The Puffer Forum

Questions:
1: water parameters
Ph:8.3
Salinity: 1.023
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates: unable to detect
2: 50gallon (I understand this is a bit small for a Porcupine Fish, but they’re only about 4inches so I thought it would be fine for a start) Inhabitants: Porcupine Fish, 3 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs
3: Food: Krill, Squid, Snails, Clams
Salt/water and Waterchanges: Instant Ocean for full water changes, “Real Pacific Ocean water” by Imagintarium for partial water changes which occur every week (Saturdays)
4: I shifted the rocks around a bit, but not much.
5:The aquarium has been running for a total of 3 months with a fish living in there for a month and a half. The aquarium was also started with media from a previous tank along with live rock.
*If I missed anything or have any advice to help improve my care please let me know!*

Hi! I hope you all are doing good while we’re in this Pandemic. To get to my question , I believe my Porcupine fish has a small air bubble near their posterior area near the base of their tail. I wasn’t sure of the reason but they started to puff up while they greeted me at the surface of their aquarium and I think they may have inhaled some air. They are currently able to keep their self down under the water but their tail sticks up and has a little bit of trouble swimming. I’m a bit scared for them but they seem to be acting normal (?) despite this air bubble. Does anyone have any suggestions ? Should I just wait ? From my understanding Porcupine fish can possibly take a bit of time to fully evacuate any water or air, but I also understand they really aren’t supposed to swallow air. Thank you for the help, have a great day !!

library/hospital/help-my-puffer-is-air-filled/

LOL, just pick a sex, I promise you the fish won't mind!

Thank you for that info sheet, I have tried the burping already that did not work unfortunately, I also was able to get them to Puff up with water and that didn’t seem to totally help either ? I guess my other question is , is it possible it’s something else ? I noticed that it is able to keep itself down in the water column good and it’s still eating. I also noticed that it’s caudal fin is pointed up in a way but it’s posterior end as a whole doesn’t really stick up. Is this an indicator of anything else ? Does it just need to evacuate waste possibly ? Once, again thank you for the help !

OK, if you think it might be constipated, then add 1 TBSP Epsom salt/10g & then add the same amount again the next day.