The Puffer Forum

We have a stars and stripes puffer (4 ish years old) who up till now has been very happy and healthy.
About 10 days ago he went off his food and we noted some large white blobs on his fins about 2mm diameter, they do not feel lumpy/bumpy. We have tried syringe feeding with only limited success.
3 days ago both of his fins appeared to have become stuck inside his gill slits. One released after about 5 mins the other we had to encourage out. Both now show signs of trauma in as much as he has what appears to be internal blood staining along the length of the fins but more pronounced around the base. Today we have noticed that the edges of the fins are starting to look ragged.
He appears happy within himself, still wanting to be played with and petted (likes to have belly tickled) swimming around the tank and has not become aggressive with other tank mates. This evening he also had some trouble excreting as if constipated, he thrashed about somewhat but only produced a very small amount in the process.

Water parameters are checked at least once a week and are and have been stable as follows; PH 8.1, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrates 0, salinity 3.3 (refractometer used)
Tank size 500l. Tank mates; 1 x long nosed hawkfish, 1 x Picasso trigger, 2 x clown fish, 1 x hog fish, 1 x rusty angel, 1 x moon wrasse and 1 x red fire fish. All get along very peacefully.
We feed a variety of flake foods to other inhabitants and a diet of muscles, peeled and in shell prawns to puffer who is happy to share with others.
Water is produced at home via reverse osmosis, salt is added accordingly, water temp is 23 deg c. Water filtration is via Fluval X5 with variety of medium. Water change of 30% is carried out at approx. 7-10 day intervals.
Tank has been running for over 12 months with no problems before this.

Initially we thought he may have had some sort of bacterial infection to added Melafix as he was just not his hungry self.
When the fin problems started we thought is may have been the start of ich, or even a fungus, so started a course of Waterlife Cuprazin (contains Copper Sulphate, Formaldehyde and Malachite Green). This should have sorted out any problems, or so we thought. We did have 2 x blue cheeked goby and a further red fire fish but the meds were just too strong for them. Our puffer is our no 1 priority!

Any and all suggestions as to how to cure our little friend would be more than appreciated.

Have tried to upload photos but don't think it has been successful.

Thanks Jacq and Dave

Please read: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Marine/A_Hispidus/
Recommended tank size is for the puffer without any other inhabitants.
How large is the puffer at 4 years?
How is it you maintain a nitrate of 0 with all those fish?
It does sound bacterial. I wish you hadn't tossed in so many meds. Puffers are extremely sensitive to many of the meds you have added. It may be his downfall.
I believe a large issue is from your petting this fish--removing its protective slime coat--opening him up to bacteria. Fish are not dogs...

Post your pics to www.photobucket.com. Please be sure to resize them on that site, before linking them here.

Thanks for your prompt assistance. We did not expect to hear for at least a few days.

If it is bacterial, should we just let things as they are for a few days and see how Asbo goes? Or do you suggest something else?

The petting things is the fish himself, he follows your hand around the tank and rubs his belly against it, I know he is not a dog/cat but not sure he knows he is doing himself harm.

To keep the tank so clear and clean we use a motorised vacuum daily about 20 mins after feeding, this removes all the waste and any left over food. We are very meticulous about the tank and our own hygiene scrubbing our hand and arms before handling anything and all equipment is sterilised after use. We also have three tanks of Discus so don't want any possibility of cross contamination.

Asbo is about 30cm from snout to the tip of his tail. We think he is about 4 years old. We bought him, the tank and the other fish from someone else who had had Asbo from very young and had many years experience with puffers and marine aquaria.

Today the redness is almost gone but he is still reluctant to eat.
He has never had any vegetation in his diet, should we try him on something like peas? (it took many months to get him to eat anything but shelled muscles, the previous owner had given up trying)

We have tried a mixture of minced muscles, beef heart and prawn,s with a small quantity of pressed garlic and vitamin drops given through a syringe. He only took a little more by accident than choice when he attacked the syringe. The rest of the population enjoyed it though. How long can he go without eating? He doesn't look as if he has lost weight but obviously we are concerned.

Again thank you for your quick reply and assistance.

By all means, try blanched peas--pop them out if the shell. I actually feed all my fish a combo of broccoli/green beans/carrots, defrosted from the freezer 1 minute & pureed. My dog gets the rest.

If he seems to be doing better, by all means just keep doing water changes, for pristine, healthy living conditions. Often, that's the very best thing you can do for them.

There are lots of other healthy food options: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/