Help!!! Puffer has been blown up for hrs!!!

[alfieferenzo84]

Okay well he is back to normal now but where all his spins are he is missing his skin it almost looks like little clear bones where it used to be skin/white where his spikes where!
Other then that he is just kinda swiming aorund the tank very slowly checking everything out i guess! I put top off water in and he came over to it slowly thinking it was food like he always does so i think he is in pain from his spins and still prolly claming down, oh and he even went to the bathroom just a little hear and there i think he is having trouble doing that also
I really think he got a bad peice of food or maybe from hitting the brace is what triggered all this as everything else that has happin happens everyday like eating out of the water, same tank mates, same water changes, ect.
What do you all think about the spikes?

 

[michaeltx]

sounds like to me he BLEW out to fast and caused the bladder that controls this to be sore or pulled like a muscle. I had one do the same thing as you are describing. the problem with some puffers that dont Stretch those muscles occasionally will become stiff like we do when we over exert ourselves and they have to wait for the stiffness *so to speak * to go away. The hitting the center brace my have made him a little skidish so he took a deffencive posture to quickly.
If you have a QT I would move him over to it and start a round on antibitotics there skin isnt designed to stay inflated as long as what he was so it has pulled down on the spikes. This will allow for infection to set in if your not careful so a antibiotic treatment will stop this from happening.
I hope he is doing better than he was though.
Mike

 

[alfieferenzo84]

well he hasent ate and now he has bad fin rot and i dont even think he can really move the one fin, i am using Mela Fix in the main tank as i dont qt period!
anything else i could do?

 

[peckhead]

Originally Posted by alfieferenzo84
well he hasent ate and now he has bad fin rot and i dont even think he can really move the one fin, i am using Mela Fix in the main tank as i dont qt period!
anything else i could do?

i think that is really bad for your live rock and sand....

 

[alfieferenzo84]

Its reef safe and will help him heal faster, some will disagree but that is what i am doing and wanted to know if i could do anything else
yesterday he basically just relaxed i would say didnt eat but went around the tank slowly, he cant use the one fin witch bothers me
today he is the same so far only been a hr but the back fins cleared up now its just the one up front on his side its very bad like 25% covered in that white stuff! and he aint using it very much ill keep updating you all, Thanks
oh and now i am having water testing issue again read about and post there as this might be part of it?
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=253099

 

[saltn00b]

Originally Posted by alfieferenzo84
i dont qt period!

thats unfortunate. maybe now you will re-assess that approach to the hobby.

 

[shark bait]

A QT tank is a must for any system I have found in the past adding chem. to the display is a bad Idea. He is my puffer when he puffed up

 

[alfieferenzo84]

wow thats a small one mine is huge lol
he is still recovering but i think he will make it
also no i wont i hate qt they are a pain and usally lead to dead fish from my own experense sorry!

 

[eaglewonj]

Originally Posted by boozzbro
if it was jumping out of the water i would think it is most likely air.
if its stil puffed up you will have to burp it.

Wait, is this for real? How do you burp them? ....joke?

 

[saltn00b]

Originally Posted by alfieferenzo84
also no i wont i hate qt they are a pain and usally lead to dead fish from my own experense sorry!
if you QT your fish first , then you usually never have to put them in there again, except for a case like this. and even this might have been prevented.
spend an hour in the disease forum and maybe you will change your mind. their is nothing 'painful' about running a bear bones tank with nothing in it.
i go months without even looking at it.

 

[alfieferenzo84]

i know there good but everytime i have one setup i have to change 90% of the water everyday to keep it okay levels so i just dont do it!!!
I am looking to get a ro/di so maybe after i get one it wouldnt be so bad figuring my tap water has 30 nitrates and .25 ammonia!!!

 

[saltn00b]

oh i see, if you try keeping one up that is already cycled, it would make things much easier than having to put one together in an emergency and then doing huge changes to keep it from cycling.

 

[alfieferenzo84]

So if i setup a tank with what just a hob filter and a hiding dead rock and let it cycle it wouldnt be so bad? I thought it wouldnt ever cycle due to no rocks and ect!
What do you all think about having 2 puffers in a 75 gal? The lfs has a tiny puffer and she girlfriend wants it bad but i thought it was 55 gal just for one so would i really be pushing it to have 2? we will prolly get rid of them before they get big like 6 inches as she thinks there ugly then lol let me know
update puffer still hasent ate, fins are clearing up, he is a little more active each day, i notice on the bottom of his body it looks swollen up front is that sumthing i should worrie about or is it just due to be puffed up as most of his spins and skin is clearing up?

 

[unleashed]

i would dare to say he has air trapped and this is why he is not deflating fully you may need to burp him.its a fairly simple process and yes it may be a bit uncomfortable for you (those spikes are sharp).the steps i used to take on my spiney boxfish were as followed
net him with a larg net this will keep him wher you need him while he is netted hold him with other hand keep his head underwater at all times mouth facing upwards be sure he is kept fully submerged face up tail streight down this will help work that air bubble up .he may puff to full capacity as this does tend to tick them off once he if fully puffed releace him from the net as he expells the rest should follow

 

[alfieferenzo84]

well its been more then 2wks and he is doing better, eatting a little hear and there but his skin is still a little messed up where his spins are there are bubbles there that are white so i donno anyone want to say what it is or what to do would be great thanks