The Puffer Forum

HELP! OK, just got home from work and one of my guys looks REALLY BAD :0 I am panicking!!! He is all dark, skinny, covered with white fluff! Could that be velvet and not ich? He seemed to be getting so much better yesterday and now is crashing! He is hiding behind the pump pressed against the glass... HELP anyone?!

Hi,

I have two 1.5" GSPs who started exhibiting ich symptoms 5 days ago. I tried Aqua-sol (recommended by the fish specialist @ our pet store) but they did not respond very well so I had to discontinue (they became very dark). I assume it is due to their sensitive skin... Now the fish seem to be much better but still have the white spots... Is there any medication that is OK with GSPs but will kill the ick? I have started the salt treatments/water changes and vacuuming but am wondering if there is some help available in a bottle?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The fish are by themselves, no living plants or other critters involved.
Thank you in advance!

Please read the article on treating puffers with ich in our Library. While your there, read the one on GSPs too. These should answer most of your questions.

Dear Pufferpunk,

Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate it. I did read the article, in fact it was the first thing I read when I noticed the problem. I haven't stopped reading since There are a couple of things the article does not speak about:

- any baths that may be beneficial and what concentration of salts etc should be used in those. I also read an article about you using H202 but not sure if that's regarding bacterial infection only?
- also should I be using aquarium salt or marine? there seems to be some disagreement in the various forums I visited
- my first instinct was to try the salt treatment and raise the temp as I myself am not a big fan of medications but when the problem persisted I tried the aquari-sol and then got concerned as i read it is a nono for puffers... ehhh One of the cases seems pretty severe so I am not sure homeopathic methods will be sufficient ((
- is there a secure way to determine if it is ich or velvet, the symptoms started like ich but now one of the guys is covered in this fuzzy white stuff that makes me wonder...
Could they have both? poor babies ((

Any thoughts would be helpful, and thank you so much for the warm welcome!!! I hope Puffer and Fisher (those are my puffer's names) make it so I can share some good news soon.

Best,

Sounds like a secondary fungus attacking them, which could have happened because of damage done by the parasite, leaving their skin open to infection. Could have been caused by meds burning their skin, too. This could also be in part, from poor water quality but I don't know, because without knowing the exact water parameters & how the tank was cycled, it's hard to tell what else is going on with your puffers

Thank you Pufferpunk, I believe you were right. It must be Ich with secondary infection. Whew! I did salt and H202 baths on the puffer with the fuzz. The fuzz peeled off soon after and now he is all green again. The ich is still there so I and am keeping both in hospital tank @ 86F and medicating with daily water changes. What I found really helps is keeping them in dusk to dark light conditions. Seems to have reduced the stress significantly. Last night they both had their white bellies and were swimming calmly. This morning appetite was back to normal. I don't want to jinx them but my hope is back... Keep your fingers crossed! Will keep u posted.

Good to hear!

Yes they are stable! Will keep in the hospital for a while longer to make sure things stay the same and the display tank clears completely. REALLY REALLY appreciate your support!