The Puffer Forum

My pea puffer got caught on the filter and is now injured. He is in a quarintine tank and is either laying down or not swimming properly. Is there anything i can do for him???

They actually can heal fairly well from this. Tell me more about his main tank? Last thing I'd do is move him to an uncycled tank.

10 gallon fake plant filled. He has two tank mates that never touch him. The temperture is 77°-79°. Ph is around 6.8- 7.2 (using strips) alkalinity is low (around 40 ppm) watwr is very hard (300 ppm). No nitrate and no nitrite.

When he swims he looks like a falling maple seed

How was the tank cycled? Is it possible he was sickly before this happened, which is why he couldn't swim away from the filter?

When i moved him out of quarintine he got 75% better. This is a new tank i put him in. So it could be stress from that. Hes been staying well away from the filter now. He is still shaking a bit. But at least hes swimming better

Put a sponge over the filter intake.

Will it slow how fast the filter suck up the water?

Yes but if you have a large enough filter, that shouldn't matter much. It actually adds extra filtration. Rinse the sponge, when flow starts to slow down.

Update. He has returned to his normal self. And i will be looking for a sponge. Thank you for you gelp! Really apreciate it

YAY! Puffers are quite resilient.