The Puffer Forum

side19 wrote:keeping an eye on them. he's playing nice so far (even took a nap next to them). i'm more worried about the meds affecting the loaches than the puffer right now. but so far all is well. just keeping my fingers crossed and keeping up with the water quality. sadly money is coming in slow. can't seem to get a job, and sadly gas is back on the rise.

We feel your pain.....Good they're playing nice. Most Loaches are scaleless, correct (not a loach person)? One would think that the meds would have about the same effect on loaches as puffers, possibly more so on puffers because of the lack of gill covers, don't know..just guessin'.

yeah, loaches are scaleless fish. i actaully started out as a loach person myself. all is well so far. the only thing i noticed is that his anus looked bigger today than before. not red or anything, just big, like the size of a large pin head, but i haven't seen him poop since i got him. he's acting friendly and swimming right up to the glass to say hello when ever i go over if he's not taking a nap. did the water cahnge and the second dose of the parasite clear and so far so good. just hoping i'll see him passing parasites soon to know its working right.

sad news. he was acting fine last night and i found him this morning dead. he has this odd white bulge on the side of his body right below his dorsal fin, and his left fin looks way worse than it ever has. his vent is huge and a weird brownish gray color. i just feel horrible becuase he looked like he was doing so well. my second attempt at f8's gone horribly awry. maybe i should just stick with fresh water puffers for a while.

I'm really sorry for your loss... I had to lose 3 F8s to learn the lesson, nowadays I have healthy F8. Don't give up, we're here to help.

thanks. i have my eye on a fang's puffer right now. a LFS near me got a large shipment of them a week or two ago. the one's that survived the initial shipment are actually doing really well. working on getting a tank for them (have my bio teacher asking the school if he can give me one or a few of the spare fish tanks they have lying around and haven't used in 5+ years or so) and hope to get it set up soon if i can get my hands on the equipment and such. i'll most likely try figure eights again eventually. possibly when i get an apartment (hopefully my junior year of college) and hope to get everything right that time. thanks for all the help everyone. i really appreciate it.

Oh, I'm sorry. That's awful. Don't give up, though.

Hope your next try goes better! Puffers, in general, can be hard to keep healthy. My first attempts killed 2 puffers while the third (actually one of the original 2 I got) is still healthy and happy 1 year later.

My advice for next time is to have a 20g already set up for him with as much decor and hiding spots as you can afford and have it already brackish. Drip acclimate him/her when you get home so that he can go into the brackish tank. For some reason most lfs's keep F8s and GSPs in freshwater rather than brackish, which really can set them up to be unhealthy or even die in the first few days you've got them. I always dose with IP meds (soak the food in it to make sure they actually get it inside where they need it) just as a precaution since puffers are so notorious for IPs.