Puffers - Emergency

[lilacamy931]

I went and acutally found 2 female irrubescos today. Slowly acclimatised them but now realise they arent doing well.. why? Because upon ringing the store they were being kept in brackish conditions, didnt inform me and now I have two puffs having small spasm/hiccups and really unable to swim about. I also bought bumblebee gobies and they are all in the same tank but they came from the tropical section and uninformed of the conditions they were being kept in. The LFS after speaking on the phone about my concerns informed me and said I can exchange at least if they dont survive.

But what do I do?! I would have drip acclimatised them over a number of hours rather than a 40 minute fairly quick acclimatisation..unsure what to do for the poor babes. I only have tonic salts not marine. I do have their original now diluted water in a bucket still but unsure if this is going to help?

Any help peeps would be great..

Oh and as to the irrubescos and bumblebees being in the same tank, they were both going to be quarantineed together and then after checking the females for a week or two would have put with the males, glad I did now as at least I can track them easily and they arent being blown around by strong filters or pestered by male.s..

 

[nmonks]

Because upon ringing the store they were being kept in brackish conditions, didnt inform me and now I have two puffs having small spasm/hiccups and really unable to swim about.

Slightly brackish water is unlikely to cause these puffers any long-term problems. So be sensitive to the fact they might be poorly for other reasons. Indeed, I frequently recommend the use of brackish water for treating sick puffers, as does Klaus Ebert, author of the Aqualog pufferfish book.

I also bought bumblebee gobies and they are all in the same tank but they came from the tropical section and uninformed of the conditions they were being kept in.

BBGs are fine in freshwater. The problem is more about feeding them than water chemistry. In the wild they even live in blackwater habitats, alongside C. irrubesco as it happens!

But what do I do?! I would have drip acclimatised them over a number of hours rather than a 40 minute fairly quick acclimatisation..unsure what to do for the poor babes.

Would drip acclimate them myself, or at least across half an hour or so by putting the fish and their water into a bucket and then adding cups of water from the tank every 10 minutes or so.

Cheers, Neale

 

[lilacamy931]

Thanks for that Neale, should I acclimate them back to the original water and then take a slower approach as they are in the main tank now? Suspect there may be whitespot as well and uncertain how to treat, have various meds such as melafix and tonic salts..

Perhaps there isnt a lot that i can do for them

(edit: and thanks again Neale for replying so quick!) Typical I find them and it goes a bit wrong, fingers crossed they will make it, uploading pics to see if underlying problesm, they were in with a GSP.

 

[nmonks]

By all means keep all the puffers at SG 1.001 [1-2 grammes/litre] until the whitespot clears up. No need for medication.

Making small changes to salinity can be done by adding a brine solution across an hour or so. Let's say you need to add 2 g/l, and you have a 100 litre tank. Make up a brine solution of a pint of water with 100 x 2 g = 200 grammes of salt added. Dribble this into the tank, maybe 1/5th of the jug every 10 minutes.

Cheers, Neale

Thanks for that Neale, should I acclimate them back to the original water and then take a slower approach as they are in the main tank now? Suspect there may be whitespot as well and uncertain how to treat, have various meds such as melafix and tonic salts..

 

[lilacamy931]

Thank you so much xxx

Here is one of the poorly pups, have a video just going to see if it shows the spasms...

 

[nmonks]

One batch of mine came into the tank with slime disease, and looked pretty ropey. Treated as per whitespot and also gave them two saltwater dips for 20 minutes. Saltwater dips cleared up immediately after the dips, and the two puffers were fine within a week. These are very robust little pufferfish!

Cheers, Neale

 

[lilacamy931]

Oh slime disease! Thanks for that, as I did have thoughts about their slime coat and underbelly being pretty sticky looking.. I sure hope these are robust

One thing for salt dips am I able to use tonic salts or shall I run and get marine? Marine I always understood for brackish and marine water conditions and tonic as treatment (yep blondness coming out again I know )

Shall add some treatment to the tank and then salt dips xx

 

[nmonks]

Either for dips, tonic salt for adding to tanks. Marine salt mix raises pH, which is why it's not normally used as a medication, though if you already have hard, alkaline water it won't make much difference.

Cheers, Neale

One thing for salt dips am I able to use tonic salts or shall I run and get marine? Marine I always understood for brackish and marine water conditions and tonic as treatment (yep blondness coming out again I know )

 

[lilacamy931]

xxx
A quick vid
http/www.flickr.com/photos/27863297@N03/4527622941/

 

[nmonks]

I suspect the hiccuping one is merely stressed. Sometimes puffers swallow air when being removed from the water and it takes a while for them to empty themselves. Surprisingly perhaps the solution is to get them to puff up, underwater this time, and hold them tail downwards to the air comes out their mouth. That's only necessary if they're so full of air they can't stay underwater. In your case, I'd just switch off the lights, throw in some floating plants for extra shade, and wait until tomorrow. My guess is she'll be fine then.

Cheers, Neale

A quick vid
http/www.flickr.com/photos/27863297@N03/4527622941/

 

[lilacamy931]

Hello Neale thanks for that, we were pretty sure not to let me get a chance to gulp air so fingers crossed it was kept to a absolute minimum even in the store. I have allowed down time and fingers crossed for them both. Definately used the floating plants, thanks

 

[lilacamy931]

Just an update peeps. Both females seemingly have pulled through, eating live brineshrimp and bloodworm and coloured up fairly well. So we will fatten them up, get them cleared ready to introduce to the males.

Considering upgrading the tank to take irrubescos and SAPs thinking of a 60x24x15, what do you guys think? I currently have a 160+ litre, which would like to have 4 irrubescos, 3 SAPs and small shoal of fish but unsure of the sizing.

 

[DarkEntity]

Just an update peeps. Both females seemingly have pulled through, eating live brineshrimp and bloodworm and coloured up fairly well. So we will fatten them up, get them cleared ready to introduce to the males.

Considering upgrading the tank to take irrubescos and SAPs thinking of a 60x24x15, what do you guys think? I currently have a 160+ litre, which would like to have 4 irrubescos, 3 SAPs and small shoal of fish but unsure of the sizing.

ID give them a month or so to fully settle in, you dont want to add to the stress by adding more fish or moving them to a larger tank just now.