The Puffer Forum

Hi All
Very new to forum (approx 1 minute) however I need some urgent advice.
Stupidly my boyfreind and I bought a puffer from our lfs that was marked as a topaz puffer, freashwater and peaceful as I had been looking for a sap for about 4 months I was overjoyed at finding an alternative.
So getting him home I found that what i have bought actually appears to be Tetraodon fluviatilis (I will post pics when I introduce myself propaerly on the forum) and he is in my freashwater community tank.... agh.... he was being kept in freashwater at the petshop and I couldn't bare to take him back because I thought he would just get sold on to another unsuspecting puffer lover. So I am now getting a tank made so I can introduce him to brackish water as this should happen before the end of the month.
Anyway he has now broken out in the worse case of white spot I have ever seen with the rest of my tank, I've read the article and I'm not sure if to use meds as it is so bad. Could anyone offer some advice regarding this horrible situation that I've got myself and my puffer into.

Welcome, here is a article I would like you to read

library/hospital/fwich/#more-87

As the article that PolishPuff linked suggests, your best bet is to treat with marine salt and higher temperatures. Your fluviatilis (if that's indeed what your fish is) can take full marine conditions quite well, and if it's possible to get him drip acclimated (over 5-6 hours) to full saltwater, do that because it would pretty much fix him up as freshwater ich cannot survive even moderately brackish water. If you cannot get him into full saltwater, get him into water that is above 1.009 specific gravity, which should still work well to rid him of ich.

I'm in chat right now, if you want to join and talk about this.

What size tank are you transferring him into? I hope it is large, as that will dilute the waste in there, since the tank won't be cycled. This will stress the puffer even worse & it may not have a chance. Your best bet for placing in an uncycled tank is dilution & lots of water changes. Be prepared with lots of salt & buckets to premix it in.

I'm sorry your first introduction has to be in regards to a problem with whitespot (ich). I hope your puffer recovers soon, as well as the rest of your fish!

Yes, thanks for reminding me--just because your puffer is the only fish showing signs of the parasite & you remove it from the tank, doesn't mean you don't need to treat the rest of your fish for this problem. The parasite is in the water & the 1st time any of your fish stress, they will become infected.

Thank you for the replies. My other fish are showing signs! ITS EVERYWHERE! Also new tank is being made ans i'm not suggesting moving him for 2 weeks or so!

Then start immediately treating as recommended in the article here in our Library. It may not be too late to save them all.

I've started with th water changes and I have started with aquarium salt however another member informed me that marine salt is better so I'll be getting some of that when our shops open tomorrow morning.

No, marine salt is for the BW fish. since the rest of your fish are FW, I'd go with the aquarium salt or even table salt is fine. When you get the puffer's tank ready, you can use marine salt. See the cycling articles in our Library for the new tank.

For freshwater puffers, it is recommended to use 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons of aquarium water, while gradually raising the temperature to 86 degrees F. Continue with this for a period of one month, adding back 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons of aquarium water that you remove during water changes.

Also does anyone know if this is an american or uk gallon

US