The Puffer Forum

Hi, I have had a MBU for 1.5 years (jimmy). He was like my pet dog until 2/2008, when he began acting strange. He would no longer wait for me (would dart away actually) and he really lost his appetite. He has periods when he seems a little better but generally not. I keep a close eye on my levels. My tank is 75 gallons-I know a bit small right now. Water is fresh, ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0, nitrites are low, 80 degrees, ph 7.6-7.8. No other creatures in tank. HELP!!

Has he been dewormed? What size is he? Good the parameters are fine. How often do you do water changes? Him being in a small tank I believe could have adverse behavior from him.

Can you answer any of the other Qs above? How big is he? Diet? Decor?

Thanks for respondidng! He is about 6", diest is worms and snails mostly, although occasional frozen shrimp. Decor is three caves of rock with alot of room to swim. I did deworm via ___a couple months ago-sorry about not recalling the product . He rarely is white on the belly but seems active like regular. Are there other water parameters I should be monitoring or etc.. Thanks

What is your nitrate? 75g is fine for now at 6" but when are you upgrading?

I have read about fatty liver disease, some of the symptoms seem to fit. He's ben this way for 8 months so I think he may have died by now from that-any chance of a live problem? I fed him 2 worms a day until then.

Worms are fine, it's feeders that are the biggest problem.

sorry to hijack, but i thought mbu's were supposed to grow at an inch per month for the first year. So shouldnt this puff be fully grown by now? Sorry im probably completely wrong..

I have read they can grow up to 12 inches a year on other fish forums posted by members. I can not find any articles with MBU growth span. Stunting his growth could be the problem.

This was posted here with the same info you have indie: viewtopic.php?f=56&p=148618

He is still eating, semi active, been dewormed....no obvious illness. Tank size might be the problem. What size tank are you going to upgrade him to and when?

An MBU owner had his for 2 years at 17 inches.

the inch a month rule isn't a rule, i would say that rule is a best case scenario kind of thing, thats potentially how fast they can grow

Hi all, he isn't eating anything for 3-4 days. Mostly swimming up and down the glass. I did a 35% h20 change yesterday. He is black on bottom or at least grey almost all the time. I just can't get a grip on this.

he does sound very very small for his age my 2 month mbu is 3" now.

what colour is the skirt of his belly? and around his beak?

what does his waste look like?

I was under the impression he was eating...It seems that your water parameters are good from what you posted. Perhaps he caught something from the live worms?? Or the IP meds didn't work?? It's a guess. Him in a small tank for an MBU will only add to the stress. I'm sorry he is not well.

Thanks for your concern. His belly is mostly dark. I actually don't see his waste, don't know if I ever have actually. I had a big goldfish for 3 years and his waste was like a jet trail-could see from across the room. I did get a buch of worms from a friend who picked from her yard-it was after this that he started to act different. Should I try to deworm again? What should I use to do this? Thank you again

Yard worms often have fertilizers and pesticides in them - they can definately make a puffer sick, though they're a very unlikely source for IPs.