I have a Porcupine puffer(I know that is not the scientific name) that when I came home today he was sitting on the sand acting like he is gasping for air. his eyes are completely cloudy and look swollen. I will answer the questions above real quick
1. ph 8.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, Salinity is 1.027
2. 30 gallon with about 20 lbs live rock and a Lion Fish(once again i can't think of the scientific name, it starts with a V)
3.I have been feeding ghost shrimp every 3 days. Also feeding the puffer a few pieces of dry krill every day since he is not eating much of the live food. 5 gallon water change every week. I was using a product to help lower nitrites for the first week but none since other then purple up.
4. No changes lately
5. Tank has been set up for about 3 weeks. I used live sand from an established tank, salt water out of the lfs tank. I did use some of the Biospira to help also. The live rock was from an established tank also.
The Nitrites levels got up to .5 for about 4 or 5 days and have since dropped and have been zero for about a week or more.
Is there any chance the lionfish stung the Puffer?? The Lionfish does not seem like anything is wrong at all.
Oh, the temp is 79 by the way.
Any help is appreciated, I don't want him to die if I can save him.
Sick Puffer, please 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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edmlfc1
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2011
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:03 pm
- My Puffers: Elvis (Stars & Stripes) R.I.P. 9/11/11
125G:Fahaka (Annabelle) - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Texas
Re: Sick Puffer, please help
Is there a qt tank that you can move the puffer too? When this happened to my porc I was told to treat her with furan 2. She didn't recover and passed away a few months later. I got help too late. You will need to act quick if your porc will get it's eye sight back.
Need to know what kind of puffer you have? Click on Puffer ID.....Puffer ID: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
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edmlfc1
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2011
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:03 pm
- My Puffers: Elvis (Stars & Stripes) R.I.P. 9/11/11
125G:Fahaka (Annabelle) - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Texas
Re: Sick Puffer, please help
Btw: I was also told to treat the tank with beta-glucan vitamins.
Need to know what kind of puffer you have? Click on Puffer ID.....Puffer ID: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
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j_wishbone
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 237
- Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 8:26 am
- My Puffers: toadfish
- Location (country): Australia
- Location: Sydney, Australia
Re: Sick Puffer, please help
this happened to me once
i put him in the QT tank and kept doing water changes no medications added (but he didnt have the eye infection that you have advised, only the gasping for air at the bottom)... and he got better from it
Maybe your tank has not completely cycled yet....
and puffers are not very tolerant of water polution...
hope he gets better mate
i put him in the QT tank and kept doing water changes no medications added (but he didnt have the eye infection that you have advised, only the gasping for air at the bottom)... and he got better from it
Maybe your tank has not completely cycled yet....
and puffers are not very tolerant of water polution...
hope he gets better mate
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julianchan
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:25 am
- My Puffers: 1 GSP Elevator.....Lord Vator to everyone else...
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: Sick Puffer, please help
First things first, krill should be off the diet...a cause of lockjaw.
Second thing, how big is the puffer? A 30 gallon tank is 90 gallons too small...and could be a possible source of stress, and sickness, since puffers have a huge bioload...it does not quite sound right that nitrates would be down to 0 with a 5 gallon water change per week. Also his signs do sound quite a bit like nitrate poisoning. You need to do more water changes, probably 50% everyday, at the same time, you need to get a bigger tank. Porcs grow to over a foot. Without the proper size tank, they will get stunted, and this shortens their lives considerably. From what i hear, they will grow about an inch a month given the chance.
If you can't get a bigger tank, I would think about getting him to someone who can care for him properly.
Good luck! I hope the little one pulls through.
Second thing, how big is the puffer? A 30 gallon tank is 90 gallons too small...and could be a possible source of stress, and sickness, since puffers have a huge bioload...it does not quite sound right that nitrates would be down to 0 with a 5 gallon water change per week. Also his signs do sound quite a bit like nitrate poisoning. You need to do more water changes, probably 50% everyday, at the same time, you need to get a bigger tank. Porcs grow to over a foot. Without the proper size tank, they will get stunted, and this shortens their lives considerably. From what i hear, they will grow about an inch a month given the chance.
If you can't get a bigger tank, I would think about getting him to someone who can care for him properly.
Good luck! I hope the little one pulls through.
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julianchan
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:25 am
- My Puffers: 1 GSP Elevator.....Lord Vator to everyone else...
- Location: Los Angeles, CA