The Puffer Forum

I recently had a fahaka puffer start acting a little wierd and swimming with his mouth open more, like he wanted air. the next day i notices he had white spots on him that looked like little cysts. i caught him rubbing againt some wood so im assuming its ich. ill attach a photo so you guys can see. if you guys could help that would be great, not sure what it is.

ammonia-0ppm
nitrite-0
nitrate-15
tankmates-2silver dollars and a siamese algea eater
There used to be frontosa but i recently sold them. all the fish are in a 75 gallon tank, but im getting a 180 in about a week. nothing has really changed in the tank so im confused why this has happened.

Treat with Ich-X and do large (80%) WC every other day, thoroughly cleaning the substrate to remove free-swimming cysts.

ok sounds good thanks so much. ive been using pimafix and melafix as well at the same time, is that ok?

I was going to recommend Melafix.

update: day 4 of the puffer having what i think is ich. ive done the water changes and medicine mentioned above, but he has been going without food for 3 1/2 days and only swims a little bit, but he often drifts into things. certain patches of his skin are discolored and lighter than the rest. i have metroplex to put in his food, but he wont eat. any suggestions on how to get him to eat? or do i just wait it out and see if he feels better in a couple days, if so how long, and when should i consider having to tube feed.Thanks. seems like the infections and cysts on his skin are smaller, but hes still super lethargic and not interested in food. pretty weak too.

How big is he? They can go quite some time without food, especially the larger fish. Test your water parameters.

he is about 6-6.5 inches.
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-10
ph-7.6
temp-76-77
thanks so much for helping.
i attached an image showing the pale areas on him and a pic of his stomach to show how skinny he is.(hard to get a good angle)

They should be bullet-shaped, so he's really not that skinny. Raise the temp to 80, to increase metabolism & try live night crawlers. I get them at Walmart. Squeeze out the worm poop 1st.

im gonna be leaving for a tournament on friday, so im dropping him off at a lfs for the weekend that has more stuff to help, hopefully he gets better. last question, how do i remove poop from the earthworms? thanks for all the help.

unfortunately it was impossible to get him to eat and i tried pretty much every food. is ips a possibility? or was it just stress.

unfortunately it was impossible to get him to eat and i tried pretty much every food. is ips a possibility? or was it just stress.

lgazzz wrote: ↑Thu Jan 16, 2025 12:36 am im gonna be leaving for a tournament on friday, so im dropping him off at a lfs for the weekend that has more stuff to help, hopefully he gets better. last question, how do i remove poop from the earthworms? thanks for all the help.

You can squeeze the poop out thru their anus.