Porcupine Puffer Belly

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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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Garch0mp
Puffer Fry
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 7:22 pm
Location (country): United States

Porcupine Puffer Belly

Post by Garch0mp »

Hello!

I wanted to ask why porcupine puffer's belly has split discoloration! One side is white with the other often being an orange-y color.

He also was recently bitten by my snowflake eel that I gave back to my LFS a few days ago; now my porc has tiny white marks by his eye and lip (I'm assuming from the bites).

I had completed a tank transfer a few days ago and now it seems my tank is recycling (not fun). So all my water parameters are out of wack (I keep the salinity a bit higher than usual to reduce the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite). Thankfully I put more live rock in my aquarium (helps add more good bacteria)!

Behaviorally he's nearly himself. Still always greets me and is a complete hog, but I did notice he doesn't explore as much as he usually does.
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Pufferpunk
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Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
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suvattii
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T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
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Re: Porcupine Puffer Belly

Post by Pufferpunk »

Can you post a good pic?
Do a large WC & add Bio-Spira cycling product.
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!"
Garch0mp
Puffer Fry
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 7:22 pm
Location (country): United States

Re: Porcupine Puffer Belly

Post by Garch0mp »

It's really difficult to so I don't think I can but I'll try to in the morning.His belly seems to be often that way but not always. I'll probably add some bacteria starter product as well, but those bottles are expensive. :)
Garch0mp
Puffer Fry
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 7:22 pm
Location (country): United States

Re: Porcupine Puffer Belly

Post by Garch0mp »

Alright, sorry for the very late response! It's very hard to get a good picture of the color difference on his belly, but I can say, it's white on one side and then a darker shade of yellow on the other side. Really weird! Also sometimes I notice little white marks on his face, which I assume could be from him trying to squeeze through crevices to get bits of his food.

Also, he seems bored oftentimes, pacing up and down or resting in his usual spot. I was thinking of getting some macroalgae for not just for his play and stimulation but for water quality. What do you think? :)
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: Porcupine Puffer Belly

Post by Pufferpunk »

How large is his tank? Can you post a shot? How much live rock is in there?
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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