Sick figure 8 puffer...

[EtherealWI]

Hi all,
For the past day or 2 one of my F8s has been spending quite a bit of time lying near the bottom of the tank and his back turns silver-ish, almost loses his pattern. When this happens his belly is white, however, other times his belly gets gray spots. When he sees me watching him he'll swim around and looks ok, but still seems a little disoriented, bumping into the glass and decor. Also wouldn't eat last night. Not sure if age is getting to him or if he's ill, not really sure how old he is. The temp was high (82F, stupid side thermo was reading wrong) so I'm bringing it down, doesn't seem to be having an effect though. The 2nd puffer is fine, doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him at all
About the tank:
45gal, been up for ~5yrs
2 figure 8 puffers
SG: 1.006
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: don't have a test for them

The only things that have changed in the tank in the last few months have been cleaning the decor, changing the background (he didn't seem to like the new one) and adding GFO to the filter (Pura Phoslock). I'm assuming start with MelaFix and PimaFix?

[Nuclear_Glitter]

What's your water change schedule?

I wouldn't dose pimafix or melafix just yet.

[EtherealWI]

50% every monday, pushed this one ahead and did 30% or so last night.

[EtherealWI]

One thing I just noticed, he has a small sore on his back, almost looks like a cut. Appears to be healing well, but could be stressing him maybe or be infected? He tries following the smaller puffer around the tank and sometimes goes through places he doesn't fit well which I would assume to be the cause, although he was hanging by the heater quite a bit a week or so ago.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Okay, then move forward with the melafix. Pimafix is for fungus, is there any evidence of this? Have you had the puffer for the entire 5 years that the tank has been setup?

[EtherealWI]

No sign of fungus, and they've been in there the whole time... Guess it's a trip to walmart tonight, have some melafix, but it expired 2yrs ago.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

No sign of fungus, and they've been in there the whole time... Guess it's a trip to walmart tonight, have some melafix, but it expired 2yrs ago.

Boo, silly expiration. (I'm in no way saying that the expiration date is invalid. Just saying it makes things a bit more difficult.)

I would doubt it's old age then. Puffers live 15+ years.

[EtherealWI]

Yeah, not sure exactly what "expires" about a lot of things, but guess I should follow it anyways. The only reason I question old age is I have no idea how old he was when I got him, was already full grown and not sure if someone traded him in. Could've been 10 when I got him, guess asking would've been a good idea, not that I would've gotten an answer I'm sure.

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Yeah, not sure exactly what "expires" about a lot of things, but guess I should follow it anyways. The only reason I question old age is I have no idea how old he was when I got him, was already full grown and not sure if someone traded him in. Could've been 10 when I got him, guess asking would've been a good idea, not that I would've gotten an answer I'm sure.

Well, that's very true. Perhaps he just grew fast though, quite a few do.

[EtherealWI]

True, been using the melafix but hasn't seemed to do much thus far, trying to be patient.

Sidenote, not sure if it could be stressing him or not, but there's something stringy by his right gill, looks like a bloodworm maybe got stuck in there. Any idea how I could go about removing it without stressing him more or should I leave it be? It's really hard to see since it sort of flaps with his fin but I would think if I could net him and bring him near the surface I could use a tweezer or q-tip or something to carefully pull it out.

[puffykid]

Have you treated for internal parasites yet? It could be that, do their bellies appear sunken inward?

[EtherealWI]

No, his belly is still round. My gf says his sides look sunken a little bit but I don't see it.

I did get the debris from his gill out and he does seem to be swimming a bit more today, although he's spent probably half the day swimming almost vertical at the top. Looks like he's checking out his reflection on the water surface or something. And when he goes to the sand he doesn't slow his descent, just plops down. Still wouldn't eat tonight even though I put the bloodworms right in front of his mouth. I tried comparing the 2 to see if there was something obvious that I may be missing but the size difference is too much to make a comparison. He's 3+ inches and fat, the other is probably 2 1/2" and skinnier. I took some pics yesterday so I'll add them in a bit.

[puffykid]

With almost all species of puffers being wild caught they nearly always have ip, so its usually a good idea to treat them.

Are you still treating them for melafix? If so it's advisable to have a airstone added in to help with the O2 levels in the tank, since melafix tends to lower the level of dissolved oxygen in the water.

[EtherealWI]

Having had him for years would ip have surfaced now though? I would think that would be an immediate thing that you would know. I didn't add an airstone, lowered the water level a bit that the hob filter causes a larger ripple and more bubbles to enter the water if that makes sense (I have no idea if it's effective, looks it though), think my air pump crapped out when I decided to plant my DP tank, but I can check it if it'll help and pick up another one before work tomorrow if need be.

[EtherealWI]

Here's a pic I just took, not the greatest... Also have a video of him staring at the top and how he hits the sand.