The Puffer Forum

Hi,

When I came to feed "Sugar Puff" yesterday my friend pointed out that he had white spot! After looking myself I can confirm that he has only had white spot for a couple of days now. After asking him what it was he said it was caused by stress and is 'fish cancer'!!

Can anybody help how to cure this!?

My friend and avid fish keeper said to add salt, so we added 2 teaspoons of salt. But after talking to the shop I got Sugar Puff from he said to add 40 more?!

Tank Details -
290 Litres
Snowball Pleco (Frosty)
Leopard Pleco (Leo)
Bristle nose Pleco (Sock Puppet)
Upside-down Catfish
Red Tailed Black Shark (Fudge)
3x Elephant Nose
Large Orange Chilid Thing
Goby


I have been told that Plecos don't like salt and can kill them?

Also I used to have a Colombian Catfish but on Saturday Evening I came home to find him dead at the top of the tank. He had white spot i guessed and passed it on to Sugar Puff, I thought it was air bubbles as he used to swim through the air feed. But I guess not after I found him dead.

Please can somebody give some guidance on how to cure my Puffer!

Many Thanks

Matt

Fish cancer??? Your friend is nuts! I wouldn't listen to another thing he tells you about fish. Please answer ALL the Q above in RED.

Your fish are sick because of the stress of overcrowding. Here is how you cure ich: library/hospital/fwich/

Columbian cats are high-end BW-SW fish. He was in the totally wrong conditions. Please start doing some research on the fish you are buying.

290l = 76gal. Your tank is HORRIBLY overstocked & not nearly large enough for keeping even just the single mbu. Please return the puffer, so it can be housed properly. PLEASE DO RESEARCH ON YOUR FISH!!!
library/puffers-in-focus/mbuforyou/

Thats why i've come to guidance on this forum

Please explain "high-end BW-SW fish"?

Also my puffer is only small - around 5".

I am planning to upgrade and get a tank alone for himself in the near future.

That puffer grows FAST! You have read the link I gave you as to how LARGE a tank the mbu requires? 90% of people who plan to upgrade never get to, as in this poor unfortunate puffer's story: library/puffers-in-focus/mbuforyou/

The Columbian shark lives in saltwater as an adult.

Feeding - Usually Cockles / Prawns every 4-5 days
Tank has been setup for about 4 weeks now and has been thorughly cycled for a 4 days without no fish in then added a pleco, colombium cat(no longer in tank), grey shark (no longer in tank) and a rainbow shark ( fudge)

Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH please.

Cycled for 4days? Just left running empty? Was any established media added/ live bacteria? You have found the right place for puffer care but unfortunately you are setting yourself up for disaster. Some of your fish require very different conditions as mentioned above. Your tank is unlikely properly cycled as this can take weeks or more when done properly. Lastly you have lots of fish that require lots of room, your mbu will require 100s of gallons alone if not more. I think you should maybe put this down to experience/ mis-guidance and return the fish. You can then set out what you want from your tank and we can help you set it up properly and go from there. Sorry if it sounds harsh but as I stated before you could be heading for a disaster here

The water in the tank is from the shop that I got the Mbu from.

Please read the 1st 4 articles here: library/category/water-filtration/

Guys my puffers been in a tank with ws3 and after 2 days he's only breathing from his right gill somebody please help!!

Ich is a gill disease. No need for t new thread, this problem is a continuation of the same issues. Until you remedy the overcrowding situation, your puffer & other fish's health will continue to decline.

Pufferpunk wrote:Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH please.

If u can't tell us, we can't help. But I bet the water parameters are way off.

Got my friend to take a water sample to LFS, will get the results for you.

I know that my nitrates are a bit off. Looking for medias to put in the filter to reduce them.

Nitrates can be easily reduced through waterchanges. But to keep them down with the bio-load you have you would likely need to do at least 4-5 50%+ water chances a week.