The Puffer Forum

Well, he didn't make it ran out for a couple of hours and when I came home he was at the bottom of the tank, lifeless. When I picked him up tail end first, some crushed coral spilled out of his mouth. I really hoped he would recover, and this morning he was more active that the previous few days. Ve...

Well, it seems the Epsom salt is working. Hopefully, more poo to come! Why are you still offering him krill, when this is probably the source of the problem? At this point of his hunger, it would be a good idea to offer him other foods. Did you read those articles on feeding? I'm offering him Krill...

Well my puffer defecated last night. I was feeding the other fish, and tried to give him some krill, he half heartedly nibbled on a piece when I put it close to his mouth with a feeding stick then he blew away. Two minutes later he defecated, a very white watery poop, almost like white out, it wasn'...

Well then, I don't understand why your pH is so low. What salt are you using? What test kit? Try testing again. The PH was verified with my test kit and the LFS test kit, my guess is that it's caused by my use of straight tap water for water changes the last three months. (I know :( ) We moved into...

Pufferpunk wrote:With CC, you should need no buffers. It should slowly dissolve, buffering the water. Is this a FOWLR?

it's a FOWLR

Yeah, I'll betcha it's constipated, from all that krill. After his giant poo, this would be an excellent time to start introducing new foods to him. He'll be nice & hungry! Also, what about your substrate? What are you using? Why is the pH so low? substrate is crushed coral PH is low because I ...

Pufferpunk wrote:How long have you had him? I don't think it's IPs. He'd be really skinny, even after eating a lot the day before. Give the salt a day or so to work.

I've had him for nearly 2 yrs

he looks bloated

The Epsom has been added, how long before I can expect to see any progress?

and at what point should I treat for an internal parasite?


I really don't want to loose this guy

This is more of a soak than a dip. I believe it should be safe for all the other inhabitants & LR. How big is the puffer? Adding it to a small uncycled tank, may do it more harm that good. I'd still read the feeding articles on our Library. No need to panic just yet. Your puffer can go quite so...

Would it be better if I put him in a 10 gallon tank, and dose him there?

The 10G is empty, but I have a spare light, heater, and air pump

No reason to QT. Add 1 tbsp Epsom salt/5g. Look out for a might big poop! I am just going to continue to post here for this, so I don't have to post 2x, for every response, OK? So I add the Epsom in main tank? should I be concerned about my other fish, LR, etc? luckily I have a couple of fresh bags...

Constipation lasts until the impacted fish either clears its bowels or dies. Since your fish is not dead, it's up to you to get him to clear his bowles before he is. I'd try the epsom at this point, if he will eat nothing. Can he swim normally? he swims fine, though he tends to stay at the bottomo ...

Perhaps he is constipated - try feeding him a cooked skinless pea, if you can get him to take it. If not, you can quarentine him and use an epsom salt treatment, which may be effective, a tablespoon or two per gallon is the dose if I remember. I can't get him to eat anything or even attempt to eat....

I'm beginning to get desperate here. I've posted on reefcentral, but figured posting here might also be helpful. My spiny box has not eaten in about 9-10 days. my water tests, (I even had the local fish store verify). Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: <20 pH : 7.0 (I know it's low, I hadn't tested this...