The Puffer Forum

I have a 3" fahaka in my 110 with some S. American cichlids. I foolishly added a Bushy Nose pleco to the tank, as I've heard they are good algae eaters for life (his life ended up just lasting for a few more days...either the fahaka or the common pleco got him). After the untimely passing of the new pleco, I noticed that my 4 severums and 3 uarus have ich. The puffer, 2 geophagus, and the common pleco are unaffected. What should my course of action be? I had a similar situation with cichlids with ich in a tank with freshwater stingrays. Then, I removed all of the fish but the stingrays and the pleco, and medicated them. The rays and the pleco were left in the main tank, and they remained free of parasites. Can I just remove the sick fish and the puffer will be fine? I need to get rid of the cichlids anyway, as the fahaka likes to eat their fins, and I'm affraid that he'll soon like to eat their...everything. What should I do?

Dissolve 22 tablespoons of aquarium salt in a bucket of water, add it to the tank, and turn the heater up to 86 or 87 degrees. The ich will be gone in a couple weeks. Removing fish without obvious spots can get you in trouble, as they might have a hidden spot on their gills.

Okay...I've upped the temp, and I'm going to add the salt after today's water change. I've noticed that my puffer is burying himself more than normal. After getting used to the tank, he was always active and swimming around. Starting yesterday, I hardly see him, and not just after feedings. He skipped last night's feeding and this morning's feeding (though I saw him actively swimming in the interim). Is this common? Though it's terribly cute to see my little puffer's eyes poking out of the sand, it's troubling that he's not voraciously attacking any and all food that enters the tank.

He's probably just sulky from the ich bothering his skin.

Nick wrote:He's probably just sulky from the ich bothering his skin.

You can add Melafix for that but be sure to add an airstone if you do, as the higher temps will make his breathing more difficult & the Melafix even worse.

I upped the temp and added the salt, as well as doing a small water change. The puffer seems to be getting better about resting so much. I still haven't seen any signs of ich in him.

I've read somewhere that ich is kinda like the chickenpox. The fish only get it once, then they're pretty much immune. If they do get it, it's very mild. That seems to be what's happening in my tank. The severums and geophagus have had it before, and they only had a couple spots. The uarus on the other hand, seem to have it bad. Overall, I think things are getting better.