Puffer is ill please help
- Thread starter Morticia
- Start date
Fat Homer
(sorry, you're the first MFKer I think of when I think of puffer people)You'll need to give a few more details about your tank such as tank size, water parameters, water change and feeding schedule etc. There is a 'sticky' in the Freshwater Diseases and Health Issues section titled "Fish Heath Diagnostics - Read Before Posting", read that and do as it says, then people can help you better.
As in, human hair? Sorry my eyesight is terrible so I can't make out anything but the puffer in the pic.
Hmmmmmmmm...
Lets start with the easiest thing first... the hair...
I would probably try and put a net in the water and bring him near the surface (but not out of the tanks water) and maybe by hand very carefully remove the hair, or if need be, maybe use a pair of scissors to carefully cut it off the puffer...
After doing this i would check to see if hes perked up at all, as maybe that strand of hair is annoying him??? Not that i can say i can clearly see it in the photos...
Now if that doesnt work, then we need to work out why your puffer maybe acting funny, and a few questions:
1. did you ever do a round of dosing for IP's??? If you have, do you find his belly still flattens extremely fast after big meals (say 24 hours after a large meal)
2. Whats your feeding schedule and what are you feeding him? Any hardshell foods?
3. Is their enough aeration in the tank either through breaking surface tension or an airstone?
4. He looks to be a young puffer, how long have you had him and how is his growth rate so far?
5. What does your puffers poop look like? Is it stringy or more like pellets / small tiny capsules
If you can answer those questions and let us know water paramters etc, we can try to narrow down possible causes???
Lets start with the easiest thing first... the hair...
I would probably try and put a net in the water and bring him near the surface (but not out of the tanks water) and maybe by hand very carefully remove the hair, or if need be, maybe use a pair of scissors to carefully cut it off the puffer...
After doing this i would check to see if hes perked up at all, as maybe that strand of hair is annoying him??? Not that i can say i can clearly see it in the photos...
Now if that doesnt work, then we need to work out why your puffer maybe acting funny, and a few questions:
1. did you ever do a round of dosing for IP's??? If you have, do you find his belly still flattens extremely fast after big meals (say 24 hours after a large meal)
2. Whats your feeding schedule and what are you feeding him? Any hardshell foods?
3. Is their enough aeration in the tank either through breaking surface tension or an airstone?
4. He looks to be a young puffer, how long have you had him and how is his growth rate so far?
5. What does your puffers poop look like? Is it stringy or more like pellets / small tiny capsules
If you can answer those questions and let us know water paramters etc, we can try to narrow down possible causes???
I don't know his water parameters, but I did a 50% water change and added ammonia lock to his tank, I've been treating him for IPs since I got him which was in October. After limited results I moved him to a substrateless tank so that I could scope his poop out as soon as he drops it. He was about an inch when I got him he is roughly 3 now. So he's growing at about an inch a month. His stomach sinks in still, but not quickly. He has maintained a good roundness until he refused food for 24 hours. He still has some stringy feces but it's now mostly pellets with one or two strings. His food includes snails, live ghost shrimp, frozen shrimp, and frozen blood worms. He will get either 3 shrimp or blood worms and 5-9 snails a day. They're very small just "trash" snails. He also hunts the snails through out the day. I drop them in at night and it gives him something to do during the day. He is powerhead breaking the surface of the water. Last night when I noticed the panting I also added a small air stone on the opposite side of the tank. I also noticed while my bigger heater had shut itself off I have a smaller heater to act as a back up and it did not. His water was warm about 85 degrees. I removed the smaller heater and the tanks now at 78 degrees. As of this morning he is swimming and hunting again, he still has a hair wrapped around his head. I'm assuming it's a human hair. The tank has a lid so the only thing I can assume is it got in there during a water change and he caught it before the filters could.
