The Puffer Forum

I posted this here because I am not sure if this is diet, medical, or genetic... but erring on the side of caution I figured the hospital board would be seen most.

I have a very young Cochinchinensis (Fangs) puffer, all of about 1.5 inches long. After nearly a week at home, I noticed the red start fading from his eyes. First the pearly red sheen wore off the entire lense of the eye, giving way to a flat red/orange Iris and a black pupil. Now that coloring has faded further to a simple thin, red ring around the entire eye ball. Now his iris is yellow/gold with no noticeable metallic sheen like other puffers with yellow eyes have. If it weren't for the red ring circling his entire eye I would never had known he's considered a "red eye" puffer

I searched diligently online for any similar situations or info and found nada. So I'm unsure what could be causing this change, hopefully the answer can be found using the following information.

Tank: 20 gallon long
Temp: 78-9* F
Parameters: Am-0 Nit-0 NitRA-10
Addtl in-tank: Tank was cycled when puff was introduced, but the BB needed to ramp up so have been adding SeaChem stability daily, and 25% WC every other day (M,W,F, SU) to keep water clean while filter catches up. Dose SeaChem Prime on the off days when the water doesn't get changed (TU,TH, SA). Also something that may be affecting the water is 1 (new) large piece of spider wood, leaching out this clear jelly substance that I keep cleaning off. Lfs says it won't hurt the fish, but it makes we worry bc it obviously gets in the water. My substrate is CaribSea med grain sand.
Diet: Primarily (thawed) frozen blood worms, live ghost shrimp, and live snails.

There is no other signs of illness or distress, but the fact that the eyes started changing a week into my care, and have stayed this way for another 7 days now, without reverting back to the original opalescent red, makes me think something is amiss.

Are you defrosting the frozen worms in vitamins? Do you gut-load the ghost shrimp?

Thanks for replying PP, by your question I conclude your thought is: that this is dietary? and to answer your questions: 1.) No I do not thaw the frozen food in vitamins, I honestly didn't know that was important to a puffers health. Any recommendations, I have never used or seen any before? And 2.) yes, and no. I don't have a breeding tank for inverts so the ghost shrimp get fed spirulina and plain algae wafers in the 1-2 days I have them in my home before they're puffer food. So I know they have some healthy stomachache contents, just not very much.

Vita-chem has been recommended before on here. You could order it from Amazon if you don't see it in your aquarium shop.

Why thank you! I just wasn't sure if some brands were heavier on potency of varying vitamins then others (extra vitamin A or C in one brand for example) and wasn't sure if puffs needed one specific vitamin or multivitamins... if that makes any sense.

Also an update: I see his eyes get red again, but only in hunting mode when live food goes in. Not frozen, only live. Weird...?

Update:

Today I had many Aquatic purchases show up at my home, including a new LED light and floating plants. I've had his light off for 2 weeks now, as he hated the light and would be super social with just ambient lighting from a lamp a few feet away.

The LEDs have been on an hour, and the eyes came back the way they left. First the orange/yellow Iris came back. Then 45 mins later he started coming back out of the shadows and the full iridescent dark red sheen is back over the entire lense, as the day i got him home. So in dimmer conditions for long periods, the red will "shut off" (to let them see better?) until it's needed for hunting or dimming bright lights. This is conjecture of course, but seems to make some sense.

Just wanted to give a results post, as so many seek help then never mention how it turned out!