(20x20x25cm)
PH 7.6
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm
inhabitants: used to be 2 dwarf puffers. now, only 1 dwarf puffer.
there's enough floating plants and grass and a miniature rock cave for hiding.
the bottom is rounded pebbles.
the filter is the GEX Slim Filter.
we have had this tank for a year.
previously, we had a panda cory with these 2 puffers. the panda cory had a fungus. the puffers looked like they had fungus too, so we treated all of them with API fungus cure, as advised by our fish store. sadly, the cory didn't make it.
the puffers suffered terribly from the medical treatment. it looked like the medicine ate up their skin
But our puffers have gotten sick again. I saw that they developed something that looked like a sore on the top of their head. I was unsure if they scraped themselves or if it was a growth. but it was just like... a bald patch? it wasnt a fuzzy growth.
they started to lose their appetite, their bellies getting shrunken. and now the remaining one is very weak.
i couldnt attach a photo here so have uploaded a video of my poor sick puffer
https://youtu.be/M7aslgIhO2M
please help. any advice would be much appreciated. I dont want to lose any more puffers this way.
my other larger tank of fish is perfectly healthy. I just dont know how to help my puffers when they get sick, lose their appetite and die. I am worried about medication because I saw the effects of the anti-fingal and have been wary of using it ever since.
The fish stores here dont seem to care when i ask them questions about sick fish...it is as if it is normal for fish to die. But i dont want my fish to keep dying. i want to give them a good life.