The Puffer Forum

So our puffer fish at our gym has in the last couple of days developed a black spot on his face. I attached a picture where you can see his face used to be clear of this abnormal spot. AGAIN, THIS PICTURE IS NOT SHOWING THE SPOT OUR PUFFER HAS DEVELOPED!! I am going to try and take a picture of him when I can to display what he has developed. He is not eating like he used to, he keeps his body in a u-shaped form, he'll sit on the bottom of the tank and appear as though he's moving his fins to swim and seems to rub his face up and down on the glass. We have a "fish-guy" that supposedly monitors our fish and takes care of the tank but I don't know how knowledgeable he actually is. We feed him thawed-out silversides and crill. Can anybody tell me what might be wrong with him or if maybe it's the food we're giving him? I did some research and saw some of the typical types of food being fed to puffers but ours doesn't seem to have developed teeth yet, he is still fairly young i believe. appreciate all the help we can get. i think we're going to eventually assume the position of "fish-guy" and take care of our buddy ourselves. There are also some other fish in the tank and maybe they bit him overnight? There are a couple lion-fish, clown fish, and i don't know the names of these three silver fish that always stick together but their bodies are silver and their fins and tail are yellow - they're trouble. thanks again, look forward to curing our puffer!

there are the Q's in red at the top of the page that need to be answered

Nice looking puff, but as JP said answer the above questions and we can further help you

I was able to take a picture of our puffer fish and zoom in on his face. Here it is:

just re-read your original post ... Lion Fish are deadly towards puffers... I have read of a couple puffers dying from a simple sting from them...

srmembership wrote: I did some research and saw some of the typical types of food being fed to puffers but ours doesn't seem to have developed teeth yet, he is still fairly young i believe.

LOL, he has teeth, I can see them in the first picture! He needs a MUCH better diet, and he especially needs to stay away from krill.

purplecandle what do you suggest for a diet? our fish guy provided us with silversides and krill! unbelievable!! we haven't been feeding much, if any krill but the silversides he WAS eating up but seems a little less interested. I did a little research where i saw shrimp and what not, what do you suggest? obviously we're not too educated on fish - which is why we hired someone who supposedly knew what they were doing - but we want to take as best care of him as we can and we will be searching for a new, educated "fish guy."

That scar pattern reeks of lion fish stings.. and you have 2 of them in the tank. Puffers are known fin nippers... I hope the higher ups can discount this theory...

when did you notice this?

srmembership wrote:purplecandle what do you suggest for a diet? our fish guy provided us with silversides and krill! unbelievable!! we haven't been feeding much, if any krill but the silversides he WAS eating up but seems a little less interested. I did a little research where i saw shrimp and what not, what do you suggest? obviously we're not too educated on fish - which is why we hired someone who supposedly knew what they were doing - but we want to take as best care of him as we can and we will be searching for a new, educated "fish guy."

1. Never trust a fish guy
2. Here is a feeding article if the little guy makes it
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

Couple of things, first that is a stars and stripes not a dogface, stunning fish! The black spots around the mouth could be stress induced, could you please answer the questions in red so we know more about your tank? Puffers have a tendency to develop dark areas when stressed and are easily stressed by their water parameters and tank conditions. Krill are very poor to add to any fishes diet except for a treat. They are nutritionally inadequate food. Please read the feeding article in the library. Good foods that I know Stars and Stripes readily take are whole Mussels, crabs, frozen thawed squid, and whole clams.

appreciate all the feed back. i'm aware of the questions in red, we're working on getting the necessary supplies so i can provide you guys with that information. i noticed it yesterday, and it wasn't there sunday. we're thinking they appeared either sunday or monday night. i will do my best to try and provide you with the necessary information tomorrow. i'm going to look into purchasing whatever's necessary to improve the condition of the tank and the fish. thanks for all the help, if anyone has any other suggestions i would greatly appreciate them as well.

I would also venture a guess that this is caused by the lionfish. i always try to dissuade people from that combo of tank mates.

Your fishguy is not that good. Does he call it a DogFace? It is a Stars and Stripes like mine. Best diet would be shellfish like shrimp, clams, oysters, mussels and other meats like squid and octopus. Unfortunately, the fish in this tank are not compatible. And yes, i would say he has already been stung once. He is lucky to survive that.

Does he call it a DogFace? It is a Stars and Stripes like mine.

Actually, the guy is partially right, they both come form the Arothron (dogface) family.

Pufferpunk wrote:

Does he call it a DogFace? It is a Stars and Stripes like mine.

Actually, the guy is partially right, they both come form the Arothron (dogface) family.

Yes that is true but there tank size requirements are different. 100 gallons min. for the dog face 180 gallons min. for the stars and stripes.