnt wait for any reply on the treatment, so I went ahead and put a little bit of aquarium salt in there with him anyway. The box said it promotes healing in sick fish, so I put a little in there. I tried feeding him wax-worm guts (in case you havent heard of me doing this for my fish, I pull the guts outta the worms skin) and he ate it right away. Hes also picking at a shrimp pellet I threw in there. He seems ok, just looks really bad! He now, upon closer inspection, seems to have a bubble over his left eye with white stuff hanging off it, and theres one white thingy on top of his head now too. He underbelly is blotched with huge spots of the discorloration and his tummy isnt bulging out like normal. Anyone have any idea whats wrong with him yet?? O, I also put some stress coat & coppersafe in the tank with him. Should I buy a little plant to give him some cover in there? Its about a 1 gal. tank. Anything at this point would be appreciated!

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Ok, so I put him in there about an hour and a half ago, right? His tummy is already losing the splotches! Think the splotches could have been strees related? Maybe something in the tank could be bugging him? Or maybe the salt is helping him? Still has the sickly look about him tho...

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

OMG!!! I just watched him throw-up! Can fish even do that? I had no idea! What do I do? What the heck is wrong with my baby?!

 

[Elisabeth]

Sorry to hear about your sick fish . I'm afraid I know nothing about puffer fish so I can't help but I thought if I posted, it would bump you back up to the top and then you might get more replies.
Good luck

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Lol! Thanks Elisabeth!

 

[CFC]

Some fish do regurgitate foods that they cant digest but its normally something i would expect from predatory fish which expel fats this way(i have to net puke from my shovelnose cat and snakehead at least once a week )

Im not 100% sure but dwarf puffers are brackish fish (i think),this would explain why he has perked up a little when you added salt to the tank,i would suggest slowly adding more salt to the tank over the next few days until you have about one table spoon per gallon in the tank and if he gets better keep him in this solution.

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Well. Heres the dealy-o on my puffer as of today. He still is looking a little sick, but all the brown splotches are gone. He looks like his white thingys are getting worse tho. I havent seen him eat since the puking incident, so I dont know if hes getting anything down.
I went to my lfs and talked to the owner. He recommended I treat my puffer with Coppersafe type stuff. I couldnt afford the line of products he carried, so I went to PetCo and bought "Cu:Copper Mini Lab Test Kit" by Red Sea. The kit has a Cu test and copper treatment in it. Has anyone ever used or heard of this? The guy also told me that since Im treating him in such a small tank (1.5 gal) and no real filtration system going thru it, I need to do daily H2O changes, which I have been doing.
When we first bought him, we were told he was acclimated to freshwater. I kno this is a difficult and not reccomended thing to do, but since he was acclimated and now Im acclimating him back to salt, what should I do with him when Im done with treatments? Should I buy a seperate tank and start up a brackish community? Or should I try to acclimate him back to fresh? The latter is the most attractive option for me since buying myself another tank is near impossible with my current funds.
Any type of input on any of this post would be helpful. Please dont just get on here and say "IMO You shouldnt have that fish in the first place... yadda yadda yadda" Cause thats not helpful to me. I kno we made a hastey decision falling in love with his cute puffer eyes and fluke-like tail and his flighty little fins... I want to make this fish work and live, and I want help from my fellow posters!

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Just another quick update, the blotches are back, but not as bad. (Weren't they just gone half hour ago?) Could they be from stress? Or what is causing them to flare up, go away, flare up, etc...?

 

[cichlidmaster]

C4F,

I am sorry, but I have no experiance with puffers or brackish fish!! I did not want you to think your posts were going unnoticed though!!

I could venture a guess with some of the symptoms you describe it may be an intestinal ifection.

The sunken bellie is usually a sign of intestinal disorders. You may want to tery maracyn2 or tetracycline by Mardel.

Wish I could advise more!!

CM

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

"Thanks for notic'n me"~Eyore Thanks CM! I'll ask the guy at my LFS (since no one on here seems to kno much) about the Maracyn2 & Tetracyclene. He doesnt seem too to helpful either tho! BTW: His belly isnt so sunken, just not fat like hes not eating well, does that make sense?

 

[CFC]

My advise of what to do with your puffer when hes better would be to go with the brackish community,forcing a fish to live in freshwater when they should be brackish does them no good at all,ive tried it my self before with some juvenile archerfish but in the end i had to return them,they are still in the fs in their brackish section and seem a lot happier (its just a shame no one has bought them but not many people keep brackish).

If you do go with the brackish set up your only real problem will be a source of good info,like i said very few people keep brackish fish and even fewer fs stock them (except in their fw juvenile forms) i toyed with the idea of keeping a brackish tank myself but between the mrs putting her foot down about not having another tank and the lack of info available ive had to put it on hold for the time being.

 

[CraZ4fiSHieS]

Well, my puffer has gotten worse. I dont know what to do anymore. I have been doning daily water changes, keeping up with the copper treatments and adding salt to make the H2o brackish. He now has a white dot in the middle of his eye, and the flakey white stuff has spread over his entire left side of his face and down onto his stomach. His underbelly is even darker than before and his spots (on his back) are losing and hints of brightness, he looks all dark and moldy. Is there any last chance effort I can make? Or is my little puffer doomed?
He is also not eating anymore.