The Puffer Forum

Hey guys,

My DP; I've had for about 6 month recently got stuck in the filter; this has never been an issue before.

Basically his tail and a bit of his belly were stuck in the intake; with his head just sticking out; I lthought he was dead; but to my surprise as I eased the flow he wriggled out.

However he was swimming in circles and eventually just sank to the bottom of the tank; I lightly picked him up and he just rested on my hand in the tank and when I pulled my hand away; he again would swim in circles and just sink to the bottom.

As far as tank goes; I haven't tested for parameters recently, i will when I get home today; but I did recently introduce 3 otocinlus to the tank. I'm wondering if their poop may have increase the nitrates enough to disorient my puffer which ultimately led him to get stuck in the filter; or are the symptoms indicative of somethign else.

He's probably in shock. Add Melafix to help healing. Can you lower the flow of your filter? If not, put a sponge over the intake.

Should I isolate him into a separate contaner? Or would it be fine adding it to the main tank>?

I am able to lower the flow yes. Ive done that. Can I add the medicine to the whole tank or does he need a nursing tank?

Is the intake for the filter strong or is he usually able to avoid it under normal circumstances? If the former is true, then maybe it's just the first time he flew that close to the sun and he melted his wings (ignore the punny lol). If the intake is just strong, is there a way you can but a sponge like item over it to avoid him being injured in the future? For my seahorse tank, I have an Ecotech MP40 wavemaker and they have quite the pull. If I don't put the foam guard around the edges of the blower, then my seahorses are bound to die in it eventually. Might be the same kind of thing for you.

Melafix is just a type of tea tree oil & is not harmful to your other fish or filtration.