The Puffer Forum

Hey everyone. I have two figure eight puffers in a 20 gallon tank, and one of them has something over his eye, like a cloudy film. Seems like he's trying to scratch it off on things in the tank. Both of them are just getting over a bout of ich, which they've had for a week and a half or so. I've been treating the ich by keeping the water temperature at 85 F. I've also been very slowly transitioning to brackish water (at 1.001 or so now). They are almost all better, they only have a couple spots on their fins now.

It looks exactly like this: https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/t ... ye.171281/

They say in that post to try melafix. Anybody else can vouch for this medicine? Should I take the one puffer out and put him in a hospital tank to treat him, or just dose the whole tank with melafix?


WATER PARAMETERS
Nitrates: 0
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
pH: 8.0-8.1
SG: ~1.001

INHABITANTS
20 gal tank
2 figure eight puffers
3 otocinclus
Lots of plants and driftwood

Welcome!
You cannot treat ich with heat, it only makes things worse. Ich is a gill parasite so when you raise the temp it makes breathing even more difficult for your fish. When you see the spots on their body, it means the gills are saturated.
Treat with Ich-X & start making the tank brackish. Your otos will not appreciate any salt at all.
Also, your tank is overstocked. 2 F8s need 25-30g.

How exactly was your tank cycled? A cycled tank will show no ammonia & some nitrate.

The ich appears to be almost better, and most sources I found online suggested raising heat with plenty of oxidation. It seems to have worked. I'm not really asking about the ich, though I appreciate your suggestions, I'm more worried about the cloudy eye.

The tank has been established for years, previously used with guppies. I'm not sure why there are small amounts of ammonia. I understand how a tank cycles and that seemed a little odd to me as well, though with such low levels it doesn't seem like an issue. Tomorrow i will check my kit calibration, maybe it's reading a little weird...

Thanks for the reply.

The cloudy eye got worse today. I'm thinking I'm going to pull him out into a hospital tank and dose with melafix. Hopefully someone can confirm soon but if no one replies that's what I'll do.

I have had good results by adding a drop of Melafix directly to the eye. Cloudy eye is usually due to poor water conditions. You can also dose the entire tank with Melafix.

Okay, dosing the tank sounds good. I think I'll do a 25% water change with dosed RO water tonight, then if he doesn't show improvement by tomorrow morning I'll try to put a drop in his eye directly. Thank you!

Side note, i checked my tap water for ammonia as a calibration check, and it read exactly the same as my tank. I guess the kit isn't reading perfectly? I just bought it a few months ago, so that would be disappointing... Thanks again

What is your normal WC schedule? Add Tetra Safestart to your filter after WC, to get that tank cycled. I would also start making that tank BW, to remineralize the RO water & help boost the puffer's immune system.

Since they've had ich I've been doing 5 gal changes every 2-3 days, so like 4 over the last week and a half. Before ich, i did them every other week or so.

I always thought that tank cycling was like a one time thing. Once the bacteria have colonized the filter, is there any reason that they would die? Again, this tank has been established for over a year.

Yes, a cycle can crash. 0 nitrate is not good.

His eye is looking better! I'm getting quick start today. Thank you for your help.

YAY!