The Puffer Forum

Hi! First, parameters;

Tank size: currently 7Gallons
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5
Phosphate: 0
PH: 7.2
Tank team: 2 x dwarf/pea puffers
Food: dried mealworm, bloodworm
No changes in last week, tank fully cycled several months

Ok, we have two pea puffers. One is super healthy, one has always been grey and smaller. The smaller one a few weeks ago looked like he all of a sudden had overgrown teeth, within an hour this had gone down so I assumed it was a snail shell or similar (snails came in on plants).

The last two days, he has the same thing, not as bulbous looking but he can’t shut his mouth and whatever it is kind of juts upwards from his top lip. I’ve trie d to take photos but it’s hard! He can’t eat - he can get things in his mouth but spits them back out again, and as you can see from the photos he is so thin now I’m surprised he’s still around.

Any ideas? What can we do? Don’t want to sedate with clove oil to look as he is so tiny I don’t think he’d wake back up. He’s still swimming around, so he has some energy, but he is breathing quite heavily.

Any and all advice welcome, thank you

Sorry, all of the traffic hit is in my phone are coming up as too large so I can’t upload them

Managed to resize the photos..

Poor guy! DPs don't have dental problems, so I doubt it is his teeth. His mouth has only looked this way for a week? Because that emaciated appearance would take a month to be this severe. Have you ever seen him eat?
You could try netting him & keeping him underwater, inspect his mouth. I think as small as he is, this would take 2 people. You will certainly need a light but also a magnifying glass.

Thanks, Pufferpunk.

He was the smallest in the tank when we got them, that's why we picked him! He used to eat all the time, and get a little pop-belly, but he never grew. The belly would disappear and he would be back to skinny (granted not this skinny, but tiny all the same). The last time I witnessed him eat was two small bloodworms 3 days ago, but I mean tiny ones, the others he just swims up to and then backs off.

We got him out yesterday and it's really hard to describe, it's like a growth from his mouth, that is stopping him from closing his mouth and seemingly from chewing/eating. We thought his teeth but no, it's more skin-like. We couldn't get it off at all.

I've not seen him since around dinnertime yesterday, when he was sat on the wood in the tank looking so sad. I think perhaps he is just an unwell specimen. His tank mate has grown and just looks like a tiny GSP now, bright coloured, alert eyes, always quick to come say hi. This little fella hasn't grown, has always been grey, and though interactive, spent far more time in the shadows.

Sadly I think when we do see him next it will be to remove him from the tank. It's heartbreaking. We have just lost our special-needs Bolivian Ram, too, I think it's time to stop bringing home the ones that no one else wants, it's too heartbreaking

Just to update, we took him out and tried again to remove what was there. It was completely attached/part of him, and could not be removed.

He is now swimming at the rainbow bridge and no longer suffering

So sorry! I'm pretty sure he had internal parasites. I suggest you treat the other one.

library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/

https://www.pufferfishenthusiastsworldw ... vancoricus

Thanks, we’ll look into this, though the other one looks super healthy, better safe than sorry