The Puffer Forum

i have had 3 spotted puffers in a row happen to them. they do fine for a while, and then all the sudden they start acting lethargic, panting, and not eating. Also there was a little red thing in the gills of all 3. i thought maybe it was an injury from another puffer? but its not cuz the last one who is now the only one in the tank is sick with the SAME THING!!!!!
he just started acting wierd yesterday, and now is on the bottom and wont swim, or move, and just keeps panting:(
my tank is all normal for levals of ph, ammonia etc..., i get it tested regularly. And i have been putting in 3 tsp. of sea salt per gal.
please help!!!!!!

Welcome aboard keyfairy. Hopefully we can assist and your future posts will be to let us know how well your puffer is doing!

In order to provide the best diagnosis, we will need you to provide some additional information. The basic questions are posted in the first stickie in the hospital thread, but I am repeating them here anyway, along with a few extras. Please provide:

1) Your water parameters - temperature, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates.
This is by far the most important information you can provide!!!! Oh and test them before you even post! Don't assume, and don't try to remember what it was last week and post that. Oh and answering this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok" etc tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Feeding and water change schedule.
The real one. Not the one you'd like to adhere too. (Yeah life gets in the way for us too sometimes!)

3 ) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so.
Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

4) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it?

5) How long have you had the fish?

6) Size of your tank, other inhabitants, filtration and any unique items that may be in use as decorations (i.e. rocks found by the local pond, painted vases, etc.)?

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

From the information you've provided so far, some possibilities are gill flukes, ammonia poisoning or some other contaminants in the water. You said that the parameters are normal (a subjective term, we need numbers), so I'm leaning toward gill flukes at the moment. Are the gills just red and swollen or can you see something hanging from the gill area that looks like a small worm?

Were all four GSPs in the same tank and this is the only one left or have you purchased four of them at different times and all had ended up with the same symptoms?

Post answers to as many of these questions as you can and any other information that you think might be important for us to know. In the meantime, you might want to do a water change (after testing and posting current water parameters of course). Having a clean environment is one of the most important parts of any treatment (or disease prevention) plans.

ybenormal's reply is right on target. Get the water numbers, but gill flukes seems like the most likely cause unless it is ammonia poisoning. Also, I just want to double check, but you are using Marine/Saltwater Aquarium salt mix and not just sea salt, right? We're talking Instant Ocean or Red Sea are what you want for BW...but I digress.

It would also be useful to know exactly at what specific gravity your water is for the puffs.

If it is gill flukes, hopefully someone here on the board will have experience treating them and suggest a good medicine. I've only tried treating them once, but the fish was too sick with other issues and didn't make it.

Eric

There's quite a lot on gill flukes here if you do a search, but wait till you have a positive ID before treating with anything. I reckon it's flukes, but answer all the Q's as fully as poss and we'll take it from there.
Pami.

Thanks for all your help, guys, but my poor dear puff died last night! From what you're telling me, i think it was gill flukes...all three of the puffs were purchased from the same place, and all three had the exact same sytmptoms...panting, swollen gills, and little red things poking out.
Oh well, i guess now i know for next time, and i'll be able to save them if it happens again.
I'm not sure of my water parameters right now, bucuz i had it tested at a friend's fish store. next time i go in to get it tested, i will ask her to write it down. What are the parameters that you guys reccomend?

Since my fish most likeyly did have gill flukes, do you recomend that i re-start the tank (are the contagious...like if i put a new puffer in right now, could he get it from being in the same water that the sick puffs were in?) or is the tank okay as it is?

I also will purchase a saltiness measuring thing, so i know the specific gravity of my water, since i havent been doing that, just puttnig 3 teaspoons of salt in per gal. whenver i changed water.

Thanks for all your help!!

Sorry we couldn't help and the little guy didn't make it.

Targetted parameters:
ammonia - zero
nitrites - zero
nitrates - ideally as close to zero as possible, under 20 as a rule and panic if it approaches 50
temp - depends on the puffer type but generally around 78-79
PH - 7.8-8.4 (steady)

You really should buy your own test kit. They are not that expensive and having one around might help save the life of your fish one day.

I've never had gill flukes in any of my tanks (AFAIK), so I will defer to others about treating the tank.

"saltiness measuring thing' (:lol:) is a hydrometer or a refractometer. Hydrometers are relatively cheap and available as a floating glass tube or a plastic box with a swing-arm gauge. The swing-arm type is easiest of the two to use and costs less than $10 in many stores. Make sure that the one you buy has a scale that starts at 1.000. Many of them start at 1.010. Refractometers are really cool and very accurate but cost quite a bit more.

Be sure to read the GSP articles (and others) in the library if you haven't already!

Sorry for all your problems. I suggest you consider purchasing your puffers somewhere else.