The Puffer Forum

My MBU (~14inches) seems to be having problems floating. He has to really try hard to get to the surface. It use to be he could float around effortlessly and would greet me at the surface anytime I walked by. Now when I see him try to get to the surface it requires a lot of effort. Water quality is ideal, 0 0 30. And he is still eating well, I just have to drop the food down to him. He sees the food falling and still gets excited. Problem started several days after a water change but I don't know if it is related.

Tank is well cycled 150 gallon with an FX5 and large sponge filter
no changes had been made around the time the issues surfaced
Eats several shrimp a day eagerly (any suggestions on SAFE foods to feed would be appreciated
150 gallon 48x24x31 and besides the MBU I have a few small guppies and a Chinese algae eater. Mostly bear bottom with a pot of plants I may remove due to lack of light.

I have someone with a larger tank interested in purchasing my puff and want to make sure he is well before the exchange.

He might be eating gravel, if he's eating off the bottom, have you ever seen that occur?

Sorry, just updated my post with more details. The bottom of the tank is mostly bear and the substrate is soilmaster select. a light clay good for plants. He doesn't spend much time near the substrate part of the tank so i'd say it's unlikely.

Read about burping your puffer in our Library.

It must be getting late You got it backwards, he's not floating, he has trouble getting off the bottom, like he's weighted down with something.

Oops, it's getting late, I better go to sleep & start reading again in the morning.

Pufferpunk wrote:Oops, it's getting late, I better go to sleep & start reading again in the morning.

bless...


With goldfish, over eating and constipation can give them swimbladder problems, constipation presses on the swimbladder and they either get stuck on the bottom or float at the surface...

maybe the same with puffers (shot in the dark here..)

have you seen him poo? Is it live Daphnia that act as a laxative.. i think it is.. maybe worth a try?

I've added some Epsom salt as he has been stuffed up before but he wasn't eating at the time. He is quite hungry now. I'm not sure where I'd find live daphnia. And come to think of it, I haven't seen any poo lately

Daphnia is so tiny--I can't imagine a fish that large bothering with them. Epsom salt is the way to go with constipation. 1tbsp/10g.

Pufferpunk wrote:Daphnia is so tiny--I can't imagine a fish that large bothering with them. Epsom salt is the way to go with constipation. 1tbsp/10g.

i did wonder about that.. but didn't know of anything else that would work..

just that it happens to goldfish and that solves it.....


(i'll be dead proud if i'm actually right here! )

Well I don't know if the Epsom salt had anything to do with it but I did see some poo today. No change though

How do you prepare clams and muscles for puffers?

ok not a mbu expert here but if he is large enough i think they can eat just raw with the shell on, but if it seems to large then i would assume just remove the shell and serve raw.

I was hoping to provide him something to trim his beak on. I think the clams I bought are too thick for him. he's tried and failed once or twice to eat one. But the muscles are too thin and he tends to eat alot of the shell. Which also may be part of the problem.

Crack it open. When he eats the meat out of it, his teeth will scrape on the shell. Be sure to freeze for 48 hours before thawing in vitamin water, to kill off any nasties.

was watching the puff today and noticed this sore on his fin. Thankfully the botom of the tank is bear so I can take these pics



It appears to be right where the puff rests and may be a sort of bed sore due to him not swimming well.
He is still eating well though.

I was wondering if putting the substrate back as it was might help even out the load on his underside and keep the sore from forming. or would it simply make it more difficult for him to slide across the bottom. Might it simply upset the wound?