Urgent Help Needed - Poorly Mbu Puffer, suspected swim bladd

[mbumother]

Hi, please help me save my very poorly Mbu Puffer, Doodles. He is so sick and we will do anything to help him. ANY advice whatsoever would be gratefully received ASAP


Here is some information:

Tank size: 610 litres
pH: 7.0
ammonia: 0.00
nitrite: 0.1
gH: 10gh
tank temp: 79F

Fish Symptoms: Doodles has always been a very happy, energetic Mbu who has been happy in his large tank for 6 months. He has been growing at a steady rate and always shows us lots of character. He suddenly went off his food and spent a lot of time on the floor, hardly moving. This has now gone on for 4 days. He "rocks" from side to side uncontrollably, and when he does try to swim, he clumsily crashes into the glass. It is heartbreaking. His colour is still very bright (orangey yellow as usual) and his eye movements are as fast as ever but he is clearly not right.

Today he has taken another turn and I am lost for things to do. He is led on his side at the bottom of the tank and a lump has developed on his right side near his belly area. He is approx 28cm in length and the lump is approximately 3.5cm in diameter. His fins are still gently moving. My partner has tried the "burping" technique someone suggested to us, but since the lump is fairly hard, we do not think it is trapped air.

He has a varied diet of mussels, shelled cockles, prawns and shrimp. He normally gets very excited at feeding times but not any more.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 610 litres. Quarter volume water changes fortnightly

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Fluval FX5 filter and Fluval 404 filter. We have recently treated the water with Waterlife Myxazin (tonic to treat bacterial infections) to no avail

Tank inhabitants: 3 Silver dollars, some Neons and White Cloud Mountain Minnows

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): None whatsoever!

Exposure to chemicals: We have recently treated the water with Waterlife Myxazin (tonic to treat bacterial infections) to no avail



PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME. I couldn't bear to lose him or see him suffer in this way.

Many thanks for any help anyone can offer.

Mbumother

[Stormylee]

Have you tried pm-ing a mod? It sounds serious. Best wishes.

[mbumother]

Yeah I have tried messaging a Puffer specialist (Wilder) to no avail. Thanks for the tip though. He is one sick Puffer, and I am one distraght mother! Do you know any other mods specialising in Puffers?

[Boxermom]

To begin, I'd recommend a very large water change. Unfortunately, mbus do not do well in aquaria. Manutius is the best one to ask about them, I believe.

BTW, I'm deleting your duplicate post. Please only post in one area.

[Nick]

These fish are very very sensitive to water quality, I see you have nitrites, possibly from the antibacterial. Do large volume water changes, 50% or so, every day until you have no nitrite. Even if something else is very wrong, the nitrite is a big stressor, and might do him in. I also suspect, since he has grown and you now have a 10" fish here, that the 25% changes every other week are not quite enough anymore, 50% weekly seems to be best for all puffers, and the bigger your puffer gets and the faster he is growing, the more important they are. It's really difficult to diagnose puffer growths under the skin even with a picture, and it's basically impossible without it, so if there's any way, get a picture.

[mbumother]

Hi everyone,

Despite our best efforts and all the support, Doodles passed away Saturday evening. A local Mbu speciailist seemed to think that he had a tumour which was pressing against his swim bladder hence the loss of equilibrium. He deteriorated very quickly and looked in a lot of pain. Although we are very sad to lose him, it is reassuring to know he is no longer suffering.

Thank you to all those who contributed ideas.

[Boxermom]

Sorry to hear that. You have a local mbu specialist?

[PetPirate]

Me too,

Sorry to hear of your loss. Sounds like you did everything you could.

[Pufferpunk]

It's always so sad, when our fishy friends die. Are you going to get another one? Before you do, please read the sticky about keeping mbus in our FW section.

[manutius]

This is such as shame and I wish I was availbale at the weekend to offer some help, though I am not too sure what additional advice I could give. A tumor is definately a possibilty but you cannot rule out a peice of shell caught in his digestve tract.

I am so sorry for your loss and I know exactly how helpless you felt, at least Doodles is no longer suffering. If at all possible I would get an autopsy performed.

Once again I am devasted for you

[mbumother]

Hi there,

Pufferpunk - it is great to see that you point out the pros and cons of keping a Mbu. We have kept Mbu's for years - our previous Mbu grew to 47cm and we appreciate that not many people do know just how large they grow, how much time they need and how dedicated you have to be. We have not yet decided if we would keep another Mbu. Whilst we are huge fans of their warm and friendly character, and the hard work and investment required does not put us off, having to watch Doodles suffer the past few days was heart breaking. So the only thing that would put me off buying another would be that I couldn't bear to lose it, or see it suffer. That said, when we bought Doodles, he was in a "shop" in a tank that was only about 60cm long, with no plants, no sand, no friends, nothing. We were almost rescuing him - and he seemed ecstatic when we put him into such a large tank. I completely appreciate that most people aren't prepared when they buy them from a baby - please be assured though that we are fully aware of the needs of a Mbu. It is sad that this time, we could not help him recover.

Manutius - thank you for your reply. The suggestion of trapped shell is a very valid one and one which we had thought of but he hadn't had shell for a good 4 days before he stopped eating, so we deduced that he may have had problems sooner if that were the case. We are trying to arrange to have an autopsy carried out today / tomorrow and I will let you know what the outcome is.

Thank you all for your comments.

[manutius]

the points you make about the care of the Mbu are very valid and I am glad that you understand the work involved in keeping them healthy. I only wish I knew that before I got Clooney

I shall be interested to hear what the autopsy brings up

[Pufferpunk]

mbumother, I have been a cat & dog groomer for 23 years & you sond like every one of my customers that have lost a pet. Give it some time... they always call me back, saying they're getting a new puppy, within a few months.

[mbumother]

Hi Manutius,

Thanks for your kind words on the PM! I have cried for 2 days after losing the little guy. You are certainly right in saying that no-one else understands the relationship between a Mbu and its owner - my colleagues aren't quite sure what to say when I well up explaining that my beloved fish passed away!

We have been looking at your pictures and videos of Clooney who is beautiful, and seems ever so similar to Doodles. He was also very placid, calm and a gentle giant, and the photo of him unveiling his teeth at feeding time is one we remember fondly.

One of the more difficult problems we are now having to deal with, is that his greatest tank mate, Myrtle, a Fly River Turtle, now has no-one to have swimming races with and, at night she searches the tank, looking for her friend who she slept next to every day without fail.

Do you mind me asking if you ever found out what Clooney's skin infection was and what caused it? Glad he recovered!

[manutius]

I would have loved to see your Doodles and his turtle freind, that sounds sweet. I am so sorry for you and I know that very few people understand your grief. However you are in great company here and everyone sympathises with you over your tragic loss

Have read of this post with reference to the skin problem http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/vie ... f=2&t=9289 and be sure to check the oroginal post linked in it.

Did Doodles ever have this problem?