I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh

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Fisker
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I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh

Post by Fisker »

Hey guys,

I went out yesterday and visited 4 stores across my state. I was looking for a lot of fish/items, and one of those things was a small (less than 3") dog face. I wanted a small one so I could comfortably QT it in one of my 10 gallons.

On my second stop, I saw one that looked pretty rough. A few ich spots (10-12 spots total, not bad), a strange-looking mouth, drab and gray coloration, and a very "sad" demeanor. He just looked miserable. He's about 6", so much bigger than I wanted. I asked to see him eat, and he did. I ended up taking him home - kind of an impulse buy, I know. Not good. I won't be going back to that store again - they've had sick fish and complaints lodged against them before, but it's usually been pretty minor stuff. Lots of sick fish and extremely nasty tanks yesterday, though.

So here I am. I've got him in his 10 gallon QT, and am lowering him into hypo for ich treatment. I also treated him with metroplex, as I'm sure he's got worms. My main questions are the following:

1) His mouth looks pretty funky. I can see his beak, but just his "canines", if that makes sense. He seems to have issues with food, too. He just sucks it into his mouth, takes a tiny bite, and repeats. Think maybe someone's trimmed his beak too short? Maybe recently, and that's why he's keeping his mouth open? I can post a pic, but it'll be later tonight.

2) Is hypo the best way to treat ich with puffers? I know that most of them are sensitive to copper, so I'm reluctant to use my Copper Power, especially when it's such a minor infection. I do have concerns with doing hypo in such a small tank - evaporation is gonna be tough. I'm currently doing hypo in my 55 FOWLR, but I'm already a few days into the 30 required. It'd reset the clock, and introduce any other diseases he may have. I'm not necessarily against that, but I want to know if you guys think the risk may be worth it.

3) He'll be going into a 180, filled with mostly peaceful fish. Can anyone give me tips on success?

Thanks for any help.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh

Post by Pufferpunk »

Welcome!
10g isn't large enough QT for a 6" fish. You're never going to be able to keep up with the ammonia waste.
Yes, I would treat with hypo.
Personally, I'd never purchase a fish from a shop who mistreats them & offers to sell sick fish. You are just telling them that no matter how neglective they are, their fish still sell.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Fisker
Puffer Fry
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2019 10:46 pm
Location (country): United States

Re: I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh

Post by Fisker »

Fair enough.

I moved him to my 55 FOWLR that's currently in hypo - it reset the clock, but he seems much happier. Eating well, and his ich symptoms have passed, so that's a relief. Still feeding foods soaked in metronidazol to try and deworm him, as well as treating the tank with prazi, but I think he's pretty well-off other than the ich. Doesn't seem to be too skinny, and has a healthy appetite.

I agree, by the way - that's generally the same view I take. This was an impulse buy (kind of), and I wish I had bought this sweet little 3" puffer I saw at another store the same day. But, I didn't, and I'll have to be a little smarter in the future.

Since I've got a thread open, may I ask your opinion on tanks?

I own a 125. I just have to drill it. That was the original plan for moving my 55 into a bigger tank, and why I went ahead and bought a few fish that needed a bigger tank. I knew I could upgrade them. That said, I know that a 125 is a pretty minimum tank size for a dogface, so I was wondering what you would do in this situation. Use the 125 with a 55 gallon sump, OR try and find a 180 with a 125 gallon sump. Obviously, the 180 would be better, but would it be completely worth it, in your opinion?
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
Location: Chicago
Contact:

Re: I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh

Post by Pufferpunk »

Bigger is ALWAYS better! Glad he's doing better. :)
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Fisker
Puffer Fry
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2019 10:46 pm
Location (country): United States

Re: I bought a sick Dogface Puffer... Ugh

Post by Fisker »

Good to know!

He was just taking food into his mouth, chewing it, and spitting it out yesterday. Today, he's eating! Pretty excited. Hoping to get him onto a variety of foods soon, as I know krill isn't an awesome staple, but just glad to see he's eating and the store feeding wasn't a fluke.

However, he still has some spots on him after 3 days in hypo - I know it can take up to 7 for the parasites to fall off into their next stage, I was just hoping he'd move along a bit quicker. Hopefully they'll disappear soon and I haven't run into a hypo-resistant strain of ich.
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