Help with my mbu

[Mbutiful]

Hi all, i keep my mbu in a 30 gallon tank for the time being, i have a mbu puffer that resides in one of the tanks with an ornate bichir. recently i swapped the mbu to a different 30 gallon tank to help my channa settle into a differnt more densly planted tank.

a few days after the swap my mbu has been discoloured, gained cloudy eye and whitespot. i put him back into his older tank to recover and treat, i tested the water on the tank he was in all the water seems to be good nitrate about 8ppm, ph getting on 7 no ammonia readings. the only thing i can put it down to is some cheap bogwood that i put in the tank from my lfs it seems to be decomposing in the tank so thats going in my viv. i have some protozin treatment for him, would this suffice?? any help to get my mbu back on track would be great.... any Q's just ask!

Thanks for the help

 

[Lupin]

a few days after the swap my mbu has been discoloured, gained cloudy eye and whitespot. i put him back into his older tank to recover and treat,

Why did you put him back in the other tank? You should have left him where he was. Moving him around is already very stressful and doing it again proves more fatal than what was intended. Ich strikes the host's weakest point, weak immune system. The puffer was stressed from your swapping around.

Now for the cloudy eyes, stress, injuries and poor water conditions are often responsible for this. Stress is one thing to consider here. Another is water conditions. What is your nitrite level? What test kit did you use?

the only thing i can put it down to is some cheap bogwood that i put in the tank from my lfs it seems to be decomposing in the tank so thats going in my viv.

Do you have a pic of this wood? Perhaps you are using the wrong kind of wood. Woods from fruit trees rot and can contribute to ammonia. If it is rotting, then you'll notice that it would have cause the ammonia to rise, not to mention fungal growths around it.

i have some protozin treatment for him, would this suffice??

This will help with ich but I prefer salt and heat treatment over chemicals. Chemicals are a last resort. Treat all the other fish that have been in contact with the mbu. They may have already contracted ich.

 

[Mbutiful]

Thanks for the help, i have put the other fish back in their old tank and i will take the wood out and photograph it tonight, They told me it was normal bogwood at the store but i highly doubt it now. i didnt want to use chems either, i have wacked the thermometer up to 28 degrees and hope that it will cure some ich.

As for nitrate levels it was between 5 and 10 on the chart, definately no more due to being a pale pink. the test kit i used is essential mini master test kit from hagen.

any reccomendations what to do with the salt? this will be a last resort over mucho water changes and temp rise, i have never needed to treat for ich in my tanks, the only problems i have encountered is cloudy eye on my gsp, but i cured it naturally with them. thanks again for the usefull info

 

[Mbutiful]

forgot to mention, i have put him back in his orig tank due to me having work in an hour and not being able to water change tonight, knowing that the tank he is in is very well filtered, matured and stable

 

[Lupin]

As for nitrate levels it was between 5 and 10 on the chart, definately no more due to being a pale pink. the test kit i used is essential mini master test kit from hagen.

Your nitrate is fine but I was asking for nitrite.

any reccomendations what to do with the salt? this will be a last resort over mucho water changes and temp rise, i have never needed to treat for ich in my tanks, the only problems i have encountered is cloudy eye on my gsp, but i cured it naturally with them. thanks again for the usefull info

Dose with a tablespoon per 5g. Get a cup of tank water and keep stirring the salt in it until it is thoroughly dissolved. Considering you may have bottom dwellers in your tanks, dissolution of salt is extremely important as grains of salt can burn their skin and this may also kill them in the process. Add slowly to the tank. Don't add everything directly.

 

[Mbutiful]

Not showing anything on the readings for nitrite. i will try a salt bath tomorrow morning if the problem persists

 

[Lupin]

Good luck. Your tank conditions are fine. Treat them with salt for 14 days. Salt baths will not work well enough.

 

[Pufferpunk]

What ever happened with this puffer?

 

[busybones]

30 gallons seems a little small for a MBU..how big is he?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Keep in mind, this thread hasn't been posted in since January.