The Puffer Forum

Questions:
1: water parameters
Ph:8.3
Salinity: 1.021
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates: 0 for all
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: Octopus, 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 5 months with a fish living in there for about 2 months 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 recently noticed on my Porcupine Fish some random white spots on the dorsal fin and on one pectoral. I’m not exactly sure how long they had been there, I tried looking through some photos from a few months prior but couldn’t find any that would show these spots properly if they were there. I’m not sure what they are but they don’t look like ick to me unless I’m mistaken, white spots created by ick give the fish a “salted” look all over their body , while there are no other spots on the fishes body besides the fins. I’ll attach some photos I have recently taken. They look somewhat different at different angles so I made sure to attach two photos showcasing this (If you would like better photos please let me know !) . Could these just be slightly more pigmented areas along the rays of the fins ? Could it be bacterial or Fungal ? Could they be cysts ? I will also like to note the fish is super active as always and is eating like a hog , I also recently started to dose the fishes food with Vitachem, are there any known affects similar to this due to the supplement ? Any and all advice will be appreciated, thank you so much.

Hi, I do see these occasionally on my fish's fins. too. They seem to just go away on their own. Are they getting larger?

Pufferpunk wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 11:38 am Hi, I do see these occasionally on my fish's fins. too. They seem to just go away on their own. Are they getting larger?

Thank you for the reply ! I checked again today and they seem to still be the same , I will definitely monitor them. When feeding the fish squid this morning it ate normally and the overall behavior of the fish is quite normal I would say. Could these possibly be calcium deposits built up on the rays of the fins ? I believe I read about something along these lines and that a water change could possibly help with them. I would also like to ask , is it possible to “over do it” with the Vitachem ? I usually like to add it to atleast a few of the morsels while feeding ( especially with shrimp since crustaceans tend to have Thiminase which can take away from B vitamin absorption) but is it possible to use it to often ? Once again thank you for the reply ! I will update about the spots if anything dramatic happens.

I add VitaChem to everything I defrost.

Pufferpunk wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 12:17 pm I add VitaChem to everything I defrost.

Ok cool, I will continue using the vitachem regularly. Once again I appreciate the response, I will follow up on the spots as needed.

A little update: As I have continued to watch my fish it appears there have been more blotches popping up on the fins. The initial ones I reported about are seemingly “faded”. They are all different sizes for the most part and I’m not for sure if it is ick but I have seen a few white spots on the fish’s skin (these white spots typically disappear after a day , and there hasn’t been a time where the fish was fully “salted” in spots, I understand they could have been particles in the aquarium attached to the slime coat). I recently setup a 10 gallon treatment tank for the 3.2 inch fish and plan on doing a hyposalinity treatment. I have been running the aquarium for about 3.5 days hoping to have a little bit of a cycle going but who knows, it honestly may not matter too much if there is a cycle considering I will have to be doing water changes to adjust the salinity accordingly. Please correct me if I’m wrong but am I supposed to do a water change with adjusted salinity every 48 hours until I reach a SG of about 1.009 ? I Plan to start treatment tomorrow unless you have other recommendations. Once again thank you for the help , if anyone has any ideas of what this may be please feel free to plaid some input.

Nickdavey126 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 20, 2020 10:31 pm A little update: As I have continued to watch my fish it appears there have been more blotches popping up on the fins. The initial ones I reported about are seemingly “faded”. They are all different sizes for the most part and I’m not for sure if it is ick but I have seen a few white spots on the fish’s skin (these white spots typically disappear after a day , and there hasn’t been a time where the fish was fully “salted” in spots, I understand they could have been particles in the aquarium attached to the slime coat). I recently setup a 10 gallon treatment tank for the 3.2 inch fish and plan on doing a hyposalinity treatment. I have been running the aquarium for about 3.5 days hoping to have a little bit of a cycle going but who knows, it honestly may not matter too much if there is a cycle considering I will have to be doing water changes to adjust the salinity accordingly. Please correct me if I’m wrong but am I supposed to do a water change with adjusted salinity every 48 hours until I reach a SG of about 1.009 ? I Plan to start treatment tomorrow unless you have other recommendations. Once again thank you for the help , if anyone has any ideas of what this may be please feel free to plaid some input.

I will also like to add the fish is still acting and eating normally. I’m have continued to add vita chem to every meal hoping it would maybe help boost the fish’s immune system.