Hello everyone.
I am new to this board but am a longtime aquarium fan. I have a year old MBU puffer. It is currently housed on a 400 gallon tank. It does have some small either fish with it (barbs, neons, and a school of small clown loaches). All inhabitants have been together for the last 12 months. All other inhabitants are doing great.
My water parameters are pristine and checked weekly. I do a 5% to 10% water change almost everyday with a bigger water change every weekend (30% to 40%).
Anyways, all was great till 7 days ago. We named him Mr. Poppers btw.
7 days ago he completely stopped eating. He continues to have a normal and healthy look but it's like his brain is fried. He appear almost "drunk" running into things. He doesn't seem to have the ability to balance.
He used to act like a puppy dog begging for food. Now he swims eradicately and runs into stuff head first. He also seems to lean to his side alot. His eyes looks fine but he is acting blind
I can easily grab him softly and he doesn't even resist.
Until 7 days ago he seemed very sharp and focused. His eyes would lock onto you and he would swim alot begging for food.
He now sits on the bottom all day. Occasionally the light current will literally move him and he almost rolls over.
It is very strange.
Has anyone heard of this before? What could be wrong?
He is about 16" long and still appears healthy looking.
MBU puffer sick Help Please
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.
-
Lucius1113
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2024 8:15 pm
- Location (country): United Sates
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: MBU puffer sick Help Please
What are you using to test the water?
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
Lucius1113
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2024 8:15 pm
- Location (country): United Sates
Re: MBU puffer sick Help Please
Ok, sadly I believe I have discovered the issue and it has nothing to do with quality of care. I realized about 2 weeks ago I touched up a stain on my ceiling with a rattle can of paint blocker. The next morning I had small particles of paint on the counters and even the top of the aquarium glass. It was easy to clean up but some particles definitely got into the water. I feel really stupid right now.
The odd part is all the small fish continue to do fantastic. I have done large water changes daily at this point but I think my poor puffer is on the way out. He acts drunk and blind(best description I can provide).
He swims into stuff constantly. He rests on his side or even upside down. I can grab him and he is extremely strong but hasn't eaten in about 10 days. His body looks great but his brain seems to have stopped working.
I am so upset with myself about this. I never considered a small amount of paint particles doing such damage but I can't think of anything else that has recently changed.
Do you believe this makes sense?
The odd part is all the small fish continue to do fantastic. I have done large water changes daily at this point but I think my poor puffer is on the way out. He acts drunk and blind(best description I can provide).
He swims into stuff constantly. He rests on his side or even upside down. I can grab him and he is extremely strong but hasn't eaten in about 10 days. His body looks great but his brain seems to have stopped working.
I am so upset with myself about this. I never considered a small amount of paint particles doing such damage but I can't think of anything else that has recently changed.
Do you believe this makes sense?
-
Lucius1113
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2024 8:15 pm
- Location (country): United Sates
Re: MBU puffer sick Help Please
He keeps ending up on his side or upside down. Not floating to the surface however. Often on the bottom. When I grab him, he is extremely strong but will swim like he is brain dead and eventually end up on his side again. Super weird
-
Lucius1113
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2024 8:15 pm
- Location (country): United Sates
Re: MBU puffer sick Help Please
He now lays on the bottom upside down. When I attempt to grab him, he fights and is very strong but he has zero balance
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: MBU puffer sick Help Please
Not only the paint but the aerosol. I'm so sorry... Some fish are more sensitive to toxins than others. Try running fresh carbon.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"