The Puffer Forum

Hi all! I am new to this hobby and know I’ve made mistakes from not so great advice.
I currently have 60gal saltwater tank that is about a month old. Was told it would be cycled by adding fritz turbo start and all would be good. Long story short I’m having to do a fish in cycle because it didn’t cycle with the starter bacteria. I am nearing the end of my cycle (had nitrite spike and now it’s decreasing). Current stock is 1 porcupine puffer, 1 blue spot puffer and 1 diamond goby. All was fine with water changes and stability but I noticed my blue spot had a chunk missing from the dorsal fin - attributed this to aggression from my porcupine during feeding, but he was acting fine. 2 days ago I noticed white strings hanging from him and a red mark in his mouth. He had been hiding and not wanting to eat so I pulled him out and put him in QT tank. He is getting these slime/fungal patches on his belly that are easily removed but comes right back after an hour or so. I’m having a hard time identifying them.

This morning my goby was dead but looked completely normal otherwise. None of the lesions look like ich but now the blue spot is having a hard time swimming and the white film is getting worse!
Does this look fungal? Parasitic? Secondary bacterial infection from wounds?
Dosed QT tank with Metroplex but he’s still not eating.

Current parameters:
Salinity: 1.025
Ph: 8
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm
Temp:79f

Just did 20gal water change on the 60 gallon after finding the dead goby. Porcupine is acting fine/eating well with no slime lesions.

Thank all!

Welcome!
So sorry to hear about the bad advice! I suggest returning the porc. Not only will it continue to harass & possibly kill the Bluespot, but you'll also eventually need a 120g for it, as they grow to 18".

As far as the Toby puff, I suggest methylene blue baths:
https://www.pufferfishenthusiastsworldw ... blue-baths

What is your filtration system? How much live rock do you have in there? Protein skimmer? Powerheads?

Thank you for your reply! I will get some methylene blue for a bath.
I have 2 aqua clear hang on filters. One 70gal and one 50gal filters. No protein skimmer or power head. I have a good size airstone and just some fake rock decorations. Thought about switching to live after more research. I have live sand but maybe adding live rock would be better.

Also, what is your SG? At the moment, you are running FW filtration on a SW tank. You'll still be doing weekly water changes on it. By switching over to the aforementioned marine filtration, most of your filtration will be biological, needing much le$$ WC.

What about the porcupine?

The blue spot ended up passing away this morning :/.

My porcupine is acting slightly off now as well unfortunately. Breathing heavier and he didn’t eat tonight. Usually he goes crazy for frozen krill but I held it in front of his face and he didn’t go for it/ignored it. No lesions on him, fins look fine.

SG: 1.025
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0.25 ppm
Nitrates: 10 ppm

Any ideas? Methylene blue is on its way.

ANY nitrite is poison & will affect the gills. What other foods are you offering the porc? Krill causes lockjaw, among other things...

I’m wondering if when my nitrite spiked it affected the gills of all the tank members. Possibly didn’t get it down enough or quick enough and now I’m seeing the affects of it. I’m offering half shell clams and marine cuisine cubes as well. He never was interested in those and only wanted the krill.

I’ll plan on a water change and see if that helps him.

Yeah, krill is like fish crack--they can't get enough & will deny all other foods. Stop it altogether
& only offer healthy choices. Be sure to defrost cubs & rinse well, before feeding.
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
library/feeding/problems-feeding-your-puffer/

Awesome! Thank you for all your help!

He is back to acting normal now. I will work on changing the diet.