Figure 8 puffed

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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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TYoung8
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:05 pm
Location (country): Illinois, USA

Figure 8 puffed

Post by TYoung8 »

I have a figure 8 puffer that I got yesterday. It’s about an inch and a half. I mixed up a small amount of marine salt in a bit of water and dumped it in his tank to start getting the water to brackish. I guess the cloud of salty water dispersing in the tank spooked him and he puffed. How long is it normal for them to stay puffed? It’s been over 45 minutes. :?
Thanks for your help!

Btw, he was at the bottom of the tank so definitely not puffed with air.
TYoung8
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:05 pm
Location (country): Illinois, USA

Re: Figure 8 puffed

Post by TYoung8 »

Update: he has deflated now and behaving normally again. Yay!
Lasted about an hour.
I turned the lights off and tried to leave him alone to calm down.
Is it normal for them to stay puffed for so long? Can they partially inflate themselves?
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