Help with Porcupine Puffer

petem

petem

Member
My Puffer, may have a disease. I noticed last night that part of his body..on top, towards the tail, was pale. Normally when the lights go on in the morning, he's pale all over. But last night, he didnt eat, and as I mentioned, he has what appears to be a pale patch from his caudal fin on down towards his tail. Now it appears as if that same area is swollen. Almost like a tumor I spoke with my LFS and he suggested changing his diet. I dont think that will correct this. I also read something while I was at the LFS about Dropsy. The symptoms sounded almost the same. The other fish are acting fine. Eating normally. No major changes occurring in the past week. I have been adding Tech CB part A and Part B to raise the Calcium level for my LR because I use RO/DI water. I have FOWLR tank. I am setting up my QT just in case. Can anyone help???
Parameters: NH3 0.0
Nitrates and NItrites: 0.0
PH was low, 7.9-8.0
 
W

wizardofos

Guest
Can you provide a pic?
Sounds like it might be Brooklynella, look at the pics in the diseased fish thread.
 
petem

petem

Member
Thanks for helping out, but, It appears that I was wrong about my water parameter. The Nitrates and Nitrites were high, between 20-50ppm. Now I know it was my fault. I didnt realize that puffers would get "deformed" because of the high nitrates/nitrites. He passed on last night. I feel really terrible. He had such a personality. I had "Herman" for almost a year. Alas. This is my first fish death since last March.
 
W

wizardofos

Guest
Sorry to hear about the fish. I want to get a puffer when I get a FOWLR tank.
What do you think caused the spike in Nitrites? I don't think that the Nitrates would be as much of a problem as the Nitrites.
Do you have other fish that display any of these symptoms?
 
petem

petem

Member
I guess over feeding on my part, and was a bit lax in the water change department. The other fish: Maculosous Angel, picasso trigger, 3-striped Damsel, snowflake eel, all are acting fine. I did read somewhere that puffers are very sensitive to nitrates. I know all fish are, but maybe puffers exhibited these signs more so than any other fish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top