The Puffer Forum

A friend has a medium porc and one of his sides is turning greyish like rot and his spines there look swollen. Does anyone know what it is and how it can be treated? He's the only thing in the tank and he's eating okay.

How long has the tank been set up? Two months.
Did you cycle the tank? How? Live sand, live rock, damsels, time.
How long have you had the fish? One week.
How big is the tank? 60gal
How big is the fish? 5-6in
Any tankmates? No
Are you doing weekly water changes? How much? 15%
What are the water parameters:
Ammonia? (should be 0 at all times) 0
NitrItes? (should be 0 at all times) 0
NitrAtes? (should be <20, or even better, <10) 8

What test kits are you using to measure your water parameters?

Can you post a pic of the puffer?

What happened to the damsels that were in the tank?

What type of filtration - rock, hang on back filters, cannister, skimmer, powerheads, etc.?

Skin discoloration and swollen spikes is not a good sign - need to get this puffer out of the display tank and into a separate QT/hospital tank. Bare bottom tank with no live rock.

Need to get some antibiotics - Nitrofurazone, Kanamycin or Mardel's Maracyn-2 (my order of preference for this puffer).

Yeah my puff had something like that too. Is it spreading? Definitley takes PUfferqueens advice.

What test kits are you using to measure your water parameters? Not sure, it's her tank, not mine.

Can you post a pic of the puffer? Sorry, I will try to get one next time I see him.

What happened to the damsels that were in the tank? The were sold to a LFS.

What type of filtration - rock, hang on back filters, cannister, skimmer, powerheads, etc.? I'm not positive but I believe she has a powerhead, backpack, and a skimmer.

Skin discoloration and swollen spikes is not a good sign - need to get this puffer out of the display tank and into a separate QT/hospital tank. Bare bottom tank with no live rock. He's the only thing in the tank except the liverock and sand.

You need to get him out because antibiotics to treat him will make the live rock dead, and that would be bad, because the tank wouldn't be cycled anymore and he'd likely die of that.

It's the biggest tank she has though. She has a 10gal she could put most of the rock in.. should she just do that?

Is this rot?

Perhaps the ten could be set up for dips in the antibiototics. Someone with more experience using dips should give further advice after this point, as I have not done them myself.

Forgot to add that the ten has stuff in it already. Maybe she can buy a new ten, they're relatively inexpensive?

They cost NOTHING. As a kit with a hood, filter, etc from walmart, they're under 40, for a bare tank from petland, under 10$. All you'd really need is a bare tank and a heater for doing dips, possibly not even the heater, but I think it would be a really good idea so the bath is always at temp. If the ten has stuff in it, there is definately no way to put the LR in it.

I will let her know. I feel so bad for the little guy! Thanks!

Just happy to help a sick puffer.

Porous materials - rock, substrate etc will absorb medications. This will make achieving a therapeutic level impossible.

Many (if not most) antibiotics are toxic to inverts, corals and the microfauna found in rock and substrate. They can also affect the nitrifying bacteria in your filter. All this will lead to die off and toxic water conditions.

I always prefer to perform antibiotic baths versus adding the antibiotic to the tank. Most antibiotics will degrade quickly when exposed to higher temps, saltwater, light and air. Dosing a tank is far more expensive than doing antibiotic baths and it is far more effective.

Best of luck.

Okay I told her everything and she bought a ten gallon lastnight and some Maracyn2... what's the best way for her to do this?

I would do antibiotic baths in a separate container - add 1 tablet of Maracyn-2 (saltwater formula not freshwater) to each gallon of well aerated well and let the puffer "bath" for 1 hour....then return to the hospital tank.

What are you going to you for filtration on the hospital tank????