The Puffer Forum

This morning my Palembang puffer Dale was normal angry and in his hideyhole and at some point today he developed a few sizeable white spots (looks like fungus)

Water was changed about 1.5 weeks ago, all other fish seem ok including the loaches.

I have stress coated the tank and am doing a fungus treatment at the moment (both at half dose) but I fear this will get worse.

Any info/ideas are appreciated. TIA

Below is a link giving an idea of his current condition

https://youtu.be/IbaRn0ItJVA

Tank setup:
175 gallons
Nitrates 20ppm
GH 180 ppm (this is the norm in this tank)
PH 7-7.5

Tankmates:
Sevrum
Parrotfish
Cichlids
Cory catfish
Rope fish
Tiretrack eel
Clown loach
Pleco

Recently added 2 sevrum to the tank (+/- 2 weeks) no other fish are showing signs of fungi

Can you set up a QT for him, so you don't have to treat the entire tank? What meds are you using now? I'd go full dose, add 1 tbsp salt/10g, Melafix & Pimafix.

I am shocked he hasn't hurt any of your other fish!

Do not think I can set up a QT tank unfortunately. I plan on picking up pimafix and melafix today.

Last night I dosed the tank with stress coat and the jungle fungus clear (it’s what I had on hand).

He definitely doesn’t seem to be acting himself, as of now he is hanging out in the open and in the corner of the tank

There’s also a false leaf in the tank that’s his BFF

I would go with something stronger like Kanaplex but best to post about it here, these guys are the best! https://www.facebook.com/groups/220024505125640/

Also, have a bottle of Tetra Safestart on hand to replace good nitrifying bacteria killed off by the meds.

Will do. Thank you

Went to the local fish store today and purchased Kanaplex and Metroplex. Did a filter cleaning prior to dosing, fingers crossed he gets better soon

I saw your post on Facebook. You are in expert hands there!

library/feeding/feeders/

Yes thank you for directing me there! I had actually posted in one of the puffer group I belong to and no one had responded. Carl seems to have a great deal of experience with these guys so fingers crossed Dale starts getting better

Please be sure to read the article I just linked you to above.

So as of now, Dale is doing fantastic! Do you think I should does the tank again just in case? Thank you again!

Follow the directions on the bottle. NO MORE FEEDERS!

I wish I could say no more feeders however 3/4 of the tank eat live so that’s impossible.

I did read your article, however I feel it’s better for the long term that these guys get the live feedings. I’ll be sure to get them from a reputable source from now on. Until recently we didn’t have a consistent supplier. So hopefully that will help a bit.

There is absolutely no reason to feed your fish live foods! Pieces of shrimp, earthworms, large pellets are a staple in my house.

yea without live food Dale starts taking bites out of his tankmates. If I could do pellets only I would but it’s really not an option. I’ll keep a new package of kanaplex and metaplex in hand until our feeder tank is going strong.

I highly advise you to house this fish separately then. In that case, then you wouldn't have to feed feeders to any of your fish, problem solved! They are an extremely fatty, high thiamine, UNHEALTHY diet for all your fish.