The Puffer Forum

my puffers keep flicking themselves against all the ornaments. I had white spot in my tank a couple of weeks ago, and it seemed to have disappeared. But ive been treating as though its white spot even tho i cant see any spots. Ive raised the temp to 30 degrees celsius, added salt and been using some white spot treatment.

could it be velvet or something else? i cant see anything on them to suggest toward anything.

tank stats:

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
ph: about 7.5
doing about 25% water change once a week.

It could be very small external parasites. The ich medication may be effective, but it might not. Try to look at them closely. They also might have irritated skin from something other than ich or parasites. Do they do it all the tim, or only do it when they wake up? My GSP Shakespeare tries to swim the minute the lights come on, and he bumps into stuff for 5 min at least. Boeing, my DP, on the other hand, just sits like a little lump until he's totally awake.

they are doing it pretty much all the time. ive noticed on one of the puffers that hes damaged his skin doing it. it doesnt look too bad, but its very noticeable.
ive added salt to the water, but im not sure what else to do.
they appear to be getting some fin rot, but i guess i need to treat for parasites first?

You could add some melafix and primafix (more or less tea tree oil)...probably wont cure the problem...but should sooth their skin enough so they stop flicking, and causing more damage. May allow them to heal enough to get past the problem

my lfs only sells melafix, will this suffice?

I have also had good luck using stresscoat on other freshwater fish to help them feel better externally. Thankfully I have not had any problems with my puffs. There are dosage recommendations on the back for simple dechlorination and for treating for skin problems.

follow the advice given and keep on top of water quality by doing water changes of 20% every 2-3 days until problems die down or unless treatment guidelines determine otherwise. The fact that you have these problems may indicate poor water quality in the first place, so large water change would be ideal before you start any other treatment IMO

Hmm.. I seem to have missed this. Small parasites like ich and velvet can live inside the gills, unseen. Although its too late now, I don't recommend using chemicals to treat ich and velvet, just heat and salt will almost always suffice.

Water change...always a good idea...start there first
and melafix can help with the symptoms, and help prevent any secondary infections from the scratches they receive..

Melafix is more for skin irritations and cuts and scale/fin damage...Primafix is more an anti-fungal...so melafix by itself may help.

It is not a cure (as mentioned), more like using calamine oil on a rash... it may not make it go away...but does help keep you from scratching.

As mentioned one of the better cures (assuming it is an external parasite)is increased heat (to speed to life cycle), increased salt (to kill any free floating parasites), and maintain pristine water conditions with frequent water changes (to help prevent any secondary infections and reduce stressors)

well ive been treating with an external parasite treatment and it doesnt seem to have made any difference. All my water parameters are normal
ammonia: 0
nitrite : 0
nitrate: about 10
ph: 7.5

ive added salt and raised the temp and dont see any difference in the flicking. Im also doing 25% water changes twice a week at the mo.

should i just continue with the treatment for parasites or should i treat with something to heal the damage caused by the flicking.

Have you used any melafix?

not as of yet. tried the parasite treatment first. will buy some melafix tomorrow and try that. thanks

It may help with the ichyness/irritation,

ive been treating with melafix for over about a week now and the puffers are still flicking against objects and their fins still seem to be tattered.

should i continue to treat with melafix?
ive noticed some little grains of salt on their backs, like, actually looks like salt. but not on their fins.

should i wait and then treat again with white spot?


ive raised temp to 30 degrees and am adding salt.

Take a flashlight & look closely at the gills.

What kind of salt? Do you have a hydrometer? What's the specific gravity? I'd do much larger water changes (80%) every other day, vacuuming the gravel, for a week. Continue adding Melafix & raise the SG to 1.004.