The Puffer Forum

I sent him / her off to PufferQueen, but if anyone has ever seen anything like that it would be appreciated.

BTW ... there are no tank stats at the moment.

The picture does not work for me

sorry... I forgot that off site links sometimes don't work.

OMG that looks horrible

from my perspective I see 3 marks. Each are about equal distant apart. My first inclination is a lionfish sting (again) a bad one that has become infected. Or something similar.

Then we have the fact that it is so skinny. That leads to parasites or a poor diet.

My second inclination is a parasite, but the distancing of the wounds would be different. A "pore infection" where the quills meet the skin?

J-P wrote:sorry... I forgot that off site links sometimes don't work.

Photo6.jpg

Poor puffer

yea... given the eye size vs body, it looks like a juvie

Got some info back from the OP:

-I bougt my puffer 1 month ago.His body was clean.
-Tank i bought 2 month ago.It is old tank,not new.
-My tank is 75 gallons.
-Nitrate 35
-Nitrite-0
-Amonia .45
-pH 8.4
-Alkalinity 300
-Chlorine 0
-t 78-80 F
-salt 1.020
-When I bought him he looked like today-a little emaciated.he is small- 2.8 inches
-I feed him by shrimps-he likes it and eats with pleasure.2 times in day.
?-So, how many times in day I have to feed him?
-Last 2 days I added a little bit water in filter and a little salt.
-Maybe 2 weeks ago I added conditioner to reduce nitrate and skimmer was turned off.
-Yes,I have lion fish and dog face puffer yet.
?-Maybe some of this reason damaged my puffer? or it desease?

How do I keep guessing these things?

This was the reply:
I know this is going to sound harsh, but it is what is best for the fish and not the keeper. It is up to you to decide what to do from here.

1) The ammonia should read 0. There may be a mini cycle or something happening in the tank that is not keeping the water at its best. Pristine clean water is the first line of defense in the healing process. That just isn't going to happen in that tank. The reason being:
2) The tank is too small. The bioload of those fish (especially the dog face) will require MUCH more filtration and space than you are currently providing. The dog face should be in a 100 gal tank all by itself, the porc will need about 120 gallons.
3) Diet. Shrimp are good as a treat but lack the nutritional value required to keep up their immune system. They need shelled crustaceans such as clams, mussels etc.. Never feed cooked foods to them. If you want to read more on feeding shrimp please read this article: Thiaminase

My first guess is that it is a lion fish sting. The spacing of the injury seems to indicate that. It looks like 3 small puncture marks, 2 of which have become badly infected. That is just a guess. What is different is the fact that the area around the wounds hasn't turned grey or black yet, that would be proof of a lion fish sting.

Lion Fish and puffers are a TERRIBLE combination. Puffers usually can't resist nipping at those long beautiful fins and usually end up getting killed because of it.

Which leads my to the next theory: The Dog Face puffer may have taken a a swipe at the Porc. Puffer bites are almost perfectly circular but usually they don't break the skin. DF puffers do have some nasty teeth that Porcs don't have.

In either case, the fish should be held in a hospital tank with super clean water, an excellent diet with supplements. Have you posted on Marine Depot? Kelly will be able to advise a treatment method and possibly a better diagnosis.

If it is a lion fish sting... I have no idea of the treatment. I have never seen a puffer survive one.

Also read:
library/puffer-care/alone-but-not-lonel ... fers-solo/

Sounds like good advice to me. Nothing harsh at all.

but we still don't know what the treatment for a lion fish sting is.

Should we treat for a secondary bacterial infection also?

poor thing. and that older post that was brought up was interesting.

I have a sinking feeling that the puffer is going to be a gonner. I don't think the owner is going to QT it or get a larger tank...

She is asking about products that remove ammonia.. and still hasn't contacted Kelly yet at MD.

From the water parameters it looks like her LR wasn't cured properly. The holes look like a LF sting and the treatment for that is time and good water quality. The LR will cure given time but at the expense of the fish.

possibly not cured, but also only 25 lbs in a 75 gal tank :/

way too many things wrong in that tank.

just doing some research on lion fish stings in general and it seems that hot water eases the pain and an antibiotic course of meds is recommended. This is in HUMAN treatment.

I wonder if upping the temp would help the fish's metabolism cycle through the venom quicker...

who would be the authority to ask?

It would be nice to know, because far too many of these cases crop up to be comfortable.