The Puffer Forum

Hello everyone,

I've never posted before, but your site has been invaluable. I have a porcupine puffer (named Nugget) that has decided not to eat. He has done this once before, and I discovered the evils of krill, and followed ReefYeti's instructions in this tread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29156. He recovered from his apparent lockjaw and has not had any krill since then. I feed him shrimp with the shells still on and octopus (which he loves). I'm need to find a new aquarium store since mine closed to get clams on the half shell again, but he's always been a little finicky about eating those.

So, my question is regarding whether he has lockjaw again. He is moving his jaw a little, but can't seem to open it all the way. He's trying to eat, but doesn't seem to be able to get anything through his jaw. I'm questioning whether this is the issue because it looks like his lower jaw is inset now. His teeth don't appear overgrown, but it's like his lower jaw has recessed.

Here is a link to a short video of him. http://youtu.be/GfSpCDBGbMw

I plan to follow ReefYeti's instructions again, since it's been about 2 1/2 weeks since he's eaten well. I'm just wondering if this is a different problem. Is his jaw somehow dislocated? Does this look like lockjaw? And will this be a reoccurring issue?

Also, I know he is on the verge of outgrowing the tank and I will need to find him a new home. We got him about a year and a half ago as we started the tank (and we trusted a fish store employee instead of doing the research first). He is about 6 - 7" with tail now.

Here are my tank parameters:
Salinity: 1.023
PH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0 - .25 (in between colors)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20

Tank:
75 gallon tank
About 110 lbs of live rock
Water change of 20 - 25 gallons each week (RO filtered water with Instant Ocean salt, 3 caps of Prime, and 1 - 2 caps of Purple up every other change)

Other occupants:
2 clown
Flame angel
Blue hippo
Citron goby
Green mandarin goby
Engineer goby (about 10")
Purple tipped anemone
Blue knuckled crab
2 hermit crabs

Alien eye chalice (6")
Hammerhead coral
So many mushrooms
A few Zoa
3 small acans
A leather that I thought was cabbage, but doesn't match pictures
Montipora (3 - 4")
And one that I can't remember or find the name of, but looks like grass or tiny trees, very prolific

I hope that's everything. Thank you so much.

Your tank is EXTREMELY overstocked! You have enough fish for a 150+g tank. I hope he finds a bigger tank soon.

Purple up is a total waste of $$$ & you don't need Prime with RO water. Is there DI resin in your water filter? With the corals you have, I'd get that. Is there a good protein skimmer on there? You should also be keeping 1 1/2-2lbs LR in that system. I also suggest you use Reef Crystals for your corals. IO is for a FO system.

All that being said, he needs a more varied diet. Are you soaking his food in any vitamins?

First off: Thank you!

I will be finding him a bigger home soon. Obviously, when I discovered how large he was going to get, I hoped to upgrade, but that's not realistic for me at this time. I assume that I should wait until he's eating well again, but is that true? Is the stress of the overstocked tank greater than the stress of moving?

I appreciate all of your advice. I do have DI resin in my RO filter. I have a HOB Reef Octopus BH-1000 skimmer. I'm not sure I can get that much LR in there, but I will see if I can at least get some. I will also switch to Reef Crystals (just used the last of my salt, so perfect timing).

I got some Kent's garlic when he stopped eating last time, but I assume that is not what you mean when you ask about vitamins. I haven't been supplementing anything else.

I feel like I'm in over my head. I thought I was taking good advice, but clearly I haven't been.

Do you think this is lockjaw? Is there something that I can blend for him that would help him recover faster? I've blended shrimp, octopus, and a partial cube of PE Mysis.

Thank you again.

No, garlic is not a vitamin, it's an appetite enhancer/supplement. Soak all foods in Vita-chem & Selcon.

Thank you so much. I will go get those tomorrow.

I think I need some more advice at this point. I've been force feeding my puffer for about a month now, with the vitamins added. He's still not eating and is looking more emaciated. He does still have good energy. I think his jaw may be opening a fraction more than it was before, but not enough for him to eat. Is there some other food I can put in his milkshake? I currently am blending 2 shrimp, about 4" of octopus tentacle, and a cube of PE mysis.

He's not puffing as long when I catch him to feed him, but he starts fighting to get away after about 2 syringes of food now (in the past week or so, he's started doing this). He also still manages to spit a lot of the food out, no matter how slow I feed him.

Is there anything else I can do at this point or do I just keep doing what I'm doing?