Sick porcupine puffer

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angelaw

New Member
Hi, I am relatively new the hobby and have no idea what is wrong with my puffer. I have a 400L fish only tank which has been up and running for about 10 months and the puffer was one of the first fish in. I have an emperor angel, clown trigger, Picasso, cow fish, coral beauty, maroon clown and a flagfin angel with some live rock and some artificial. I recently added a regal tang who didn't warm to the puffer and gave her a bit of a hard time. After a few weeks I could see it was starting to stress her out so re-homed the tang as she was not eating much and hiding away all the time.
She was spinning around at the bottom of the tank and bumping into things. She would often inflate if we approached the tank.
I also cleaned the tank and did a 30% water change on the same day and discovered I had had a massive nitrate spike. Nitrites and ammonia were both fine. PH was 8.2 and salinity 1.023. I did regular water changes for the next few days and nitrates are now at 20. She didn't eat for 8 days and spent all her time hiding. Her fins were frayed and her tail always tucked to the side. A started to show a little interest in food about a week ago, but nothing like she used to. She never leaves the bottom of the tank and never strays from her den. She still spends all day hiding and I'm worried that she isn't showing signs of improvement. I have added waterlife fin rot and ulcer treatment as her fins don't seem to be healing. I also added a protein skimmer last week and an ozonizer this week.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
It sounds like you have a lot of potentially large, aggressive fish in a not very big tank. The puffer may just be reacting to the stress of so many other fish in the tank as well as the stress he endured from the tang.
 
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angelaw

New Member
Thanks for the reply. All but the flagfin and coral beauty are juveniles and have all been in the tank for some time. I know some of them will eventually outgrow the tank and will have to be re-homed. Before the tang was introduced she was fine. Could she be suffering from nitrate poisoning or still be stressed from being bullied by the tang?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Nitrates will seldom kill fish unless there off the charts high. Stress from tank mates is most likely the cause. Do u feed anything hard to wear down her teeth?
 
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angelaw

New Member
Nitrates were 100. Yes she gets clams and mussels, but she's too slow to get anywhere near them at the moment.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Can you post some quality pics of your puffer to see if we can ID any possible diseases caused by aggression. Mostly looking for fungal or bacterial disease which often result from injuries due to aggression.

What and how often are you now feeding?

Do you have a quarantine tank?
 
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angelaw

New Member
No quarantine tank. Feeding twice a day, but small amounts. They get a very varied diet (maybe too varied?) of mysis, bloodworm, brine shrimp, prawns, pellets, marine flakes and algae flakes as well as the occasional clam and mussel.
 

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lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
It does look like there may be some bacteria or fungus on the fins. Likely a side effect of the aggression.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I don't really see bacteria/fungus on fins, but the tips could easily progress along that direction. It actually looks like there has been some healing of the fins, can you confirm?

On the 2nd pic, I notice a whitish area above the pectoral fin which looks white, or eroded. Can you tell us what that is, describe it if it is actually abnormal.

Maybe substitute flakes and pellets for either frozen or your own seafood mix. Self seafood mix is one of the best choices, especially for an aggressive tank.

Is the puffer getting hard shelled food sources regularly, such as shrimp, clam, other shellfish? Add zoecon to one meal, and for the other crush FRESH garlic, not bottled garlic, mix juice with food and then offer it to the puffer. If he is not eating well, try offering direct feedings using a feeding syringe. (You can get these at your local pet shop. They are used to feed sick animals, baby animals, or even birds, and, in this case fish).
 
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angelaw

New Member
My first thought was bacterial, that's why I started the fin rot treatment. It's a bactericide (myxazin?)
You're right Beth, there has been some healing of the fins. I hadn't noticed the whitish area until a few weeks ago so I think it's abnormal. Her breathing is fine. I do feed mostly frozen foods, I just substitute flakes and pellets occasionally just for a change. She probably doesn't get as much hard shelled food as she should - I only put a couple of clams and mussels in every 2 or 3 weeks - and even then it's a feeding frenzy with such an aggressive tank. How often should I be giving her hard shelled food?
I'm glad you mentioned about fresh garlic. I tried that months ago when she got ich and it really helped. I always put bottled garlic on their frozen food, but will start using fresh more often.
 
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angelaw

New Member
She seems to have perked up a bit! I just saw her swimming around the tank and she even made it to the top! It only lasted for a minute or 2, but that's the most active she's been for weeks. Fingers crossed she's on the road to recovery.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I would try offering her specifically some fresh shelled shrimp that you can get from the food market. Offer the others some other food and then try to target feed a shelled shrimp or two until things pick up for the puffer. Best to offer shelled foods at least then on out few days from here on out.

Bottled garlic has no value. Use the fresh garlic now, and also supplement food with zoecon. Garlic with one feeding, then the other with zoecon.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
No, definitely with shells. Just remember to try and target feed him until he gains strength. Keep eye on that spot.
 
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angelaw

New Member
Thanks. She had a good feed tonight and has been a little more active. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think she might be on the mend! I'll get her some shelled prawns tomorrow.
 
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