puffer fish jump

[michy21]

I recently aquired a figure 8 puffer and I'm trying to fix him up cause he's in bad shape. He is jumping out of the water like he is trying to get out luckily theres a lid any information would be awesome!! On a side note I'm new here my name is michelle thanks guys

[eieio]

"bad shape"?
in what way?

[michy21]

I got him from my boyfriend and he has like this white cloudy stuff like fungus on him, I'm treating him with melafix and fungus remover... He's looking way differnt than two days ago, now he's swimming around but he's jumping out of the water.

[puffykid]

The oxygen in the water may be to low, can you get a air wand in there to help with gas exchange also what sort of filtration are you running? also what fungus remover? I suggest pimafix

[michy21]

Honestly for right now he is in a hospital tank with no real filtration just an air wand to help with oxygen and a small heater so he doesn't die of cold... He was in a tank with two cichlids and it had a piggyback fiter system. And the fungus remover is by Tetra and it's called fungus guard with a green fizzy pill.

[eieio]

this topic should be moved to the "hospital" forum, and the necessary info in the "red box" needs to be filled in........
then we can help

[puffykid]

Been trying to check what is suggested for fungus treatment and if tetra safeguard is used, and it seems that pimafix for fungus and melafix is for open wounds is usually what is told. Can we get a picture of how the puffer looks? Was he treated for ip if yes how?

Could you get a powerhead in to help with circulation? Also what size tank is the hospital?


Sorry for all the questions, but its the main way we can offer help.

this topic should be moved to the "hospital" forum, and the necessary info in the "red box" needs to be filled in........
then we can help

also agreed for the previous tank that your bf kept him in

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.

[michy21]

I'm going to be very honest with everyone. I don't know the first thing about puffers... I just didn't want him to die so I took him away from my boyfriend. About the numbers for the nitrates/ nitrites/ph etc etc. I don't have specifics so i'm very sorry for you guys and for myself I know that the ammonia was extremely high cause the water quality was poor,as for the ph he lived with cichlids and they live in ph of 6.0- 8.0... as for the hospital tank it's a 5 gallon with no filtration just water changes. He used to live in a 8.5 gallon with two golden ram cichlids. At first I thought it was ich but when I treated for it he didn't get better... So I treated for fungus and you guys have the brand I'm using and you also know that I'm using melafix I'm going to take him to my neighborhood fish farm and see if they can help me out. He is getting better though! he is swimming around and picking at his snails so he is getting better. I'll try to get a picture soon.

[eieio]

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.

Good Advice!
also, the Tetra product you are using may have components that are actually doing more harm
Pimafix for fungal infections and Melafix for injury healing are safe, however, they will affect the oxygen content adversely so it will be important to supplement that
you need to get liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates right away!
they are the only way to guage the water condition, and will alert you to how much water changing is necessary until you can get a desperately needed larger tank
the larger tank volume will help offset poor water conditions by diluting the toxins

[bertie 83]

Large daily water changes will be necessary, at least 50% or more, even multiples of this

[FADE2BLACK_1973]

Yeah, agree with the others. Btw, Wal-mart sells a 10 gal. tank and hood/light kits pretty cheap for him temp tank. You can also get a cheap filter there also for the time being. Btw, dont forget a water conditioner for the tap water during the water changes.