Whisper 30-60 versus Fig8 Puffer (Fatality, pics included)

Dan06 · Post by **Dan06** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 2:28 am

Man...I mentioned in another thread that everything has gone well with my Puffers since I picked them up.

I have 2 Fig8 puffers in a 29g tank, with a Whisper 30-60 turned on full power. I have several fake plants in the tank and I placed the biggest & thickest plant around the Filter Tube to help prevent any of the puffers from getting too close & getting stuck to the tube.

I watch my puffers intently every night, I enjoy my tank a ton. I noticed that the fish never really swam around this plant or the filter tube and figured it would be okay to move the plant toward the center of the tank and help eliminate some of the 2 dimensional look I had going.

Tonight I went out to pick up some supplies for my Pug named Beavis. When I got home I looked into my tank to see this weird green/black/white looking thing wrapped around the filter tube along with a white 'blob' inside the tube. I quickly realized it was a Puffer and I had assumed the worst. I took a couple minutes finding my fish net. I pulled the tube out of the water and that's when I noticed he was still breathing. I quickly put him back in the tank and gently free'd his puffed belly from the slot and he swam free. His belly was distorted and really puffy for about 2 hours. Since then it has receded, however his face is still very narrow & his eyes no longer move. He was very weak, he could swim okay in area's where the filter doesn't create much current. He appears to take notice when I approach the tank and makes a pathetic attempt to beg like my healthy puffer.

My question is: Is he doomed? His body structure has returned to normal except for his face, which is very very narrow. Is this typical for a Puffer than recently puffed up? I tossed in a couple blood worms and he made an attempt to eat but the healthy Puffer gobbled up all his food. I've since turned off the lights & occasionally I'll flip them on for a moment to see how he is doing. His coloring is very good still, he's swimming a little better, but his eye function & his face is still very narrow. I see him moving his jaw quite a bit too. His breathing doesn't look labored & he isn't lazy at all.

My next question is, what could I do to modify the filter tube so the slots are smaller so it would be physically impossible for this to happen again?

kimmers318 · Post by **kimmers318** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:32 am

My goodness...none of the intake tubes I have have spaces that anything bigger than a fry could get into....I couldn't imagine my dwarfpuffs being sucked part way into one! I do know some people use a fine mesh material/media bag wrapped around their intake tubes, or filter floss stuck inside in the case of fry. They do mention though that this creates the need for more cleaning at that point because even the small particles of food that may be floating around can't get thru.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:35 am

So getting pulled against the filter caused him to puff into it, so he couldn't get out, what a bizarre accident. You could place a coarse plastic net over the end with a rubber band to prevent it happening again. He may still be in shock from what happened to him, I'm sure in his puffer mind, he was hanging from the jaws of a predator trying to swallow him for a long time before it gave up. He might not be moving his eyes if they are bruised and it's painful for him, if you could turn the current way down for him, and net the other puffer into a corner of the tank to give him a chance to eat(after the other guy gets his share of course) you would probably give him his best chance at recovery.

messy_da_legend · Post by **messy_da_legend** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:14 am

This happened to my first GSP with a powerhead when the guard came off, except he puffed and got mashed

.

CoreyK · Post by **CoreyK** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:47 am

The smaller of my two figure 8's got sucked into one of the powerhead intakes the first day I got him haha, poor little guy. I couldn't find him for a few minutes, then all of a sudden I noticed a little puffer face sticking out of the intake.
I turned off the powerhead and with a little struggling he got himself free and rested on a leaf nearby for a while.
His belly was a little beat up for a few days, but he was just fine after a few hours.
Now he's growing up to be a great little puffer

Dan06 · Post by **Dan06** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:06 pm

Phew, I don't want to say I'm glad - but I feel a whole lot better hearing it's happened to other people!

Last night I was starting to think I was an idiot for moving that plant and giving them a chance to get sucked into the slots on the tube.

I will definitely look into a way to modify the slots so this can't happen again. The Puffers belly was extremely blown up inside the tube. I'm not sure how long he was stuck to the tube, but it could have been as long 2-3 hours. His swimming is a bit stronger this afternoon, not a lot but he is able to hold himself in place against the filters current. When I found him against the tube, the other puffer lost all of his color and he definitely looked very stressed - I was surprised to see him so pale. It took a good 30 minutes after I freed the other puffer for him to regain his color and to come out from under the driftwood.

His face filled out a little, he's looking a tad better. You can really see the damage done by the tube, there is no open sores on him, but you can see his 'skin' is flaking off in a few areas where his belly was in the tube.

How long should I give him to start getting more active & looking like he's recovering? Last thing I want to do is hang onto a doomed fish and possibly disease my other healthy puffer? I'd hate to put the injured puffer down, but I don't have enough experience with these guys to understand how tough they are.

CoreyK · Post by **CoreyK** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:03 pm

Dan06 wrote: How long should I give him to start getting more active & looking like he's recovering? Last thing I want to do is hang onto a doomed fish and possibly disease my other healthy puffer?

How would he disease your other puff? If he dies because of inuries that doesn't mean the other puff will get sick.

You could try some Melafix, that may help his injuries heal.

In my experience, figure 8's are really tough little buggers. From the sounds of it I'd say he definitely has a fighting chance. Just be sure not to stress him in any other way while he's hurt.

Dan06 · Post by **Dan06** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:07 pm

I'm worried about disease because I won't be able to watch the tank all the time to make sure he's alive. I work 8-5 or later every day, so if he were to die there's a good possibility he will spend quite a while, dead at the bottom of the tank.

Dan06 · Post by **Dan06** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:01 pm

Well, I don't have much to worry about anymore. The injured Puffer has met his maker. It sucks!!!

I started with a 29g Freshwater tank. I had a few nice fish, brought home a Bala shark that had the beginning stage of Ich and before I could figure out what it was, it had infected the entire tank and ultimately killed everything I had housed in there. I dismantled the tank, cleaned it well, including the filter & started a brackish tank. I've had the Puffers for a couple months now and this has been by far the most stable setup I've worked with. The tank cycled incredibly fast and I've never had an ammonia or nitrite spike, I also upgraded from a Whisper 30 to the Whisper 30-60 when I started the brackish tank.

Been enjoying the tank, the Puffers have been some work maintaining their health, but they are a pretty and very personable fish! Really mad to see that a filter caused the demise of the puffer. I ordered them from the local fish store, rather healthy. A little weak on color and a little underweight, only took a couple days to get them dark in color and looking healthy.

Well, I took some photo's of the deceased Puffer to show the damage that the tube did to him. You can see the narrowing of his face & the disfiguring it did to his body.

This is from a month ago, both look healthy.

Here's the aftermath..

And then the very nervous surviving Puffer:

Chibodee · Post by **Chibodee** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:27 pm

poor puff, thats too sad

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:05 pm

He really got messed up, he was a trooper for holding on so long. Condolences on your loss.

Dan06 · Post by **Dan06** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:06 am

Since I got him out of water and I was able to look him over good, he really got abused pretty bad by the filter tube. It's really unfortunately, look at his shape - you can see random buldges and you can see how narrow his face/jaw is. I don't know if it was the traumatic stress, or if the tube actually caused damage to alter his appearance so much. I guess it's all irrelevant now.

My surviving puffer is nervous when I approach the tank or move around it quickly, he rapidly loses color too. He comes around after a couple minutes.

I'm suspecting a fishes memory lasts longer than what, 3 seconds? LOL, this poor bugger is traumatized and/or lonely. Both Puffers swam together at all times never saw them seperated.

Maybe it's time to place another order for a F8 & the LFS...

Post by **Myaj** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:19 am

Dan, seriously, there should be no way a puffer the size of a Figure 8 can get sucked into your intake tube! Are you missing the end piece that has a grate over it? If you are, you really need to pick one up, and in the mean time, put some cheesecloth or a nylon sock over the opening and rubberband it on.

Poor little buggar, it looks like there was some internal damage. Sorry to hear he didn't make it.

Dan06 · Post by **Dan06** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:41 am

It has the grate over it. His belly was literally sucked into the slots on the tube. Believe me, I was amazed as to how he got stuck to it and eventually sucked into it.

http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=577

That is the exact Filter I have. The end tube is the same piece as you'd find on any Whisper filter, just a large diameter to support the water flow.

Incredible isn't it?

Post by **Myaj** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:52 am

If that is so, I would guess he was weakened from something else entirely, a healthy puffer shouldn't even be fazed by one of those filters. The behavior of your other puffer is supporting that.

Have you checked all your levels out? Maybe something is elevated and weakening them. Best to be safe considering your other puffer isn't feeling too good/secure, there's usually a reason for it.

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Whisper 30-60 versus Fig8 Puffer (Fatality, pics included)

Whisper 30-60 versus Fig8 Puffer (Fatality, pics included)