The Puffer Forum

I have a porcupine puffer who appears to be ill in my tank. Two days ago I noticed that he had a white patch around his eye. This white puffy patch has spread to his whole face and belly. One of his eyes are cloudy while the other is fine. Here are the specifics of my tanks:

Water Parameters
pH: ok range
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: 1.025-1.025
Tank Size: 180
List of All Inhabitants: Picasso trigger, clown trigger, niger trigger, 2 foxface rabbits, 1 maroon clown, 1 cleaner wrasse, 1 princess parrot, 1 blueface angel, 1 yellow tang, 1 panther grouper, 1 zebra moray, 1 snowflake moray, 1 banded moray, 1 flame hawk, 1 algae blenny.
Feeding Schedule: once a day (brine shrimp, krill, silversides (every other day), mysis shrimp mixture with garlic and zoe
Water change Schedule: once every 2 weeks of 10 gallons
List of all Produces Use or Have Used in Tank:
Changes Made to Tank in the Last Week: nothing
How long aquarium has been set up: 1.5 years
How tank is cycled: live rock


Does anyone know what could possibly be wrong with my puffer? Should I put him in a low salinity hospital tank?

Thanks for any help!!

is that 180 litre or gallons?

have you tested for nitrate, if so what is the reading please?

the nitrates are 0 and it is a 180 gallon tank

there is a post on here somewhere about colour change on a porc. i will go and see if i can find a link. It maybe be nothing like what is wrong with yours but worth a look i think. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on marine puffers can help you in the meantime.

Ok it was a black patch that this link is refering to but take a look anyhow!
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15299
Hope you get some more help soon

Can you post a picture of the porc? If you have a hospital it might be best to move it. I don't think hypo will work on this.
Hypo is only good for ich. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Check this out and see if any of the symptoms match your fish. It will be a good place to start.
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127010

Here's another good site with pictures.
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/disease.html

thanks for your help guys, but the puffer got really bad lookin so i put it out of its misery it was a inner bacterial infection...the frozen ziplock bag removal (like putting a pet to sleep...painless) i just couldnt see him suffer.

on a good note..all of my other fish are doing great! they all are real well. my blueface angel is looking gorgeous...she is at the final stage of changing from the juv to the adult..her body is yellow and green and her face is almst entirely blue...does anyone know if there is a good lionfish forum. i was looking at getting one for my tank butcan find the right species...russells, volitans... thanks!

Sorry for your loss. What are you doing for nitrate reduction to keep it at 0 with that kind of stocking?

Please do not add any more fish to that tank. You will need to upgrade when these fish grow to adult size as it is...

So sorry about your porc. I lost one last year, worked on her for almost 2 months. Never did find out what was wrong with her. I even treated her with copper and that didn't help. I wish you well on the rest of the fish.