The Puffer Forum

Yesterday all my fish were fine, then i went to feed them last night and 2 of them had ick, so i treated the ick and this morning my puffer (who didn't have ick) is very ill looking. He only uses one fin, sits on the bottom of the tank unless picked up by the water current, and he just looks horrible. I'm about to do a 25% water change, but should i put my puffer somewhere separate for now? I'm not to sure what to do. He's my first puffer and i really don't want him to die. Any suggestions or tips would be nice. thank you!

What are your water parameters and how did you treath the ich? Many times, chemical treatments do more damage to the fish than the ich itself.

If you used a chemical, I would recommend a very large water change, as much as possible to remove as much chemical as possible. Then slowly raise the tank temp to about 85 and add 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons of actual water volume. Make sure you dissolve the salt thoroughly before adding it to the tank. Continue this treatment for a minimum of 14 days, as thats how long it takes to be sure you have irradicated the parasite, even if you see no more on the fish. All of the fish in the tank need to be treated though so do not remove the puffer.

There is a thorough article on this, stickied at the top of this forum, although Boxermom has pretty much covered it. Add fresh carbon to remove all traces of the meds. It is quite comon for SAPs to develop ich when they are moved (almost every time). Also keep an eye on them getting skinny & treat for internal parasites. You should also read the Puffer Dentistry article, as your species puffers will be needing that too, eventually.