Think my Puffer is dead :(

[PChucky]

I've had my Dogface Puffer Chucky for about 7 years now and am not sure how old he was before that as he hasn't grown since I originally got him with my tank. I've seen him unwell before, like when I went on vacation one winter and stupidly turned off the power strip to my computer w/o realizing the tank heater was also plugged into it. When I came back a week later he wasn't moving and his eyes were totally milky white. Thankfully a couple days later Chucky's vision was recovered and he was back to his old self.

I glanced at my tank last night though and instantly knew Chucky was dead. I've never seen his eyes look anything like that before. The color of his eyes had changed. The irises were totally white and seemed reflective. The pupil looked dilated, and their lack of movement was as profound as an ocean without waves. His body color was also uniformly dark. Usually when Chucky sleeps his body darkens to the color of his spots, but when he wakes up his skin lightens up to its normal light grey / yellow with black spots. Now it was just dark and seemed darker than when he sleeps too. Also he was laying in his usual resting spot but his mouth looked stuck open.

I hoped I was wrong though and while netting him it seemed like he might be subtly moving, but I suspect it was just water current. Anyway I grabbed him and held him right in the current so the water would flow through his gills like you do when doing catch and release fishing before you finally let the fish go. I thought I felt subtle twitching in his body, but when I let him go he pretty much sank to the bottom like a stone. I feared the subtle movements I felt in his body were worms.

I turned the light to the tank out and decided I'd hope for the best and take a look in the morning. This morning his color has returned to normal, but he's in the exact same spot in the same position as last night and there's zero eye movement. Also the skin around one eye and his dorsal fin is jet white. I netted him and put him in a quarantine tank which I should have done last night. His body is very floppy. Not at all stiff like I was expecting it to be.

A couple weeks ago I looked at Chucky and all of a sudden he looked super skinny. His body seemed emaciated like a 100 year old man's where the bones are the same size as when he was 30 so the flesh has to stretch just to cover it. This seemed to happen all of a sudden though. Chucky's always been kept fairly thin but nothing like this. I decided to keep his night feedings the same, but add a smaller breakfast or midday feeding. He didn't seem to put any any weight since then, but always enjoyed the extra feeding as only puffers can...

4 days ago I gave him the last of the clams which were in my freezer since having fished them out of Lake Mead a few months ago. On the 4th of July the grocery store had some beautiful Sockeye salmon which I got for myself. They also had some Keta Salmon on sale for very cheap (as it should be being also known as Chum Salmon). Chucky loves everything though so I bought their smallest Chum filet for Chucky. That night I butchered his piece up and divided it in baggies for my freezer. He got a few scraps and loved it as always begging for more. The next day he didn't rise to greet me when I entered the room so I figured he must be feeling lazy or maybe full from last night so I let him be. That night I defrosted a new piece of salmon for his dinner but when I dropped it in the tank I realized he wasn't even near me and didn't seem to be paying attention. This was odd as I can usually count on Chucky being pressed up against the glass on the part of the tank closest to me as if he were furiously trying to break through the glass so he could make a finally meal out of me... I waved at Chucky a couple of times, but his eyes seemed to not respond at all. I thought 'he seems blind', but was in a hurry and had to go out figuring he'd find it eventually. When I came back that night the piece of salmon was gone. Yesterday he seemed very lazy though. While feeding the other fish fish flakes he neither tried to bite my finger nor acquire the larger flakes for himself, preferring to sit on his rock. I saw him floating around with his friend Yellowy the Yellow Tang a couple times but very lazily letting Yellowy do 3/4 of the swimming and Chucky all the floating... Around 9pm though I look at my tank which is how second paragraph begins.

I wonder if the salmon killed Chucky. I'd never fed salmon to him before and had read it's fine but... I likely forgot to rinse the fish before cutting it up and feeding to Chucky. Could it have been doused in chlorine and this killed Chucky? Or maybe he had a bad case of worms I was unaware of and this did him in which is a sad thought. When your fish dies right after eating a food you've never given it before the food seems like the most likely suspect. His tankmate yellow tang and 2 damselfish are behaving and eating normally.

If you're still with me sorry for the long meandering post but I'm mostly just sad my fish is dead. Seven years is a long time to have a fish and Chucky had so much personality he was everyone's favorite, even allowing himself to be pet if adequately distracted by food. Although I once had a small rectangular trigger fish which thought every piece of food was expressly for him. Sometimes he would grab a silverside meant for Chucky which the trigger had no hope of eating as it was 1.5x longer then the trigger. He would grab it and hold it in his mouth like a dog with a bone swimming around the tank with Chucky following and eventually getting his prize. In life Chucky's eyes were always so expressive; googly, but always curious. I was surprised they were able to instantly and so fully communicate the message of its end.

Goodbye Chucky.

[bertie 83]

Sorry for your loss

[DMD123]

So sorry for your loss.

[Pufferpunk]

What a sad story! You say you think the puffer's dead? I can usually tell from total lack of gill movement. Have you removed him from the tank & disposed of his body or is he still in the water? If he is indeed dead & you suspect IPs, I highly suggest a necropsy.

[sgtmyers88]

+1 to what Pufferpunk said. Sorry for your loss.

[PChucky]

Thanks for you kind words. When I started the post I was hoping someone might say 'wait wait I've seen this before he might just be hibernating you should do this xxx and give him time.' By the end of the post I knew he was gone.

[Stratters]

I'm so sorry