I have a porcupine puffer who has ich (He also has one really cloudy eye, is that something that would happen because of ich or is that something else?) and I am working on treating him in a quarantine tank with hyposalinity and I was wondering if it is okay to treat him with copper in the same tank? I'm not even sure if I am doing the quarantine tank right, I read the section in the library and other things so I kind of had to collaborate all the ideas together. Also, the salinity of the quarantine tank is at 1.011, is that about right? He is looking real bad, so I'm getting concerned, so if any one has any answers asap that would be awesome.
Also, I've read everywhere that you have to leave the tank fallow for 8 weeks and all that, but none of my other fish appear to have ich. I mean...it could be in a different stage or something so should they all be removed into the quarantine tank anyway? I've got a damsel, butterfly fish, panther grouper, and then the porcupine puffer.
Okay, thank you!
oh and another thing, what kind of things should I feed my puffer to help his immune system? And do I need to have anything else in the Qtank besides a filter and heater?
Sick puffer. :( Help??
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
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.
Read this before posting!!
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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Pufferpunk
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
Hypo needs to be 1.009. ALL the fish are at the minimum carriers & need to be treated in hypo & the main tank should remain void of fish for 8 weeks. The cloudy eye may be a result of the parasite, attacking it. Several threads going on right now on this subject.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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danceto_theradio
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
Okay well that helps. I've read a whole bunch of the other postings but they haven't answered all my questions. Like, can I do the copper treatment and hyposalinity at the same time? Also, I just need to know if I need to have anything else besides the filter and heater in the Qtank? He is in the qtank right now and he has just been sitting in the corner of the tank for over an hour now, it's really sad..
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Nick
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
I recently read that someone did a few tests and found that flubendiazole very aggressively kills velvet, due to it's anti protozoan qualities. Isn't SW ich a protozoan?
No matter how magnificent your successes or devastating your failures, the worlds' approximately 5 billion impoverished people could not possibly care less.
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yunachin
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
I wouldn't do copper treatment as it has adverse affect on pufferfish. They are very sensitive to it and it can cause more harm then good.
E.Ridgeway
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
Only use copper as a very last resort. Try the method written up in our Library 1st.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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danceto_theradio
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
Okay, I'm glad I asked, I didn't think it would be a good idea. So if I have to turn to using copper what kind of side effects should I be concerned about? Do they only occur because of overdosing? Also, Blimpy (my puffer), now that he is in the Qtank, has basically been in the same spot on the bottom of the tank the whole time. He's still breathing and he even eats but he just doesn't move. Is this to be expected when they have ich and are being quarantined? Normally he's all energetic and comes to see me when I'm near the tank, but not now...
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Pufferpunk
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T miurus
A modestus
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C valentini
C coranata
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C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
General side affect I've heard of is the puffer's skin peeling off it's body from copper overdose/maltreatment.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
danceto_theradio
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
Is it possible that he may have ich and velvet? I'm not exactly sure what velvet is...but he has this strange stuff on his body....and he still remains in the same spot of the fish tank.
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danceto_theradio
- Puffer Fry
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Re: Sick puffer. :( Help??
OKay, well nevermind everybody, I just went back to look at him after a half an hour, and he's not breathing anymore. 
Funeral for my dead Blimpy...
Funeral for my dead Blimpy...