The Puffer Forum

Hey folks, wonder if anyone could shed any light on this:

First water parms -

NH3 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <10
SG 1.011

Second, my F-8 who is almost 2 years old has developed a cloudy eye - not too dissimilar to cataracts in humans - ie greying and literally clouding of the eye and his markings are getting darker (along with his belly).

He seems a lot less active than normal "floats" for quite some time and also doesn't get as skittish when i go near the tank when his dodgy eye is facing me. He is still eating, albeit not the fearless hunter of blood worm and cockles that he usually is, though his colourings do seem to become a bit lighter when food is around.

I have read various other posts about other puffs regarding the irridescence of the puffer eye and am confident it's not that, as when he is swimming away, there's definitely a build up in the "ball" of his eye.

The tank itself is stable and has been setup for 2 years, with me last moving house 6 months ago.

Any ideas what may have caused this and potential treatment?

Thanks,

Neil

They eye might be a fungal infection, possible causes would be a scratch from decor.

Try Melafix/Pimafix combo first off, following printed directions. You should see results in about 4 days if that is the case, but continue for a week, then do a large water change.

thanks for the rapid reply - forgot to mention that i do 50% water changes on a weekly basis!!

I'll try the mela/pima combo - was looking at it yesterday but the only LFS i know who stock it had bottles past their use-by dates (

I gathered you did large water changes by your nitrate params

Good luck!

What size tank is it?

16 US Gal. or 71 Litres UK

You have not changed anything else recently
(eg. SG?)Your SG does seem a little high... but if arrived at slowly (and has been that way for awhile...it is likely not the cause)...I had a simular experience, never actually figured out what caused it... mela/prima helped, but still lost one shortly after (theres a thread somewhere on here about it)

I have had this SG for about the past 18 months. Only going up 0.002/wk as recommended. The tank itself has been stable for the past 6 months (since i last moved house) and nothing has changed. I could understand if a new tank mate had not been quarantined (sp?!) but I've not added any other fish in 18 months either!! No real plants, all artificial etc. so i dunno where anything could have come from. Except opportunistic infections caused by, as suggested, a scratch or similar.

So, I didn't think he'd last the day, especially when I checked on him before I went to work - he was hardly breathing and being held up by the leaves on a plant. So to see him alive when I got home after fearing the worst, I almost cried!!

Tore like a maniac to a different LFS and they had some Pima and Mela (thankfully both in date, just). Clean water, meds as directed and some food.

He is very lethargic but I still see his old self when I'm near the tank. He even managed some blood worm earlier, so he does still have an appetite, albeit only when he can see the bw in front of his good eye!

Here's hoping. I'll keep you all updated in due course. Thanks again for your suggestions.

I so understand those vigils on sick fish. No one seems to understand the work we put into saving a fish that we only paid a few dollars for, but for us its not about the money. Your puffs become friends, and you dont just let them down like that if you can help it.

Good luck with the treatment!

Exactly, it's not the replacement of the fish if it all goes tits up, but it's the fact I feel like I'm failing him at the moment. Everyone I know thinks it's lame but I'm buggered if i'm just going to let something like this go to waste - like anything else I put my heart into. I spent long enough using the forum/website before I started keeping the puff, and i'm no expert now, so I still feel there's too much to lose.

I've been quite lucky with my F8, he's generally been fine - and the poor goby he took a munch out of recently got better all on his own. My only personal hurdle is to care for him when sick. It's like having a cat, feeding and cleaning it, but not taking it to the vet if it gets sick - it seems irresponsible and thoughtless.

*stops and gets off soapbox before he gets carried away!*

Well...he passed away.

Just thought I'd let you guys know - thanks for all your puffing help and comments over the past 2 years.

I'll still pop back from time to time, but for now, it's a case of deciding where to go next - i'm certainly not going to go out and replace him as a knee-jerk reaction. He was one in a million anyway!!

Sorry to hear that.