What's wrong with my F8?

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:01 pm

I just tried feeding him some frozen bloodworms soaked in the Garlic Guard. As of now, he has no interest in food. He's back floating in the corner again and I don't know what to do.

It looks like he has some type of skin irritation. There are 2 fuzzy stringlike things hanging from his stomach area, definitely not from his anus.

I tried to get a photo of it, but this is the best I can do.

Any thoughts on what this may be?

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:03 pm

Do you have any melafix and pimafix handy? They may help the skin irritation and prevent any bacterial or fungal infections.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:05 pm

I have Melafix only. I'm going to head out to the store and get some Pimafix as well. Do they need to be dosed together? Or can I add the Melafix first...then the Pima fix when I return?

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:07 pm

They don't need to be dosed at the same time, but they can be used together safely.

Adding an airstone might be a good idea as well.

You may also want to add a bit of marine mix with your water changes.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:13 pm

Thank you. I just dosed with the Melafix. I had added teaspoon of marine mix with the water changes I've done before. I've only done a total of 2 tsp since I bought him home on Monday. But with all the water changes I've been doing, I'm sure a lot of that is gone. I have 3 airstone/wands in there that are all running.

Right now, the SG is 1.003. Will it be safe that I add more now?

I'm so sorry for all these questions.

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:15 pm

1.003 is good for now. You want it to remain stable so your bacteria can establish themselves, and it's at a good enough level for now to get him into slightly brackish water.

Questions are good! Shows you care! We love to answer questions here.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:23 pm

Thanks again. I really do care about fish...and when they die under my care, I feel like I have failed them. This is my 4th attempt at puffers. Last year, I got some dwarf puffers from Petsmart that died within a week. I do think they had parasites. Then I decided to try out F8's. I got one a couple months later from an LFS. It had already had black circles on it's stomach when I bought it home. That one died a week later. I bought it back to the store and they gave me a new one. That one got died less than a week later with ich. That was 7 months ago and I thought I was going to give up on puffers.

When I saw these the other day at a different LFS, I thought I'd try it again.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 7:39 pm

Just got back from the store and I added the Pimafix to the water. He definitely looks week and it looks like his eyes are starting to get cloudy.

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:14 pm

Here's hoping he pulls through.

I'd definately add an airstone if you have one handy.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 8:20 pm

3 airstone/wands have been running since the tank was set up. I'm considering "force feeding" him, but don't know if I would only make matters worse.

Just now...I noticed a patch of top layer of skin is missing on one side and a small section at the other side. I can still see the pattern of his marking, but the area is noticeably lighter. It also looks like he's not as concave, but starting to fill out, which I suspect is bloat.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:45 am

The poor thing didn't make it.

Here are a couple of postmortem photos. I'm puzzled by the light skin discoloration that's on the side. It is like that one both sides and the same pattern. Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

A few hours before he died, the skin started to change on one side, and then the other side followed. What started out as a concave belly in the morning became bloated a few hours before his passing.

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:54 pm

I've never seen anything like that.

Sorry for the loss. Sometimes it's unavoidable though. It's very hit and miss with puffer. Don't take it as a sign of failure, but rather a learning experience.

I suggest that you keep the tank cycling by adding ammonia or fish food so that it will be fully cycled for when you want to get another puffer.

azure68 · Post by **azure68** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:11 pm

Thank you. I've been adding ammonia to the tank to hopefully have it complete the cycle. After doing more reading around, I'm not even sure if I would want to put another F8 into this 10 gallon tank, since they require a minimum of 15 - 20 gallons per fish.

It's my fault though...since F8s are pretty hard to come by around here, when I saw him...it was definitely a seize the opportunity type of moment. And also, adding the Bio-Spira along with him made me think that I can instant cycle the tank, which also gave me a false sense of security.

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:13 pm

Bio-spira is great, but it is a sensitive product that needs refridgeration to remain viable long term. Unfortunately, a lot of shippers and retailers don't seem to grasp this.

There are places online you can get it shipped to you overnight with freezer packs. It might be a good idea if your local supply is dodgy.

That 10g would be good for a pair or single dwarf puffer.

Boxermom · Post by **Boxermom** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:16 pm

Apparently its okay if Biospira isn't kept refrigerated, according to Marineland. As long as its not frozen, it should still be viable for up to 6 months.

http://www.marinelandlabs.com/cus_faq.asp#48

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What's wrong with my F8?