HELP - Sick South American Puffers :(
Posted: Sat May 16, 2026 3:03 am
1. Iron 0, Copper 0, Nitrate 10, nitrite 0, total hardness 75, total alkalinity 0, Carbonate 40, freshwater PH 6.4, ammonia 0.
2. 40 gallon tank, 4 super red apistogram cichlids, 6 South American puffers, 2 guppies, 3 halfbeaks, 5 Cory catfish, 6 ottocinclus catfish, 6 amano shrimp, 1 loach, 1 female betta, 4 nerite snails.
3. Mix of bloodworms, cichlid food, betta pellets, and sinking catfish food. Algae wafer every few days. Done 5 Ich-X treatments following instructions of a 1/3 water change before each new application. Also added Kanaplex, tomorrow is the last dose of 3 again following the label instructions.
4. No new changes to the tank.
5. Aquarium has been set up for probably 6 months now. We cycled it for a few weeks prior to adding fish. We have a nice 70gallon filter on the fish tank, the AC-70 by Fluval. We made sure water parameters were perfect before getting the fish.
We have 6 South American Puffers. Soemthing has been going on with them for weeks. We began to notice small white spots on them all a few weeks ago. We thought it was ich, so we increased the tank temperature for about a week. It didn’t change anything so I began Ich-X treatments. We have done 5 treatments so far. They have continued to get worse - more white dots all over and their mouths look covered/blocked by white fuzz. I began Kanaplex a few days ago, again following the dosage of 3 doses every other day. I read that it may be something else other than ich and that raising the temperature might make it worse. We’ve now lowered the temp but these fish still look horrible. Ideas? Do I keep doing the ich-X treatments? Kanaplex says 3 treatments and tomorrow will be 3 and they’re still horrible. I’m at a loss as to what to do for these fish. And help is greatly appreciated! I’m trying to get photos to attach but I can’t get them to load, my apologies.
2. 40 gallon tank, 4 super red apistogram cichlids, 6 South American puffers, 2 guppies, 3 halfbeaks, 5 Cory catfish, 6 ottocinclus catfish, 6 amano shrimp, 1 loach, 1 female betta, 4 nerite snails.
3. Mix of bloodworms, cichlid food, betta pellets, and sinking catfish food. Algae wafer every few days. Done 5 Ich-X treatments following instructions of a 1/3 water change before each new application. Also added Kanaplex, tomorrow is the last dose of 3 again following the label instructions.
4. No new changes to the tank.
5. Aquarium has been set up for probably 6 months now. We cycled it for a few weeks prior to adding fish. We have a nice 70gallon filter on the fish tank, the AC-70 by Fluval. We made sure water parameters were perfect before getting the fish.
We have 6 South American Puffers. Soemthing has been going on with them for weeks. We began to notice small white spots on them all a few weeks ago. We thought it was ich, so we increased the tank temperature for about a week. It didn’t change anything so I began Ich-X treatments. We have done 5 treatments so far. They have continued to get worse - more white dots all over and their mouths look covered/blocked by white fuzz. I began Kanaplex a few days ago, again following the dosage of 3 doses every other day. I read that it may be something else other than ich and that raising the temperature might make it worse. We’ve now lowered the temp but these fish still look horrible. Ideas? Do I keep doing the ich-X treatments? Kanaplex says 3 treatments and tomorrow will be 3 and they’re still horrible. I’m at a loss as to what to do for these fish. And help is greatly appreciated! I’m trying to get photos to attach but I can’t get them to load, my apologies.