Hi everyone, I recently got a new porcupine puffer (around 4-5”) around two weeks ago and he’s been eating from day 1 (we’re feeding him mainly small shrimp as he won’t try anything else). He’s super shy which I’m a bit concerned about as he’s always hiding in his caves that I made for him and only comes out to eat. I think he’s developed ich as he has spots all over his body but he’s still eating well. What can I do to help him be less shy and manage the ich? We’re not able to set up a QT tank and go fallow as we don’t have available tanks and systems to run one so I’m trying to feed them often and try to boost their immune system so they can maybe overcome it themselves.
The first week he was bullied by my purple tang so I decided to separate them and put the tang in timeout but even then he still doesn’t swim out. But his colors did get brighter after the separation.
What can I do to help him overcome ich and maybe get him more confident in the tank?
Tank is 150gallons (60-24-24”), there are two clownfish, one small blue tang and one purple tang. We have two toadstool leather corals and a small Kenya tree. Ammonia and nitrite is 0 but nitrate is 20 and phosphate is 0.1. We just did a water change a few days ago. Thank you so much for your help!!
New porcupine puffer with ich
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.
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ptupuffers
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Pufferpunk
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burrfish
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Re: New porcupine puffer with ich
Might as well treat the entire tank with the SW form of Ich-x.
Do you have lots of caves & swim-thrus for him to hide out in? In all my years of scuba diving, I rarely saw them out in the open during the daytime.
Do you have lots of caves & swim-thrus for him to hide out in? In all my years of scuba diving, I rarely saw them out in the open during the daytime.
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!"
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ptupuffers
- Puffer Fry
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Re: New porcupine puffer with ich
Yes we do i made him a few cave areas for him to rest in, maybe he’s just a shy puffer?
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Pufferpunk
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DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: New porcupine puffer with ich
Give him time to know that he is safe & I think you'll have your very own wet puppy in no time!
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!"
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- 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: New porcupine puffer with ich
Maybe this will help you bond: https://www.pufferfishenthusiastsworldw ... ngtraining
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!"
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ptupuffers
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue May 26, 2026 4:14 am
- Location (country): Bangkok, Thailand
Re: New porcupine puffer with ich
Thank you so so much for your help!!