I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 4:16 pm
Hey guys,
I went out yesterday and visited 4 stores across my state. I was looking for a lot of fish/items, and one of those things was a small (less than 3") dog face. I wanted a small one so I could comfortably QT it in one of my 10 gallons.
On my second stop, I saw one that looked pretty rough. A few ich spots (10-12 spots total, not bad), a strange-looking mouth, drab and gray coloration, and a very "sad" demeanor. He just looked miserable. He's about 6", so much bigger than I wanted. I asked to see him eat, and he did. I ended up taking him home - kind of an impulse buy, I know. Not good. I won't be going back to that store again - they've had sick fish and complaints lodged against them before, but it's usually been pretty minor stuff. Lots of sick fish and extremely nasty tanks yesterday, though.
So here I am. I've got him in his 10 gallon QT, and am lowering him into hypo for ich treatment. I also treated him with metroplex, as I'm sure he's got worms. My main questions are the following:
1) His mouth looks pretty funky. I can see his beak, but just his "canines", if that makes sense. He seems to have issues with food, too. He just sucks it into his mouth, takes a tiny bite, and repeats. Think maybe someone's trimmed his beak too short? Maybe recently, and that's why he's keeping his mouth open? I can post a pic, but it'll be later tonight.
2) Is hypo the best way to treat ich with puffers? I know that most of them are sensitive to copper, so I'm reluctant to use my Copper Power, especially when it's such a minor infection. I do have concerns with doing hypo in such a small tank - evaporation is gonna be tough. I'm currently doing hypo in my 55 FOWLR, but I'm already a few days into the 30 required. It'd reset the clock, and introduce any other diseases he may have. I'm not necessarily against that, but I want to know if you guys think the risk may be worth it.
3) He'll be going into a 180, filled with mostly peaceful fish. Can anyone give me tips on success?
Thanks for any help.
I went out yesterday and visited 4 stores across my state. I was looking for a lot of fish/items, and one of those things was a small (less than 3") dog face. I wanted a small one so I could comfortably QT it in one of my 10 gallons.
On my second stop, I saw one that looked pretty rough. A few ich spots (10-12 spots total, not bad), a strange-looking mouth, drab and gray coloration, and a very "sad" demeanor. He just looked miserable. He's about 6", so much bigger than I wanted. I asked to see him eat, and he did. I ended up taking him home - kind of an impulse buy, I know. Not good. I won't be going back to that store again - they've had sick fish and complaints lodged against them before, but it's usually been pretty minor stuff. Lots of sick fish and extremely nasty tanks yesterday, though.
So here I am. I've got him in his 10 gallon QT, and am lowering him into hypo for ich treatment. I also treated him with metroplex, as I'm sure he's got worms. My main questions are the following:
1) His mouth looks pretty funky. I can see his beak, but just his "canines", if that makes sense. He seems to have issues with food, too. He just sucks it into his mouth, takes a tiny bite, and repeats. Think maybe someone's trimmed his beak too short? Maybe recently, and that's why he's keeping his mouth open? I can post a pic, but it'll be later tonight.
2) Is hypo the best way to treat ich with puffers? I know that most of them are sensitive to copper, so I'm reluctant to use my Copper Power, especially when it's such a minor infection. I do have concerns with doing hypo in such a small tank - evaporation is gonna be tough. I'm currently doing hypo in my 55 FOWLR, but I'm already a few days into the 30 required. It'd reset the clock, and introduce any other diseases he may have. I'm not necessarily against that, but I want to know if you guys think the risk may be worth it.
3) He'll be going into a 180, filled with mostly peaceful fish. Can anyone give me tips on success?
Thanks for any help.