Fahaka puffer sick

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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.
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lgazzz
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2025 1:27 pm
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Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

I recently had a fahaka puffer start acting a little wierd and swimming with his mouth open more, like he wanted air. the next day i notices he had white spots on him that looked like little cysts. i caught him rubbing againt some wood so im assuming its ich. ill attach a photo so you guys can see. if you guys could help that would be great, not sure what it is.

ammonia-0ppm
nitrite-0
nitrate-15
tankmates-2silver dollars and a siamese algea eater
There used to be frontosa but i recently sold them. all the fish are in a 75 gallon tank, but im getting a 180 in about a week. nothing has really changed in the tank so im confused why this has happened.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by Pufferpunk »

Treat with Ich-X and do large (80%) WC every other day, thoroughly cleaning the substrate to remove free-swimming cysts.
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!"
lgazzz
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Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

ok sounds good thanks so much. ive been using pimafix and melafix as well at the same time, is that ok?
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Pufferpunk
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Posts: 32844
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
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Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by Pufferpunk »

I was going to recommend Melafix.
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!"
lgazzz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2025 1:27 pm
Location (country): united states

Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

update: day 4 of the puffer having what i think is ich. ive done the water changes and medicine mentioned above, but he has been going without food for 3 1/2 days and only swims a little bit, but he often drifts into things. certain patches of his skin are discolored and lighter than the rest. i have metroplex to put in his food, but he wont eat. any suggestions on how to get him to eat? or do i just wait it out and see if he feels better in a couple days, if so how long, and when should i consider having to tube feed.Thanks. seems like the infections and cysts on his skin are smaller, but hes still super lethargic and not interested in food. pretty weak too.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32844
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: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by Pufferpunk »

How big is he? They can go quite some time without food, especially the larger fish. Test your water parameters.
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!"
lgazzz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2025 1:27 pm
Location (country): united states

Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

he is about 6-6.5 inches.
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-10
ph-7.6
temp-76-77
thanks so much for helping.
i attached an image showing the pale areas on him and a pic of his stomach to show how skinny he is.(hard to get a good angle)
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32844
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: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by Pufferpunk »

They should be bullet-shaped, so he's really not that skinny. Raise the temp to 80, to increase metabolism & try live night crawlers. I get them at Walmart. Squeeze out the worm poop 1st.
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!"
lgazzz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2025 1:27 pm
Location (country): united states

Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

im gonna be leaving for a tournament on friday, so im dropping him off at a lfs for the weekend that has more stuff to help, hopefully he gets better. last question, how do i remove poop from the earthworms? thanks for all the help.
lgazzz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2025 1:27 pm
Location (country): united states

Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

unfortunately it was impossible to get him to eat and i tried pretty much every food. is ips a possibility? or was it just stress.
lgazzz
Puffer Fry
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2025 1:27 pm
Location (country): united states

Re: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by lgazzz »

unfortunately it was impossible to get him to eat and i tried pretty much every food. is ips a possibility? or was it just stress.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32844
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: Fahaka puffer sick

Post by Pufferpunk »

lgazzz wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2025 12:36 am im gonna be leaving for a tournament on friday, so im dropping him off at a lfs for the weekend that has more stuff to help, hopefully he gets better. last question, how do i remove poop from the earthworms? thanks for all the help.
You can squeeze the poop out thru their anus.
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!"
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