The Puffer Forum

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me out here. I woke up this morning to find that my Ceylon puffer has sunken eyes, was a little darker in colour than usual, and had white salt-like specks on its body (I assume it was ich). I have since added medication for ich and hopefully that will help. There was some stringy stuff on it as well, so I added a fungus medication too. It didn't eat anything in the morning, but since I did a partial water change and added a live shrimp in, it has started eating, though its strike is a little off. It's much clumsier than usual. I would like to seek the advice of experts here as to what to do next, and also about what's causing the sunken eyes. Thank you.

Can you post a pic? Also answer the questions above in red please.

1) I only have text kits for Ammonia and Nitrites ... When last I tested prior to the water change: Ammonia - 0, Nitrites - between 0.25-0.50. Salinity - there is about 20 teaspoons of salt in the tank of about 100 L. I have tried to measure with a hydrometer, but so far the SG has remained at 1.000.

2) 100 L tank, just the Ceylon puffer.

3) Fed usually once a day, on mealworms and shrimp, not usually on the same sitting. They are rotated. Water changed about once a week. Usually 30%, though since the last incident where I measured the nitrite I changed 50% of the water. Medication added to tank: for fungus, bacteria and ich. Also about 8 spoonfulls of Oxycure since the last water change. Some chemical for clearing the water of cloudiness from floating matter, though not in the past 3 days.

4) Nothing significant comes to mind ...

5) Tank was set up a couple of weeks ago, not having been cycled properly before. Had been housed with red-eye puffers before they were moved away and the Ceylon puffer moved in.

Here's the best I can do for a photo. It keeps swimming about.



Thank you, crazedpuffer.

wow... that is odd...

nitrite reading will not be helping... sign the tank is not fulled cycled.

You need to do large daily water changes to keep the nitrite in check whilst your tank cycles properly as nitrite as it is very bad for your fish... that 'should' at least help..

you also need to mix up enough salt to make the hydrometer read 0.002.. and then increase it by 0.002 (no more) a week which should begin to work on the ich..

be careful what meds you put in as puffers are very sensitive to them... only use ones that have been checked and ok'd here..


not sure how you can treat the sunken eyes.... someone else may have had experience of this..

No clue about sunken eyes either.
Also you are using Sea salt right? Not aquarium salt?

Thanks for the response so far.

Yep, I am using sea salt.

You are using way too many chemicals in there. Start doing 50% water changes daily & add 1 cup of marine salt for every 10 gallons to the tank, replacing the salt you remove with every water change. Do this every other day. Add fresh carbon to your filter. Read the Ich treatment article in our Library for FW fish.

What are you using for substrate? How large is the fish?

Mealworms are a very poor diet for puffers. They are extremely fatty & their outer shell (chiton) is very difficult to digest. Look at the feeding articles in our Library.

Thank you, Pufferpunk.

The LFS was keeping it in pure fresh water so I didn't want to put too much salt in at once. You think it would be okay to put in that much now, eh?

I am not using any substrate, and the fish is just under 5 inches.

Oh, and it seems better today than yesterday. Its right eye is less sunken now and it seems much more active and responsive. It tends to look rather thin, so I gave it 6 or 7 live ghost shrimp to hunt just now. It got them all pretty quickly.

Get some substrate in there, preferably aragonite sand. It will buffer the pH & give a place for more good bacteria to live.

Adding the amt of salt I mentioned will only raise the SG to about 1.0025. It may also help to neutralize the nitrite. At 5", your fish should be at a SG of around 1.016-1.020. Get a hydrometer & raise the SG by .002/weekly 50% water change but in the meantime you need to do daily WC, until the nitrite remains 0.

Thanks pufferpunk. I'll follow up with that.

On a positive note, the fish is getting better by the day. The eyes look better today than yesterday. I am pretty optimistic

Thanks to all who offered advice. My fish has recovered from the sunken eyes problem. Couldn't really get a good pic of it, it's quite camera shy =P


There is another problem I am rather worried about. There appears to be a small sore/ulcer(?) of some kind on its head above the right eye. (Doesn't show in this pic though) I wonder if it may be hexamita?

Great comeback! I do not believe they get that disease. Add Melafix & keep an eye on it. Could you post a full tank shot? Why no substrate?

Also post your parameters please.

Thanks, pufferpunk. I don't know what contributed most to the recovery. It could even be due to my feeding the guy more with live shrimp. Gives it something to do. I was reluctant to feed as much before reading the articles on feeding. But it did look rather thin before that's for sure ... Not as full as it does now.

I haven't gotten round to adding the substrate yet. Will be waiting till next week to go the LFS to get some. Parameters - same as before in spite of water change. The strange thing is that nitrite level seems to be the same as before I changed the water ... I measured almost immediately. Oh, but salinity is up to 1.002. I'll do a full tank shot tomorrow. It's getting late over here. Good night everyone

Substrate will help to even out the parameters. Lots of surface area there for good bacteria to attach & grow on.

Thanks, pufferpunk.

I've got a question: with sand in there, wouldn't it be difficult to scoop up the waste matter without scooping up the sand along with it?

Also, I think the fish has tail rot. It used to be a little spot when I first got him but now the area seems to be growing. Any suggestions apart from anti-bacteria meds?