The Puffer Forum

Hi guys, i recently purchased a 5 inch mbu puffer for my 250g tank. This morning when i checked , 'she' seemed to be producing this yellow sacs covered in a cloudy white membrane. So far she has produced one and another one is kind stuck to her body. Are those mbu eggs? or is it their poop

Dont worry my water is completely cycled (if you remembered me from previous threads)

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Temp 24 C
pH 6.8

Tankmates: 2 clown loaches

If you have 0 nitrates that indicates that the tank isn't cycled..

Pufferpoo. Sounds like possible internal parasites. Could you tell us more about your tank? Just in case, I'm going to move this to the Hospital forum, so you can answer the Qs above in red.

busybones wrote:If you have 0 nitrates that indicates that the tank isn't cycled..

Its hard to differentiate the 0ppm and the 10ppm using the API liquid test kit because both levels are yellow but the 10ppm is just abit more yellow. I monitored the water for a week after the cycling was completed and im quite positive that the water is pretty stable.

Yea i was reading the thread and i was thinking it could be internal parasites..i added some primafix though...do i need to get a de wormer or something?

thanks!

Pufferpunk wrote:Pufferpoo. Sounds like possible internal parasites. Could you tell us more about your tank? Just in case, I'm going to move this to the Hospital forum, so you can answer the Qs above in red.

okay i bought the puffer from a guy off another forum. When i went to collect the puffer, it was living with a bunch of other fish (arowanas, black angels, tigerfish, a few huge clown loaches). There are some blotches on its skin which im sure its due to the stress from living with so many other fish. The guy was saying that the puffer didnt dare to swim up because the arowana would bump into him..

Now i transferred the puffer to my tank. My tankmates is just 2x 4 inch loaches and 1 small sucker fish. My tank is coverd with sand and theres some plants inside. Quite a simple set up.

Im quite sure i answerd most of the questions. I added some primafix and some melafix. The decholrinator that i use is seachem prime. The tank has been cycling for 6 weeks. In fact the ammonia and nitrites already dropped to zero about a week ago.

I was cycling the tank with 14 tiger barbs which survived the cycling pretty well and i have returned the fish to the LFS (Sorry about this)

Read this article on Internal parasites. It will give you some treatment/prevention options and will also help you determine if your fish has IPs

library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/

What were you using the pima/melafix for?

From the way you talk, it sounds like you really care about this fellow.

Yup pufferpunk, im hoping that my mbu would become as healthy and cheerful as those that you see in youtube . I removed another puffer poo a few minutes ago, its like a white opaque tiny ball. Its rather solid...

As of now, the puffer is just staying on the substrate but keeps flattering its fins. The back tail is closed up and its body is covered in brown blotches I will give it a few days to settle down. Maybe its still adjusting to my tank. Hmm i added some mela and prima as a precautionary measure as i just acquired the puffer a few days ago..

Yea i read up the article on the internal parasite. As of now, the mbu is not eating. I went to my LFS but i couldnt find the metronidazole or levamisole hydrocholoride. Is there any specific brand? so that its easier for me to look for it?

hey guys, i found some treatments that i can order..

Salifert Flatworm exit
http://freshnmarine.com.sg/estore/produ ... ts_id=1346

Waterlife OCTOZIN
http://freshnmarine.com.sg/estore/produ ... cts_id=903

Waterlife Sterazin
http://freshnmarine.com.sg/estore/produ ... cts_id=911

Just wondering if any of you guys here are familiar with this treatments? Thanksz Anyway, my puffer started to open its tail fin just now !! its a good sign !

Have you previously seen normal mbu puffer poo? These fish deposit sacs of poo in mucus coatings, which is great water protection device for the keeper. My mbu tank was the only FW one vacuumed every day - because I could usually catch the poos with the Python before they broke up - don't try netting them out, they are very fragile and disintegrate easily at a touch. Switch to a different color food and see if the poo changes color. It might not hurt to try this before you start a treatment program on the fish.

Do you know what the prior owner was feeding? And what are you feeding? Large FD krill, pre-soaked in vitamin solution while rehydrating, tend to produce pink to orangish poo. Multiple large ramshorns snails at a feeding tend to produce brownish poo, frozen Alaskan crab legs (thawed in vitamin solution), produce light pink poo, etc. The fish's output reminds you what you fed recently.

The fish is much too small to produce eggs - by a factor of at least 3x.

HTH

RTR wrote:Have you previously seen normal mbu puffer poo? These fish deposit sacs of poo in mucus coatings, which is great water protection device for the keeper. My mbu tank was the only FW one vacuumed every day - because I could usually catch the poos with the Python before they broke up - don't try netting them out, they are very fragile and disintegrate easily at a touch. Switch to a different color food and see if the poo changes color. It might not hurt to try this before you start a treatment program on the fish.

Do you know what the prior owner was feeding? And what are you feeding? Large FD krill, pre-soaked in vitamin solution while rehydrating, tend to produce pink to orangish poo. Multiple large ramshorns snails at a feeding tend to produce brownish poo, frozen Alaskan crab legs (thawed in vitamin solution), produce light pink poo, etc. The fish's output reminds you what you fed recently.

The fish is much too small to produce eggs - by a factor of at least 3x.

HTH

The previous owner was feeding it market prawns and even frogs..i did manage to net out the poo and its really solid. When i throw it away, it makes a tiny 'thud' sound .

btw the puffer is not eating yet, i think hes still adjusting to my tank but hes slowly beginning to open up hes tail fin..hes still moving only around the substrate and not really swimming up. I think hes not swimming up is due to hes previous upkeeping which i described in one of my post above. Well, theres no arowanas to bump him in this tank lol hope he realises it soon enough i read one of the post in the forums and i was mentioned that if the poo was opaque white, it was almost certain that it was IP. hope it gets better tomorrow.

btw can you recommend me a vitamin solution to use?

Just to add, the last meal that was fed to him was the frog when he was with the previous owner. Could the frog be the one which caused the internal parasites? I dont know about you guys but personally i wldnt want to feed a frog to any of my fishes. They are just not 'clean' to me

I use Vita-Chem. Here is a link for you.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=4998

Have to agree with RTR, I am questioning parasites. To me it sounds like he may be constipated vs having IP's. How does the fish look? Does he look malnourished? Does he look distressed other than the discoloration (which sounds like stress of transfer and having tank mates). The melafix could be causing issues too, make sure you have extra oxygenation in there.