The Puffer Forum

Well I got my little 3 inch Porcupine Puffer over a week ago. Then we got hit by the icestorm, and during the middle of that while the tank was with out power I noticed little white dots on his fins. Not small like ich, but still something was there. About that Thursday, I had a skimmer accident and I lost at least 20g all soaked up in the carpet. Friday we got power again, so we emptied the tank and moved it out so we could try and help the carpets and prevent anything funky from growing in the carpets. I moved all my fish into clear plastic containers, except my porcupine puffer. I moved him into a 20g tall I had laying around. I also figured this would give me a chance to treat whatever he has.
Anyways, I kinda guessed it was ich, so I've been trying to treat it with medication. Then I stopped for a reason I'll explain. I asked for conformation if my puffer had ich on another forum, and I got everything that it could possibly have but nothing for sure. They said it may be ich, lym...?.., bacterial infection(looks a lil pink under T-5's), or it could just dots.

So I figured I'll join this forum and get the right info from the experts. So, is it just dots? Is it ich? I'll post some pics in a second, but it's hard to tell from them. It's not small white stuff like ich, and it's not in just one area of the fins like lym...?..; Oh, and I forgot to mention, it's only in the back tail. I've read that they may try to shake it off, and I did observe Saturday the puffer going down to the middle of one wall, the quickly swimming up, and repeated this several times.

Welcome to the forum
What size tank was he in? How long has it been established? Any pics?
Sounds like it could be cysts cause from stress and/or bad water quality. Do a few 50%+ water changes over the next few days and see if it helps.

Seeing pictures will definitely help. The swimming up and down is called "pacing" and could be because he is stressed. Is he still in quarantine? Is he eating?

Yes it is still in the 20g QT tank. It is eating frozen mysis shrimp and small pellets. I had difficult getting it to fed, so I tried everything.

also it's not as pink as it looks in the pics.

I really cannot see too well, to me he looks okay. If it is Lymphosistis virus, it is a very common viral disease. It is not usually a danger to any affected fish but it is highly contagious and unsightly. Although there is no treatment for this disease eventually the cysts will erupt and disappear and the fish develops an immune response to the disease. New fish placed in the same aquarium may suffer from it. Even fish that have had it in the past may get a repeat infection if they are subjected to stress. It is very rarely fatal.
If it was ich it would be all over his body. I would just do some water changes and keep him in quarantine for a few more days. I think as long as he is eating and he is acting social and hasn't lost coloration that he will be fine.
Check your parameters though to make sure everything is okay before you put him back in.

I would just keep his water as clean as possible & be sure to feed him a healthy, varied diet soaked in good marine vitamins, like Selcon.

The fins appear to have "dusting" ....strongly suggestive of external parasites. This does not look like the viral disease process - lymphocystis.

He looks really cute, though!

Makes me want a Porcy... now if only I could afford a large tank and the space to work with.

Sooooooooooooooooooooo, what? What does my puffer have? My emperor angel got it too for a day then it went away. I added Rich Ich and it went away on the angel.

Treat him for ich and if that doesn't help then it could be Lymphosistis virus. And do what PP suggested, get him on some vitamins and keep his water clean. Like I said before it is not a fatal virus.

Nothing on you Chin but I'd do whatever Puffer Queen says.

I agree. When it comes to marine's PufferQueen is the one to look too. Follow that advice if I were you

Pufferpunk wrote:Nothing on you Chin but I'd do whatever Puffer Queen says.

Sorry about that. Not a problem at all. I have no problem admitting that someone is more experienced. All that matters is the little fish get well. Good Luck!

Yes I know to trust Puffer Queen. Seen her knowledge on other sites as well.
Ok I'll continue treating with Rich Ich and continue feeding enchanced foods. Hey Puffer Queen, I'm Charger21_SD on SRC and other sites if you didn't know.