The Puffer Forum

My poor dogface has some kind of parasite either ich or velvet, the spots are like tiny little pimples and very hard to see, grey in color and are on his sides in a cluster, he also scratches on things, so im assuming velvet. Anyways i know i cant use copper, i've got "Rid Ich" and "Formalin 3" both by kordon. and i've got a feeling these are bad too. I dont have $120 bucks for a refractometer so im not sure what to do. Perform hyposalinity with arm type hydrometer? any thoughts?

I do not have marine Puffers but I have other very sensitive marine fish. Do you have a hospital tank? Any treatment would best be done in a hospital tank rather than your display tank. Hyposalinity is a good treatment but the salinity has to be raised very slowly once you are finished. Freshwater dips are good for some types of parasites but I do not think they work well for Ick/Itch. I've successfully treated fry for protozoans using Methylene Blue baths OR Formalin baths. Hopefully, someone who's had to treat a marine Puff will chime in with their suggestions.

You really need a refractometer for a SW tank. FW dips & hyposalinity are best for marine external parasites.

Premium Aquatics sells a good refractometer for $44.95:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... Hydrometer

You really need a refractometer for a SW tank.

Why? They work better sure, I use one at work every day, at home though I don't really see a need. My trusty old swing arm hydrometer (even after I stepped on it and glued it back together) has kept me happy for many years. I'd really think of this more as a "nice to have", take your hydrometer to your LFS and have them compare it against a refractomer. Even if it is off, you'll know by how much and can plan accordingly.

I don't like doing hypo salinity in a display tank, you are really likely to toast your bio filter. 2 minute FW dips every other day will help keep this at bay but may stress the fish to the point that it's immune system starts to shut down. How big is the fish? For a little one I'd do a 3 to 7 day hyposalinity (~1.010) in a rubbermaid tub or something with an Aquaclear on it.

If you do have to do hypo in your main tank make sure you have some way of preserving part of your bio filter, put a sponge in a bucket or something so you have it for when your salinity starts to come back up.

take your hydrometer to your LFS and have them compare it against a refractomer. Even if it is off, you'll know by how much and can plan accordingly.

Yes, that will work too.

right now i have two 20G quarantine tanks with a dogface puffer, snowflake eel, scooter blenny(dragonet) and a lawnmower blenny. just because this disease sucks so much i think i will keep them all in those tanks for 2 months, what about my hermits and live rock in the main tank? will the ich just infect them and come right back later down the road? by the way the dogface is the only one who has shown white spots in the month that i've known of the infection. im thinking of putting the live rock and crabs in quarantine, put the fish back in the main tank, and do hypo on the main. oh and thank you everyone for replying to my helpless threads i really appreciate it

I got ick a couple of times.. used an expensive soultionm that is cool with live coral andit took a week to go away....then I found that turning the temp up a few degrees for a few days killed it nicely. I have two fish on one 100 gallon tank...the trigger gets ick on occasion and it disapears in a day if I keep the temp up around 82-84. I just saw a tiny spot on his fin today and guess what? The temp is 80...it has been cold and foggy here in SF this week.

ybenormal wrote:Premium Aquatics sells a good refractometer for $44.95:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant ... Hydrometer

Thanks for the link. The LFS wanted to sell me that exact same model for $110 bucks today. Time for me to place an order

You're welcome. Someone posted the link in the old forum before the crash. I purchased one and it is much more accurate and easier to use than a swing-arm hydrometer.

The only thing I did not like was the very small plastic pipette that provided with the kit. No problem though. I purchased a pack of 6 larger, longer pipettes from a local hobby store for under 3 bucks and threw the small one in the trash.