The Puffer Forum

The puffer is just sitting at the bottom of the tank. Not swimming around or doing anything. I didn't notice it looking so bad until i got home and looked at him closely in a fully lit room. Looks like his skin has been rubbed off or something. Doesn't look like Ick either. Could all he need is just some melafix? Will his skin heal up and look normal?

I can't tell... his skin looks fine to me. Yeah, add Melafix. How long have you had him? Is his tank cycled?

BTW,

I've had him for about an hour or 2 before i posted. Yes the tank is cycled. Had some cichlids living in it before i took them out. The top of his skin doesn't look too good though and is definitely not normal. It look like the stripes on top of his head and a bit of the sides have been rubbed off. Probably can't really tell because the quality on my camera phone sucks. Well, he's still just sitting on the gravel. His fins aren't really moving either.

My guess is he's just stressed out & he's showing that in his colors. Turn off the lights, add Melafix & let him rest for now. Does he have enough cover to hang out in?

Well no melafix tonight. Didn't get the chance to buy any. Will be grabbing a bottle tomorrow though. Hope he makes it till tomorrow morning.

I can't really tell from the photos, how big is he? My fahaka, who's still very small, often likes to sit under his little hideout not doing anything, sometimes he partially buries himself in the sand even.
Just a tip, when you use the Melafix, you may find it's better to add an airstone while you're adding it because it can sometimes make it more difficult for a puffer to breathe. I always make sure to have extra air going into the tank whenever I use Melafix or Pimafix, but that's just me.
And it really is a good idea to provide your Fahaka with some place he can go to rest, a cave or something, maybe a piece of bogwood placed so he can sit under it without being wedged in. Most puffers like having some place to hide and take cover, as they feel vulnerable out in the open.

Pufferpunk wrote:My guess is he's just stressed out & he's showing that in his colors. Turn off the lights, add Melafix & let him rest for now. Does he have enough cover to hang out in?

I think the same.. I also thought that when i just got my Fahaka

dont forget to remove the carbon from your filter with melafix... some ppl forget... it will remove the med if you leave it in

I never remember to tell folks that, since I never use carbon in my FW tanks.

I don't ever use carbon in my filters either PP

He just looks stressed to me, normal for a fish just moved. Hope he improves for you.

Thanks for all the replies! I put some melafix in the tank earlier today. I also took out the carbon filter and added an air stone. He is still just sitting around. I caught him sitting on a magnet cleaner near the top of the tank earlier, which i thought was pretty funny. As soon as he saw me he slowly dropped back down to the gravel... Oh yeah, he also ate one of my danios i had in there because i found half of its body on the gravel. Hopefully he gets better and more active in the next following days.

I would have taken the danios out of that tank, and any other fish that are in there. It would really be awful if your Fahaka got internal parasites from eating the danio just as he was getting better. I'd keep an eye out for signs of IP's, just to be safe.

He just looks stressed to me my fahaka gets those colours when i clean his tank but when the food comes out he goes all stripey and pretty again