The Puffer Forum

Its been about 4-5 days of fighting ick and I used half a tablet of Ick Clean Tank Buddies but it for 2 days but it wasnt working so i stopped. I'm now using a heater and my digital thermometer is reading 82.7 degrees Farenheit and I put in aquarium salt. He's much more active tiday than the days before but still needs times of rests because he's breathing heavily. He's the darkest he's been but his belly is pretty white. Another concern is that he doesnt eat shrimp anymore as he cant catch them like he use to be able to. He tries a couple times but gives up afterwards because they are to quick. He's on the bottom of the tank now and a shrimp is right next to him but he's not doing anything. I'm worried but also a little relieved because he's much more active than he was a few days ago. Oh and I've also added an airstone which he like to go in and gets pushed to the top. He keeps doing it and its so funny.Okay let me sum it up since wrote alot.
1.He's really dark but his belly's white. Why?
2.He's not eating his shrimp anymore. Why?
3.Ick is getting a little better but theres still specks on his body,tail, and eyes. Need some advice with ick.
4.How long till his breathing returns to regular?
Thanks!

Make sure you provide extra surface agitation/air stone/ oxygen during treatment. The heat and medication will deplete oxygen levels in the water.

oh yeah forgot to add that in. Just bought an airpump and airstone yesterday. He's a figure 8 and hes been under his bridge for a long time now...I hope I'm just overreacting.

Ich does effect gill function, so it may be a while before he is breathing normally. Just keep up the routine, sounds like you have that down. Being patient is the hard part. :/

There is no absolute color chart vs moods, they have individual color-moods, you just have to get to know your puffer to be able to read them.
He is not eating because he's not feeling well.
He should eat again when he feels better.

Temp needs to be 86 or higher. Lots & lots of WC, cleaning the substrate (80% every other day). Your fish isn't eating, because it doesn't feel well. Try live earthworms.

Man he died last night under his bridge. His color was still dark so I guess dark for him meant he was close to death. An empty tank is an empty feeling. I don't understand though. He was so lively before he passed away.

My dog brought me her ball to toss for her, the night before she died.

wow that's just too deep. lets do us all a favor and stop bringing up sad memories:(

FW Ich does no just affect the gills, it is a gill parasite primarily. fin and body lesions are seen only because the gills are already crowded with parasites. Chronic Ich can run in a tank for years without any surface lesions being seen.

The absolute minimum time for the life cycle is ~ 3 days or a bit more. You cannot expect clearance of an infestation in less than two cycles (~6+ days) and should not expect full clearance to safety in less than nine or better 10 days.

Infected gills lose the ability to transport dissolved O2 as well, and post-infection scarring of the gill epithelium thicken it, so it never returns to 100% of original function, even after some new gill filament are built up.

When you add together the gill damage and reduced function to the lower O2 content of warmer water, you are compounding insult and injury. The fish cannot get enough O2 to hunt normally - it effectively is out of breath, just as you would be with pneumonia.

Ich is serious and generally results in some degree of permanent impairment. It is often fatal, even with proper treatment. The earlier it is caught, the stonger the fish will be during treatment and the better the chance of functional recovery.

HTH

Thanks that's very informative for my next one. Question though,I'm planning to get another one tomorrow. How should I make the tank ready? Can I use the same water? It has aqueon dechlorinator and the temp is 79.4. Can I also keep the plants and decorations and gravel?

If the tank sits without fish for ten days to two weeks, it will be safe to restock. Bur you will have to fees the biofilter in the meantime to keep it alive.

uh can you explain "fees the biofilter" please? I tried searching it, no luck

Feed. RTR has poor eyesight, he mistypes sometimes.