The Puffer Forum

My saddle puffer, he's still pretty small, is in rough shape, his belly is just getting bigger by the day, he's very uncomfortable, won't eat, and is extremely lethargic. he is either resting at the top of the tank or the bottom, barely swims around at all. his stomach looks evenly bloated out to about twice the size it usually is. he is not just fat, and it seems impossible for it to be air, he doesn't float and its been increasing slowly, no air bubbles in my tank...any ideas? bacterial infection possibly? or worms? no weird poops though,,,

We need more information before we can help you out. Tank size, how long its been set up, how long he's been in the tank, if you cycled it and how, current water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, SG), etc. Any information you can give will help.

Also, read the article in our Library about Air-Filled puffers.

Ok.
55 gallon in its 6th week of operation
44 lbs. live rock
2 blue damsels, 1 striped, 1 coral banded shrimp, several hermit crabs, and the poor little puffer (he's been in there about 4 weeks)
ammonia/nitrite = 0
SG = 1.024
pH= 8.2
temp=79-80 F
water changes every week
running two whisper 60s, a Seaclone100 protien skimmer.

Nitrate? Did you read that article?

Nitrates are at 5. I did read the article. It says though that if he is filled with air, that he would be floating at the top and he certainly is not floating. Also, it is a gradual steady increase in size which seems sortof incongruous with what happens when they ingest air. Right now he is resting his belly on some rock and breathing very heavily.

Is it possible he could be constipated? Have you observed him going to the bathroom?

If you think the puff might be constipated, try to see if he will eat a pea.

If he won't eat peas, you might want to try an Epsom salt bath. Do a forum search for the instructions, which should help with constipation. What do you normally feed it?

Hopefully, Puffer Queen will see this. I'll PM her.

too late..found him on the bottom of the tank this morning. bummer.

What was the puffer eating?

Sounds more like a blockage (foreign body, worms, etc), kidney failuer or bacterial infection.

I haven't used epsom salts for constipation but have used cod liver oil per feeding tube.

Might consider treating in a separate container with an antibiotic bath - kanamycin, nitrofurazone or maracyn-2 (in order of preference).

He was eating frozen tiny krill shrimp things that i would defrost by putting them in some hot water. Thats what all my fish eat, they luv it. But yeah, yesterday before he croaked the swelling had started to be all over not just his belly. If i have this problem again, I will surely try the antibiotics. I need to set up a hospital tank for this occasion I suppose right?

A diet primarily of krill isn't healthy and has been shown to cause problems with constipation and malnutrition I believe. Puffers need a varied diet and can be trained to eat a variety of heathy foods. Soaking the food in vitamins is also recommended.

Ok. Well that might have been the problem then. What exactly does a varied diet consist of? Now that I've had one puffer I know I want another..so i need to know what to feed to keep them healthy.

There's an excellent food article in our Library, complete with photos of some of the more common foods for puffers.