Congo puffer home - problem!

[Bonsai_girl]

I went and collected my congo today. Acclimatised by drip for around 2 hours, tank parameters are as follows: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate <5, pH 7.6, KH 6, GH 6, temp at 24. He seems to have a slight amount of visible white spot, so I've added salt and will begin raising the tank temp tomorrow. Tank is a 30 US gal, integrated bio and mech filter, spray bar, 240v/50Hz powerhead etc. I've described the cycling in another thread today, but basically I tried out the Bactinettes we have here now, using the fishless cycling method and my parameters have been stable daily for just under a week.

Nothing else in the tank at all. Caves arriving tomorrow (delayed order). I've not attempted to feed him yet as I wanted him to settle.

At first he was happily swimming around and then buried himself where he stayed for hours. He's recently emerged from the sand, but both pectoral fins are clamped, breathing is shallow but seems laboured and he's caked in sand....as if it's stuck to him. He's resting on the surface of the sand.

The sand was thoroughly rinsed more times than I can remember before being added to the tank, but it's extremely fine sand. Of course I'm worrying about him as he's the first congo I've owned and none of them were in a great shape at the LFS - although I chose the one that seemed the fittest (good colour, no dark belly, intact tail etc). I know he's only just got here and I know he's gonna take a while to settle, but I've no idea how long he's had the ich for and I'm kinda worried about the breathing and sand sticking to his mucus.

Anything I should be worried about? Thanks.

Becs

[cobra1713]

well the just raise the temp is def the first step, if your sure he has ich, i have never treated ich with puffers so i would wait till someone with personal experiance can help. but make sure you do atleast a half dose if you decide to treat because they are scaless so they need to be treated like a pleco or loach.

[Bonsai_girl]

I've treated ich-infested puffs before, so I'll be raising the temp slowly starting tomorrow as it's 00:25 here now and I've already raised his temp slowly over the course of the evening

[cobra1713]

yea with my plecos and leach that had ich i found that temp was definitly the key! the med i used didnt seem to help much but as soon as i raised the temp up to 86 the ich just started falling off!

[Bonsai_girl]

It's the sand sticking to him and the breathing I'm most concerned about. Obviously the ich may be causing the breathing issues, but I've never seen photos of congos with sand seemingly glued to them

[cobra1713]

yea idk about the sand, just make sure to add extra air stones to the tank when you raise the temp cus the higher temp lowers the oxygen levels

[Nick]

Fine sand sticking to the slime coat is normal. Shakespeare's belly is always covered when he gets up from sleeping for the night or a rest on the bottom. His fins are most likely clamped because the ich cysts on the gills make him uncomfortable, and ich treatment should deal with that issue.

[Bonsai_girl]

Fine sand sticking to the slime coat is normal. Shakespeare's belly is always covered when he gets up from sleeping for the night or a rest on the bottom. His fins are most likely clamped because the ich cysts on the gills make him uncomfortable, and ich treatment should deal with that issue.

Thanks Nick I was quite surprised to see 'stuff' (strands of mucus covered in sand) hanging off him too - I'm guessing that's normal too then? He was kept with a gravel substrate at the LFS, so I didn't get to see anything like this when inspecting him.

Is it ok to treat him for IPs while treating for ich (bearing in mind I'm only treating the ich with temp/salt and no meds)?

Thanks again

[Nick]

No reason I can think of not to treat for IPs at the same time. What medication are you planning on using?

[Bonsai_girl]

I was planning on using Sera Med Tremazol. No external signs of IPs yet, so it's more a preventative, but he'll be lucky if he hasn't got them.

[Corvus]

I'd increase the oxygen concentration of the water if laboured breathing occurs.

Especially since the tank is rather new, oxygen can be on a low level. In additon, the White spot parasite affects the gills, and the salt and the high temperature needed for the treatment also reduce the oxygen content.

Strong surface current can increase oxygen (filter outlet directly under the surface and parallel to it, or a little deeper and pointing upwards). An airstone will increase oxygen, too.

[Bonsai_girl]

The filter is currently churning the water, but I think you're right in that there's not enough oxygen. I can go get an airstone or two, but I'm supposed to be receiving a parcel containing a number of mini filters with spray bars today - would they do the job as well as an airstone? I don't mind either way to be honest, I'm just thinking through options.

He's been sitting on the substrate surface so far today - he was very active in the lfs, so I'm hoping it's just related to the temperature

[Corvus]

The spray bar increases the water surface and movement, so, yes they should increase the oxygen content, too. The airstones also work by creating bubbles, which means additional water/air surface, more gaseous exchange and consequently more oxygen in the water. An airstone certainly won't hurt, plants are also very beneficial/stabilizing for new tanks if the puffer decides they are acceptable (if not he'll let you know).

I believe this species may be rather inactive in the right environment, they are typically lurkers, sitting on or in the sand and waiting for food swimming by. I guess if they move around a lot they are searching for food, searching for a better place to live or defending their territory.

Good luck with your puffer. I hope his breathing has improved/will improve. Those freshwater "whitespot" ciliate protozoans are not as dangerous as their marine relatives, but still they can kill fish.

[Bonsai_girl]

It's more about what I can get quickly for him - if/when this parcel arrives, I can add three mini filters to his tank at different levels with the spray bars a-going, but this order is already delayed and I can't be 100% it's gonna turn up today as promised. If it gets obvious it's not arriving, I'll go get a couple of airstone.

Adding plants isn't a problem, but then many remove oxygen at night, so any benefit from them during the day might be offset. I'm planning on adding a whole load of moss balls next week, so I hope he approves of those

Temp's currently up to 27C (81F), I'll do a 50% water change every 48 hours for the duration of the ich treatment and I'm *thinking* I might hold fire on the IP treatment until the breathing improves. I'm sure Nick's right in that it shouldn't hurt, but I can't help thinking I shouldn't put him under too much stress until he's settled a bit better, esp as he's currently showing no signs of IPs.

I've tried him out with a live shrimp this morning, which promptly went and sat on his head *sigh*. He backed away from it and it chased him a little around the tank. I removed the shrimp after a couple of minutes. Why do I always end up with the strange pets??

[Jay.B.]

so long as you keep the water well aerated, temperatures of up to 30 degrees are sometimes necessary to kill of the WS, hopefully you won't have to go that far if combining it with WS meds, speaking of which, the interpet anti white spot plus is about the best available over here for that stuff.

just be thankful you don't have an SAP, as I've heard they are the most prone to it, also have first hand experience of how quick and savage it can be on those fellows.