The Puffer Forum

Hi helpful people!

I am worried about one of my 2 GSP's. I have had them since Jan 01 this year, I have previously had water problems but all the readings are now what they should be with nil ammonia and nitrates. The temp is lovely, the salinity is very low as I have not been brave enough to start raising it just yet but I do have ocean salt in there. I feed my fishmies a selection of Krill, shrimp, mussel, snail and clam to keep them interested. In the last month or so since about two weeks after I managed to get on top of a nitrate spike (from some lost snails) we have had a brown algae form, after checking the forum and a previous thread it didn't seem to be anything to worry about. I do a 50% water change every week and use Aqua plus for the water. Both puffers were bought at the same time and are an inch and a half - two inches long in a 55g tank.

I have noticed that one of the puffers has lost his appetite. He is initially interested in food then turns his nose up and swims away, I have tried coaxing him with everything whilst the other puffer is busy at the other end of the tank with a morsel of his own. The puffer that is not eating was previously the more social and alert and always the 1st to the food (the other one has a gammy eye which i don't thing works, it has always been like this and has never changed, so it makes it harder for him to find the food) but now my puffer is always hiding in a plant, he will come out at feeding time but goes back to a plant within minutes. He is now looking anorexic and dehydrated. He still changes color from dark when hiding to bright when swimming, but now he seems weak. The other puffer is healthy looking, hungry and alert.

Any ideas?

thanks

Are their feces solid, or stringy?
Have you tried garlic to entice them?
Do their teeth look overgrown at all?
Treating for internal parasites might be a good idea.
Raising their salinity very slowly would be a good idea as well. Do you have a hydrometer to measure it?

Hi,

Yes I do have a hydrometer but it is maybe not the best as the scale doesn't start very low, but it is all that Pet Smart had. It is only one puffer that has lost his appetite and their teeth and beaks look all ok - no change since we got them. Is it a whole garlic clove I put in or do I crush it? Do I just float it in the water?

Thanks for the quick response.

oooh! forgot the feces answer - I just haven't noticed so there can't have been a change from the ordinary.

Oh! It's not good, just went to check my puff before I go to bed and after searching the tank found him stuck to the filter tube, I turned down the filter and he swam to the bottom of the tank, he does have a solid looking poo attached to him I can't see him making it to the morning, I hope he does 'cause I never knew you could get attached to fish like this

You crush the garlic. It's the flavour of the garlic that entices them. You can get a product called Seachem garlic guard that is basically a garlic extract that you can use. It's pretty convienient. If you can't find that, regular old garlic crushed up and smeared on food can do the trick.

Hmm, that's not good. A healthy puffer should never get stuck to an intake. If he does make it through the night, you may be able to get him to eat with the garlic. Getting some food in him may be enough to help him pull through.

If his poo was solid, but stuck to him, it sounds an awful lot like internal paracites. I'd treat your other puffer as well just to be safe.

Is the other puffer beating on him? I would start slowly raising the sg (0.001/week) at their size. Be sure to get a better hydrometer/refractometer first.

Hi,

My Puff made it through the night bless 'im. Right I've just got in from work and buying garlic and having visited my LFS got some meds, as I have had iffy advice from LFS before I wanted to run this by you guys before I did anything. My Puff is in a worse state, still hanging in there but looks like he could go any minute. Just spent $40.00 on meds, but is it the right stuff?

I explained the situation to LFS and they have said it sounded like dropsy however having got home with the meds (Mardel Maracyn-two) none of the symptoms for any of it seems to fit although he is starting to pant like he's puffed out and he is just laying there, even if I move the plant he is in. His gills look a little more open than usual. I have been advised to remove all the carbon when adding meds, although the meds say to keep filtration the same.

LFS has also said to dump a load of salt in - I can use either freshwater salt or ocean salt it doesn't matter - sounded like bum advice to me, apparently you can put a puff in salt straight from fresh

My Hydrometer is a Deep six coral life, is this OK?

Thanks guys.

It doesn't sound like dropsy to me, and I'm not sure how effective Mardel Maracyn-two would be. If you do decide to use it, follow the instructions on the packaging. Carbon will remove the medication, so you will have to remove it. Once the treatment period is over, do a large water change and add new carbon.

I'm not an expert on medications, so maybe someone else could suggest a more appropriate medication for the symptoms described. You can also refer to this thread.

"dumping a load of salt in" wouldn't be a good idea. Raising the salinity a bit like lisalisa suggested would be a better idea. Use marine salt. Rinse your hydrometer really well before use. If you're concerned about it's accuracy, you can soak it in hydrogen peroxide to remove any deposits from the needle that could effect it's accuracy.

What exactally did you spend $40 on?

Mardel - Maracyn-Two, enough for a weeks dosage I think.

I'll keep you posted on my little guys situation.

My poor puff died overnight. He put up a big fight and even tried to swim a bit when I put garlic and food in the tank. My other puff is still ok and lively, he even went and lay (for want of a better word) with the poorly puff for a bit, he looks lonely now, not sure whether to get him a new tank mate, probably won't. Thanks all for you advice.

Sorry to hear that.

I wouldn't get another tank mate. That 55 gallon will be heaven for him when he gets bigger.

I'd still be concerned about the remaining puff. Keep an eye on his belly and his feces. If he eats, but never looks like he's getting full, or if his feces hang out of him and/or look stringy/loose, he may have paracites.

For treatment, see this thread on levamisol.

Thanks for that, the other puff didn't show any of those signs, but I will certainly keep a close eye on this one - I do tend to spend quite a lot of time in the evenings just staring at the tank. My remaining puff had a lovely supper of krill and swam off with a full tummy - keep your fingers crossed!