The Puffer Forum

Hi. I have a 30g saltwater tank with a 4" porcupine pufferfish (Diodon nicthemerus), a 3" picasso Trigger and a 3" yellow tang. Theres about 40Lbs of live rock, and a small carbon filter running. A simple flourescent light is all i have for lighting. The Puffer came down with a ich attack, so I raised the temperature, lowered the salinity to about 1.09 gravity, and added some copper sulfate. Now the white ich spots have dissappeared, and there are dark patches on his skin that I could only describe as scarring from the ich. Since the ich dissappeared, he has lost his appetite and will only eat a feeder fish a day or so. Also, his fins are starting to turn a reddish tint starting at the base. I'm not sure what to do.. raise the salinity? Nitrite,Nitrate, ammonia and PH tests are normal. Please someone help me I love this fish and don't know what to do next!!

Okay. First I need your exact parameters.
Second the tanks is waaayyy to small to be housing those fish. A porcupine puffer alone requires up to a 100 gallon tank.
Third you never ever ever want to treat puffers with copper. They are super sensitive to copper. Also you should never treat your main tank, get a quarantine and treat them there.
Now please don't take any of this as me being rude or disrespectful because that is not how it is meant. Stating the basics is the easiest way for me to explain things.
Now, did you remove the carbon when you treated the tank? Also what was the salinity before you started the treatment? 1.009 is way too low to drop the gravity. I would have taken it down to 1.018 or so. Have you done any water changes since the treatment? I recommend doing 75%-90% now, and then 20%-30% every two weeks. Now in the meanwhile, you will need to reconsider your stocking. There are too many large fish for this small tank. Can you get a larger tank?
Again this is no disrespect, just trying to get to the bottom of this.

Also, you are going to have to drip (acclimate) these fish back to whatever your salt water is. (1.021 or so?)

We've never used copper sulfate, but our reference sources say that copper sulfate will kill salt water filter bacteria and may also kill much of the life growing in and on your live rock. The hyposalinity also has the potential to kill your live rock or filter bacteria. It would be a good idea to check all your water parameters, especially ammonia, as described in the red text above, and also do a hydrogen sulfide test if you have or can get a test kit. If a hydrogen sulfide test isn't available you may want to lift a piece or two out and give them a sniff. If they smell faintly sulfurous (like eggs gone bad) your live rock could be poisoning the water. If your rock and filter bacteria are dead, your ammonia levels could reach lethal levels in less than 24 hours.

We aren't the most experienced people on this forum. To get the best attention to your hospital question it helps to answer all the questions in red at the top of the page.

I've been working on getting a larger tank for months now, but recent events have made this financially difficult. I did remove the carbon from the filter, so it was just a plain sponge. 1.09 is the gravity my fish store dude said to go to.

I have been browsing the hospital section of this forum for a couple hours now and I now think he might be suffering lockjaw. His mouth is constantly open. I have never fed him on krill, but his diet is made up of fresh clams and some feeder goldfish.
Do starving puffer's fins begin to turn reddish?

Also thank you for your help so far.

Marcello wrote:I've been working on getting a larger tank for months now, but recent events have made this financially difficult. I did remove the carbon from the filter, so it was just a plain sponge. 1.09 is the gravity my fish store dude said to go to.

I have been browsing the hospital section of this forum for a couple hours now and I now think he might be suffering lockjaw. His mouth is constantly open. I have never fed him on krill, but his diet is made up of fresh clams and some feeder goldfish.
Do starving puffer's fins begin to turn reddish?

Also thank you for your help so far.

What is your ammonia level? Is your fish breathing faster than usual and hanging out near bubble streams or at the output of your filtration? Swimming with the mouth open is a common sign of gill stress. Ich and ammonia can be a lethal combination. If you haven't tested your water parameters, please do so.

My 1st guess is the copper has burned the puffer's skin--very common with improper copper treatments on puffers. Did you monitor the copper closely?

2nd, please post your exact water parameters as of right now: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH & SG.

1.009 is the correct SG for treating SW crypt (ich) but how long did it take you to arrive to that SG?

I agree completely about the overstocking--this must be remedied asap, as another reason your puffer could have red fins is from bacterial infection, due to overstocking/poor water conditions.

He is gone now. Thank you for all your help.

Sorry for your loss.

We are both very sorry to hear that you lost your fishie. It's always heart rendering and too many people don't understand feeling love for a fish.
Robert and Anne

So sorry about your porc!

I am sorry for your loss.
Keep your head up because you still have 2 other fish that are in danger from overstocking.

Yellow tang is gone too. Not surprising because he and the puffer were the ones hit hard by the ich. The Trigger is strangely unaffected by it. Ammonia level is zero. How quickly can I safely raise the salinity?

about .002 a week.

Either that or take him out and put him in a bucket with a bit of the tank water, add new water up to the appropriate salinity in the tank then acclimate him up, it will probably take about 3 hours. Don't remove all of the water though, probably about 80%.