puffer surgery success!

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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hadla
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by hadla »

That is so cool that you were able to help! I don't know of any vet who would take care of fish...
Never trust big puffers. The fingers you save may be your own. -RTR
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casc
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by casc »

Juke is eating normally and back to begging constantly. I got really lucky, the vet is 1 mile from my house. He had never operated on a fish before but he is an aquarium owner so he has knowledge about fish. He is also a talented surgeon.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by Pufferpunk »

I bet he gets a puffer now!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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eieio
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by eieio »

casc wrote:Juke is eating normally and back to begging constantly.
how about some nice chicken soup for the little guy? :D
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
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casc
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~Non puff tank:
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~GF tanks:
90G freshwater w/ fancy goldfish
90G freshwater w/ oscar
Location (country): USA, Vermont

Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by casc »

I wouldn't be surprised, everyone at the vet loved him. Big fish, big personality! And I'm sure he would eat chicken noodle soup but I gave him snails as a get better gift and he was extremely happy.
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sgtmyers88
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by sgtmyers88 »

Awesome
WARNING: Puffers are mischievous little blimps with enchanting powers. You may not be content with having just one.
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Arny
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by Arny »

Did they knock him out?
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lorteti
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by Pufferpunk »

Yes, they'd have to, used Finquel, MS-222.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by Stratters »

This is amazing
Never trust big puffers. The fingers you save may be your own. RTR
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casc
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~Non puff tank:
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~GF tanks:
90G freshwater w/ fancy goldfish
90G freshwater w/ oscar
Location (country): USA, Vermont

Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by casc »

Yeah they knocked him out. I got to pick him up and put him on the table. Then we drenched him with medicated water to keep him under on the table. There was a few times he started to move his tail fin. He had anesthesia squirted into his gills continuously. It was all very cool but scary at the same time. When the doc finished stitching him up and placed him in the clean water, he started to wiggle his fins it was such a happy moment. He's a strong guy!
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by RTR »

Let's hope that the vet reports on the proceedure into the vet practice press. We need to get specialized fish into the veterinary practice ken.
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adamsmx34
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by adamsmx34 »

How is the Juke doing? Glad to see the surgery went well! Whenever you find out what it was he had please share. I'm intrigued by the whole thing!
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casc
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My Puffers: "Juke" porcupine puffer 150G FOWLR
10G Aqua scape tank with Dwarf Puffer
~Non puff tank:
30G reef tank with Hawaiian Dwarf Peacock Lionfish
~GF tanks:
90G freshwater w/ fancy goldfish
90G freshwater w/ oscar
Location (country): USA, Vermont

Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by casc »

Juke is doing well. No sign of infection. His stitches came out but the vet said that would probably happen. It will continue to heal open. It looks good though, starting to grow new skin and close up. He is more active than ever, seems like he's feelin good. My vet didn't charge me for the surgery. The only thing I paid for was the tumor getting sent out to be tested, under $100. And I did get the results back. Dr Tony said it wasn't cancer, it was neurological. He said it was probably causing him pain. It also can grow back though he thinks he got it all. If it does he can try again to get it all out or it may not come back at all. We have to wait and see.
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adamsmx34
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Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by adamsmx34 »

That is awesome glad to hear the little guy is doing good! That was extremely nice of the doctor! Hopefully he stays tumor free and healthier then ever!
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casc
Figure 8 Puffer
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My Puffers: "Juke" porcupine puffer 150G FOWLR
10G Aqua scape tank with Dwarf Puffer
~Non puff tank:
30G reef tank with Hawaiian Dwarf Peacock Lionfish
~GF tanks:
90G freshwater w/ fancy goldfish
90G freshwater w/ oscar
Location (country): USA, Vermont

Re: puffer surgery success!

Post by casc »

Thank you. Yeah it was very nice of the vet. They were excited about the whole thing and this is small town Vermont. Dr. Tony is a talented surgeon! He's also my dogs vet, my one of my girls broke a canine tooth that cost $500 to have removed. So I was excited and grateful to hear they did everything free of charge.
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