The Puffer Forum

I have a MBU giant puffer who has recently gone into nice new big home (water conditions good - cycled). He has gone dark rather than pale (normally goes pale when stressed). Has a cloudy coating over his eyes and keeps bashing into things in tank as if blind. Also my normally greedy boy will not eat. has not for 5 days now. How long can he go without food. have ordered Melafix for him for tom. Plleeaaassseeee advise.x

He should easily be able to go a couple of weeks without food. Do you know your exact water parameters? (Ph, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate)

Thanks for the quick reply as i cant stop worrying bout my boy!
Water as follows
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
PH - 7.5
Nitrate - Low (cant remember exact reading-been testing all daily as worried about him - using Master Test Kit and Nitrate is fine).

My LFS said it is prob due to the previous poor water conditions (high nitrite between 0.3/0.8 due to insufficent previous filtration in old tank so was doing 25% water change every other day)and said it is prob a slime coating on eyes but he can still see?? To me it looks like he cannot see by the way he is bumping into bogwood/plants/glass etc.

Even when i held his fave mussells up to his lips would not eat. Swimming was bad before but improved muchly.

Water parameters look fine, it could be the stress of the move that has put him in this state. Adding melafix may help with the cloudy eye. Apart from that I don't know what else to say to you apart from keep the water pristine which you already seem to be on top of. If he is sulking and stressed from the move it may just be a waiting game for him to snap out of it.

Someone else should chime in with some more ideas.

Thanks v.much and please people, do give me whatever advice you can think of.

Agree w/Hilly. My Fahaka didn't eat for 3 weeks after his move. Fussy fish--hang on.

Hilly wrote:Adding melafix may help with the cloudy eye.

Could be a fungus I would treat with both pimafix and melafix.

hope you get it sorted, how old/big is your Mbu out of interrest?

If you are going to use Melafix and Pimafix, you should probably add an airstone to the tank to increase aeration, if there isnt already one in there.

I have started treating with Melafix today, will get Pimafix (what is that for exactly pls?). Can i treat at same time?

My boy is approx 5.5inches without tail and i think he is juvenial...how can i tell properly as book i have says its to do with the markings becoming more spotted than wavy as they mature?

He still wont eat and banging into tank objects although he is quite lively with his swimming.
Where his patterned bit meets his underbelly it has started going slighly grey on the edges??

I can't stop worrying about him as love him dearly and any extra advice is greatly received.

I think you are doing everything you can at the moment, Keep water pristine and add the meds as instructed. At 5.5inches your puffer is still fairly young, I havent' noticed that my Mbu markings have changed greatly in the 4-5 years I have had him and he is about 16inces excluding tail. Plenty of pics in my gallery

I cant think what could be causing the problem other than stress, what have you been feeding him lately?

Clooney looks great!
My home pc is offline at the mo and i am on nights at work so using work pc but i will upload loads when i get my broadband back up and running...hoping he will still be around then.

He has been eating mainly mussels,cockles in shells,squid,crab sticks and occasional whole prawns and aquatic snails.
He isn't too fussy an eater but mussels are his big time fave which is why it's horrible seeing him ignore them.

What kinds of live foods would you recommend giving him that i can get hold of?

I would look into getting some live shrimp as Clooney tears the tank up trying to finish them off, there are some vids in the Filx section I would say that getting some vegetable matter inside him would be worth a shot, the jury is out wheter they actually need it but Clooney loves peas and spinach. Blanch them first and remove the skin from the peas and feed a couple at a time. I would not rush the feeding at the moment though, as Hilly said they can go a long time without feeding and if he's not eating at the moment you will be wasting your time. Wait for him to improve and then think about dinner time

Ok, will do, thanks for the advice, will keep updating with any changes.

Super!! Good luck