The Puffer Forum

water parameters -
pH 7.1
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - 30ppm
i have a 12 year old Nile puffer and he has stopped eating ( 4 days) and isn't acting himself ....he has taken to swimming at the top of the tank nose to the top of the water....i thought that this could be due to a water parameter problem but nothing has changed as far as water quality goes ......we have moved things around outside his tank and yes that does annoy him but i think he has hit his nose on the glass at speed and damaged his beak maybe ?....his nose is swollen a little and if u look inside his mouth he has a tiny bit of blood between his upper teeth.... i guess what i want to know is, is a beak injury fatal?....should i leave him to heal before offering food as i think it stresses him out .. should i post pics or a video or something any ideas welcome ....
oh he lives on his own in a 5 x 2 x 2 tank, we have done a 30% water change the other day after we noticed his weird behaviour.

to see the above image in full:
https://photos-1.dropbox.com/t/0/AACFVI ... tlbGbdKAzI

I cannot view the posted image for some reason. Any aerosols being used in the same room as the tank? More water changes certainly won't hurt, try to get nitrates below 20 ppm. Melafix will help heal cuts so might be worth a go.

Tank size?

Tap water (or other source used for tank water changes) pH after 24 hours at room temperature?

The tank size as stated before is 5ft x 2 ft x 2 ft which is about 150 US gallons or 566 litres. The water parameters after 24 hours are the same, we are very careful with water changes but i will do more water changes if you think it will help, i didn't want to stress him out....i'm certain he has damaged his beak, will it heal? .....we don't use sprays in the house as we have other animals and a marine tank.

If the beak is not too badly damaged it will certainly heal. Keep the water as clean as possible to aid healing, melafix will also help heal wounds

Try feeding softer foods, like earthworms. What was his diet previously?

we were feeding him on king prawns ,cockles, mussels, squid rings , i even tried him on salmon and fish lumps but it turns out he doesnt like to eat fish lol just crustaceans ......never tried him on earth worms but i will give anything a shot ....how long should i give him to heal before offering food again as offering food at the moment seems to be stressing him out.

Only you can know when it's OK to feed him. How log since he's eaten? Does he look to be getting thin?

now im worried its something like a broken jaw or lock jaw ....as he doest seem to be able to move the top part of his mouth and his teeth are down low where before u couldn't see much of them and he still has a large lump just above his beak .....i think he must have smashed into the side of the tank .....will this fix itself and if not what can i do ....he has never had a problem like this before and ive had him for 12 years ......should i try calling round the big aquariums for help or will it heal in time .

Donnie (the puffer) still looks fairly good not thin and hasn't eaten for about a week.

Do you mean that you tap/source water is high in nitrate? Private water supplies may be that high, but it is rare for public water supplies in this country.

Add Melafix.

Our source water in kent uk is at 20 - 25 ppm from the tap and even with our RO unit for our marines we can only get it to 8ppm . when we lived in Canterbury we got even worse levels of nitrate.

Yup water is pretty cack in certain regions of the uk