Black Dogface- White Stringy Material coming out of mouth.

[borgatagal]

Lion, Better yet... Dr. Saltwater,
I just want to thank you on behalf of all 'newbies.' I read your replies to new posts daily. You are so informative and very caring.

:happyfish :happyfish
Thanks again!!
Tab
AkA: BorgataGal

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by BorgataGal
Lion, Better yet... Dr. Saltwater,
I just want to thank you on behalf of all 'newbies.' I read your replies to new posts daily. You are so informative and very caring.

:happyfish :happyfish
Thanks again!!
Tab
AkA: BorgataGal
It's never a problem. I am always very happy to help everyone that posts on here. I too was once a "newcomer" to this hobby, and I know how it feels when you need help or have a problem. That's what I am here for. :happyfish

 

[gtdarock]

Thanx again Lion, you are the best !!.
As for an update, nothing new to report. My water levels are fine, and my puffer is still coughing up that white cotton and stringy stuff. He didn't eat in about a week and a half now. So I'm about to give up, I don't know what to do anymore. I am surprise he is still alive after not eating so long. I wish that all that stuff would go away, so maybe he'll have an appetite again. I am still using the PIMAFIX and MELAFIX together.This Wednesday, will be a week I'm using the treatment. I try another way to feed the puffer, I don't know if I am making his condition worse, the way I'm doing this. But I would wait till he comes to the top of the tank, and throw a lot of pellets in the tank, eventually some he would suck up into his gills,so he can get some food into his body. But other than that, I'm about to give up.

 

[lion_crazz]

I wouldn't bother with the pellets. Have you tried the live ghost shrimp and black worms that I suggested? They are very appealing to finicky puffers and other carnivores who are not used to eating in captivity.

 

[gtdarock]

OK. Where can I get the balck worms and live ghost shrimp-? How long do you think he can go without eating-? And you know what's really strange,when I do throw some pellets in, and he sucks them in threw his gills, he eventually opens his mouth and sometimes spits it out.Then he would move up and down showing his teeth.Then the next after,his mouth would be shut again.

 

[lion_crazz]

You should be able to find black worms or ghost shrimp at most LFS'. They are live, so they will entice your puffer a bit more than prepared food.

 

[gtdarock]

Great. I'll get the black worms tonight. How should I feed it o him-? I was thinking about putting into a net, then bring it close to his mouth-? What do you think is best-?

 

[lion_crazz]

The net will scare the fish. Either get a plastic spoon and put them into the water that way, or just pick up a small portion with your fingers.
If your LFS has any vitamins, pick up some of them too. Zoe, Selcon, Zoecon, VitaChem are all good vitamins to use. You can add these directly to the worms to make them semi-nutritious for your puffer.
You have correced the ammonia and nitrite levels, and got the pH up by now? How about your nitrates? Are they down yet?

 

[gtdarock]

Sorry for the late reply.My tank was in bad shape last night. I tested the water and the ammonia was 2.5, ph -7.0, Nirtite-0 Nirtate-20. So I did a 35 percent water change, and its fine now. But I think I did something bad. I told my LFS about the symptoms of the puffer.This is the same LFS I bought the fish from, so he told me to put copper in the tank, and I did. So thankfully this morning I looked, and the pufer is fine, no more white stuff and his mouth is open.On the down side, he has popeye. So I was wondering if i should use the MELAFIX, for his eye-? Also did I do any harm to the tank adding copper-?
So i just gotta get this guy to eat. But all in all, this puffer is driving me crazy. Also when i did the water change, I took all the rocks out, and rearranged them. Under the rocks, were large amounts of uneaten food, so I guess I was feeding these guys too much. Also I was putting in a lot of food to get the puffer to eat, so its my fault.

 

[lion_crazz]

Yikes!
A lot of food will definitely cause an ammonia spike and a pH drop.
Now, I am concerned with the fact that you coppered your tank. I sure hope you do not have live rock in there. If so, the live rock is dead or dying. The puffer has popeye because puffers are very sensitive to copper. I would begin running EXTRA, EXTRA carbon to get that out of the water.
Use Melafix to get rid of the popeye, and watch for ich. That is around the corner if you do not get the copper out of the tank.
Continue to check the levels and make sure they are on point. If your levels are on, your fish will live well. If they are messed up, the fish will struggle to hang on.

 

[gtdarock]

I have live rock in the tank, so what would happend to it. Would I have to get new live rock-? I will add carbon in the morning. But wouldn't the carbon take out the Melafix out.
Thanx 4 the advice

 

[lion_crazz]

Yes, you're right, the carbon will take the melafix out. Hm, tough predicament. Alright, well I would do another large water change (30%) to try and get a lot of the copper out. Then, run the Melafix to help the eye problem.
As far as the live rock, I am sorry to say that all of your rock is dead now from the copper. You just have rock now. I would not get any new live rock until you are 110% sure that all of the copper is out of the tank. You may also need to take out the rock you have now, because it may begin leaching copper into the water.

 

[gtdarock]

So even, after the cooper is out of the water. The rock in the tank will still produce copper-? I'm a little confused, sorry.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by GTDAROCK
So even, after the cooper is out of the water. The rock in the tank will still produce copper-? I'm a little confused, sorry.
Here is the scenario:
You put copper into the water. The rock and sand absorbs it. The carbon and water changes take the copper out of the WATER. Meanwhile, your rock and substrate is still holding the copper it absorbed and it will eventually be released. Thus, more copper is entering the water.
No new copper is being produced. It is just being released back out.

 

[gtdarock]

I got ya, thanx. So I will do a 30 percent water change from my 75 gal, then add the MELAFIX to the tank,hopefully removing the pop eye from the puffer.

 

[lion_crazz]

Correct. Just make sure you do the water change the proper way, or else you will just wind up stressing the puffer more than you are helping him.

 

[gtdarock]

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!! Before I Checked My Water I Tested The Ammonia, And It Was 4.0. So I Did A 40 Percent Water Change And Checked It Again, And It Is Still The Same Reading. A Lot Of My Fish Are Acting Weird. After The Water Change, A Couple Of My Tags Are Lying Flat, And Gasping For Air.
Help !!!!!!

 

[lion_crazz]

Since the copper killed all of your live rock, much of your biological bacteria died and this spiked the ammonia. I would immediately get some live Fritz Zyme Turbo Start to get them levels down. A large water change will also help, but you need to add more bacteria into the water, ASAP!

 

[gtdarock]

Oh Man. I Have No Access To A Pet Store Right Now, Also I Used Up All Of The Cycle During The Water Change. So I Am Doomed !!

 

[lion_crazz]

I would just do a large water change for now to get the ammonia down.