The Puffer Forum

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Hi Folks. I need some serious help... I have a porc puffer who got his head stuck (even tho iNtake is covered in fiberglass screen!!!) Unfortunately this all took place yesterday while I was out of town. I had a friend stop by just to feed and make sure all was OK. He called me and said puffers head was stuck in intake tube of my Aquaclear 110....I told him to turn the filter off and the puffer was able to free himself.. I thought maybe my buddy just thought he was stuck because puffer likes to lay on rocks sometimes and just lounge. I just walked in the door and he looks terrible I feel so stupid like this was such a stupid rookie mistake...One of his blue eyes is completely whit he just has a circle about the size of a quarter where his color is somewhat normal..His spikes are also standing up in this area...He is stil moving around but I tried to entice him with some Krill which he usually cannot resist and he shows no interest....Is there anything I can do or is my favorite fish doomed due to my incomprehensible stupidity....PLEASE ADVISE!!!!!!!

Is there anything else in the tank? Do you have a spare tank to move him to so that you can treat him with melafix? Or does the tank just have lr in that case I believe you can use melafix in the main tank. Not sure if you can use it if you have corals.

edmlfc1 wrote:Is there anything else in the tank? Do you have a spare tank to move him to so that you can treat him with melafix? Or does the tank just have lr in that case I believe you can use melafix in the main tank. Not sure if you can use it if you have corals.

No unfortunately I don't have a spare tank to isolate him. The tank also contains other fish and corals.

Agreed, the best things at the moment are clean, clean water and Melafix, but I don't know for sure if Melafix is safe for corals or live rock. I do know it will foam up big time so if you have a skimmer you'd need to turn it off.

If he's not improving in a few days, you'll probably want to try some antibiotics, but that can be bad for your biofilter as well, so best done in a hospital tank.

Don't beat yourself up over this, it happens. You even tried to cover the intake. Just keep that water very very clean (lots of water changes) so he can heal up with a low risk of infection.

I believe Melafix is safe for corals but I can't guarantee that. You definately should turn off your skimmer. Why are you using an Aquaclear? Why isn't the intake screen on it? What other foods are you feeding him? Puffers are prety resiliant & he should recover.

Also, if you haven't had your water tested, you might want to do so.

Puffers are very strong swimmers and really, should be able to avoid getting their head stuck in a filter intake. When this happens, its usually because they are feeling weak and/or sick.. so make sure your water is clean, they don't handle water with high nitrates well at all.

Pufferpunk wrote:I believe Melafix is safe for corals but I can't guarantee that. You definately should turn off your skimmer. Why are you using an Aquaclear? Why isn't the intake screen on it? What other foods are you feeding him? Puffers are prety resiliant & he should recover.

I run a Pro Clear 150 wet dry with Bio Balls and also have a 10 gal Refugium with Miracle Mud LR and Calupera. On one of the other boards someone swears by the aquaclears..I have the foam insert and nitrate package, no Carbon...I also run a protein skimmer. The down tube end is covered by fiberglass sreen which I thought would be sufficent...Apparently not! He eats a wide variety of foods My homemade food consists of Raw shrimp, Clams,Mysis,Brine,and Vita chem. For a trea he gets Dried krill soaked in Vita chem, Which he goes nuts over...He is spoiled rotten and he is my favorite fish. Even though he bites my fingers every chance he gets.He hasn't eaten since Tuesday...How long can the little guys go without food??

Myaj wrote:Also, if you haven't had your water tested, you might want to do so.

Puffers are very strong swimmers and really, should be able to avoid getting their head stuck in a filter intake. When this happens, its usually because they are feeling weak and/or sick.. so make sure your water is clean, they don't handle water with high nitrates well at all.

He seemed fine before this happened. My parameters are Sal 1.024, Calc 380, kh 8.4,phos 0, nitrates 20 ppm,, I do 20 % water changes weekly to keep nitrates down I just can't get to 0 no matter what I do.

See the Vitamin C thread for reducing nitrate. How often do you rinse that sponge? they can hold nitrate in them.

If there is a screen covering the intake, I don't understand how he got damaged. I also use AC filters as a fuge for 2 of my smaller tanks.

Pufferpunk wrote:See the Vitamin C thread for reducing nitrate. How often do you rinse that sponge? they can hold nitrate in them.

If there is a screen covering the intake, I don't understand how he got damaged. I also use AC filters as a fuge for 2 of my smaller tanks.

I rinse my sponge weekly with RO DI water and replace every 4-6 weeks.
I know alot of my nitrate issue is bioload problem...I started off too fast without doing enough research.
1 Porc puffer
2 Damsels
2 False perc clowns
1 Foxface
1 Sand sifting gobie
1 sailfin tang