How to properly move porcupine puffer

mccanei

Member
Anyone? The reason I ask this is becasue I am currently in the middle of an ammonia
spike in my 145 gallon tank and mty puffer and clown trigger have developed a fast
attacking ick. I don't want to treat my 145 becasue it is still cycling and I have all my LR in
there. I was thinking of trating fish with fresh water dips to kill off ick while my water
chemistry balances. That is why I wanted to hear how people ahve moved porcupine
puffers. Feel free to comment on my ick treatment also.
Thanks
 

akbuuur

Member
for freshwater dip use 1/3 saltwater and 2/3 fresh water if they start to flip out then put them back into your water also ween them into the saltwater
by this i mean start out with all saltwater then start adding freshwater
so its not a complete shock to the fish
 

aw2eod

Member
First off, a freshwater dip is not a cure for ick. It'll only stress the fish more than it already is, which could certainly lead to a quick death.
Secondly, never removed a Puffer of any kind with a net. The chance of them ingesting air is great and it's certainly something they can die from. Remove them with some kind of specimen container and if they're too big for that, a bowl or bucket. Never, ever take a Puffer out of water.
Third, you shouldnt have fish in the tank to begin with, if it's still cycling.
IMHO, you need to keep the fish in the tank and start lowering the salinity, to preform hyposalinity. Over the course of 5 - 7 days, lower the salinity to 1.010 or an SG of 14. Keep it there, monitoring very closely daily, for 4 - 6 weeks. Hypo is the only way to get rid of ick.
 

eels

New Member
AW2EOD, Your right as for the freshwater dip is concern with a puffer fish but a net can be used if its a larger net then the puffer fish for i had often practice this with the larger puffer fishes and another thing i done when i knew that i be removing from any tank a puffer i not feed them the day before.
Third, you shouldnt have fish in the tank to begin with, if it's still cycling.

lower the salinity to 1.010 or an SG of 14. Keep it there
Im sorry AW2EOD, but this not makes sense to me in removing a fish for the question was:
What is the best method for moving 7" porcupine puffer? Can you net them?
And not looking for curing from ich or something.
Again i say that a net can be used, just use a larger thicker net then the fish itself and sometimes one can ev even remove a puffer without it even inflating itself for the number of times I done this the puffer hasn't inflated every time that if where the fish will be going is close by the inflating can be little or nothing at all. And of course for the times it will inflate full, out will come its food that it eat in which is why i suggest not to offer it food the day before moving it.
And also like to add that when using a net too not just net and pull out the puffer, first make sure that the puffer be flat in the net that when holding the net before pulling the fish out of the tank it be straight and do this very slowly as well.
And before i forget, i removed from tanks puffers larger then 12 inches

I hope this will help
 

cgrant

Active Member
If you you net a puffer and expose him to the air it can kill him, so if you use a net make sure not to pull him out of the water, again it can kill him!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Puffers natural Defense is puffing up, it will most likely puff up when you net him!
Sure you have a chance that it wont but when they get scared thats what they do, puff up!
I would not take any advise from anyone that is telling you to just net a puffer and yank him out of the tank unless you are trying to kill the fish.
 

mccanei

Member
Thanks-
Just want to let you know I was not cycling the tank. I added two fish that proved to be too much bioload which resulted in an ammonia spike to about .2. Additionally, I was curious if hyposalinity affects this "cycling" which I am going through? I am equally concerned with harming the bacterial colonies.
 

cgrant

Active Member
if your amonia is 2 do a water change asap to get the ammonia down, I am no expert but once my tank was done cycling I never saw a spike more than .25 (when I added lr that was supposed to be cured) that's another story.
If your ammonia still keeps climbing I would pull the puffer out, i have heard of tanks cycling twice when new, that might be whats happening???
You dont want to lose that puffer, I am hearing/reading that large puffers are not that easy to come by anymore, since the huricane. Not sure why?
 

unleashed

Active Member
puffers dont do well in hypo its stressfull to them.you cant do normal copper treatment with him either because they are copper sensetive i suggest kick ich or something simular .puffers puff when stressed and over puffing can be fatal .if you have an ammonia and nitrate spike add some prime to the tank this will detoxify the ammonia and nitrates untill you can get the parimeters in check.
 

aw2eod

Member
Hyposalinity is NOT stressful to a Puffer, no matter the species.
As I've already said...unless you want your Puffer to die, dont net it.
{EDIT}
 

unleashed

Active Member
Originally Posted by AW2EOD
And, unleashed...Where's the money you owe me (for the ballast), or are you going to keep ignoring me and ripping me off? Since you ignore my emails, I'm just gonna keep asking you here so that everyone knows about it and knows never to buy/trade anything from you.
i dont owe you money for a ballest
i shipped that ballest UPS to the address you gave me months ago and im not about to buy another one you received a fair trade with or without that ballest traded you a complete fish tank and delevered it from mich to chicago.so if me trading you a 90 gal custom oak AGA classic series with new hamilton VHO reto with bulbs+ wet dry filter system.which i delevered to you personally and paid for the gas personally not to mention your neighbors I paid to help load it to my friends truck.after digging it up from being frozen the ground filled with 10 of snow 4 inches of ice garbage leaves cat s*** or what ever animal desicrated into it which took me 4 days to thaw and clean not to mention buff out all th gouges on the out side of the tank by hand mind you we wont get into the scratches on the inside of the tank..but i deliverd not only a beautiful tank to you I also made sure it was CLEAN..Im sorry you didnt get that ballest I paid to heve deliverd to you S*** happens but don't even think I owe you money or anything else cus bottom line is I spent alot of time and ton of money making this 8 ft litter box a fish tank again. and also alot of money for the tank and equipment you received ..if anyone got ripped off it was me..So say what you want about the deal.and I dont answer you emails cus im not ON AOL any more and havent been for months.. So before you go off bad mouthing me for trading habits or selling habits ...evereyone else can see this for whats its worth pictures speek louder than words ..yes its NOW a big beautiful tank but not by your efforts...........pic 1 is what you got 2-3 is what i got in this trade.BTW i tried to hand deliver it again to you in april when i drove to ill .you didnt have time to meet with me/I told you then I didnt want to ship it and not you know why.you didnt pay for the ballest nor the shipping bottom line is I did
case closed


 

eels

New Member
Anything anyone to say on any topic is always a madder of their personal opinion or what they readied from others and on the hand for myself, it is from personal experiences and not on hear say. For also I not had said to yank the puffer out but to get it to the surface and if all signs are looking good then that's the time to remove the fish but also must be quick to get him into the new tank for that will be when he puffs up, least when i myself done this method.
Also that not all of us do things as near the same for something's may be close but not all do the same methods exactly. As well i do this all the time at a local fish store.
Eels, we all know it's you, Dragon Moray Eels, so you can come out of hiding.
Now i do know this dragon moray eels for i meet him personally and this is the first time for myself in any forum for i heard so many stories from people that i wanted to check this out myself. Also I kniwn of buddy for now i think it`s been about 15 years, from the time he moved from NY.
And just who are you AW2EOD, for i found it funny that many people asked things and you only referred them to some site and nothing of your own personal know how. i will check more on your personal background in this aquarium hobby for something about, hold on, you were AW2, were you not?
Then in that case i know of you that you become nasty or worst towards people you not like for personal reasons for i seen a copy of that last thing from buddy and honestly mr., you should be ashame of yourself after all he tried to tell you and help you with, that is if you are andy? And if your not then im sorry for side tracking this topic.
unleashed, we not meet but from what buddy told me if that is andy is that he gets real nasty and in time turns to personal attacks in which was why buddy for the second time had requested to be banned from that other site.
I will call buddy and learn the name of this site and check things to what you posted there and again if your not this andy person, my sincere apologies.
 

wayne27

New Member
UV sterilizers work wonders in eliminating ich from your tank. I never tried the hyposalinity method but after my porc got sick I ended up treating the whole tank with a non-copper based medicine. For some reason, when I used the medicine alone, he kept getting sick. I followed the directions but sucked up and got a UV, because I couldn't use copper and I was lazy in doing the hyposalinity method. The UV does kill the good stuff as well as the bad, so I guess not a good thing for your new tank. Anyways, I ended up using the light for about 6 months and then sold it for over half what I paid, the money lost was about the same as a new bulb. Almost two years later, no sign of ich. And from what I read hyposalinity does not stress fish or affect bacterial colonies, if done gradually, and is very successful in treatment. Inverts..yes, it will actually kill em. My experience with netting...I would say it could be done, as I did when I transferred mine, but would not recommend it. Used a large net and got him horizontal but ended with an airbubble in his body. It subsided in a few days but it could have been worse.
 

unleashed

Active Member
My experience with netting...I would say it could be done, as I did when I transferred mine, but would not recommend it. Used a large net and got him horizontal but ended with an air bubble in his body. It subsided in a few days but it could have been worse.
i also had the same experience with my ss puffer with netting and the air bubbles being trapped i have learned sinse then how to burp them(yes litterally burp a fish lol)when you place the fish back into the tank carefully hold him in the net head pointed upwards this does tick them off and he may puff up to get away keep his head underwater and air will be released while hes in the net if he stays puffed while int net once hes freed he should be able to release all of the trapped air he has had built up as well.i have to do this a couple times a yr with my spiney boxfish puffer
 

wayne27

New Member
Originally Posted by unleashed
i also had the same experience with my ss puffer with netting and the air bubbles being trapped i have learned sinse then how to burp them(yes litterally burp a fish lol)when you place the fish back into the tank carefully hold him in the net head pointed upwards this does tick them off and he may puff up to get away keep his head underwater and air will be released while hes in the net if he stays puffed while int net once hes freed he should be able to release all of the trapped air he has had built up as well.i have to do this a couple times a yr with my spiney boxfish puffer
Crazy! I Did not know that. My puffer is around 10-11 inches and i'd rather keep my hands and fingers away from his mouth.. he's already drawn blood.
 

eels

New Member
Anything anyone to say on any topic is always a madder of their personal opinion or what they readied from others and on the hand for myself, it is from personal experiences and not on hear say. For also I not had said to yank the puffer out but to get it to the surface and if all signs are looking good then that's the time to remove the fish but also must be quick to get him into the new tank for that will be when he puffs up, least when i myself done this method.
Also that not all of us do things as near the same for something's may be close but not all do the same methods exactly. As well i do this all the time at a local fish store.
Eels, we all know it's you, Dragon Moray Eels, so you can come out of hiding. That typing is unmistakable.
I called buddy who is better known as dragon moray eels and i had asked him of this AW2EOD who is andy that he always shown buddy nastiness because he wanted nothing more to do with him that it was this AW2EOD that twice has cause buddy to want to be removed from that forum site.
Now after i told buddy that you AW2EOD thinks me to be him that he also warned me that i will be ban from here and if that be the case, it be fine by me.
andy, you seem from what little i readied think yourself to be a lord figure but from what i now know, you owe your failures to your own ignorance for buddy told me that he learned from a source that you bought that tang already sick and had placed it into your main tank, that was stupid to do. for what the price on a yellow tang? $22-24 at most>
In your post there you not know anything and yet you offer here your personal views on marine keeping and honestly sir, i not see where you are such a success other then copying info from others or from site location info.
Im sorry people that buddy was rejected because of this person you all mostly seem to think knows it all for even in my own success is nowhere as near to buddy (dragon moray eels). buddy told me a number of things andy that you not for any one year period had not had some huge mistake of your own in which you lost most your fish.
That eel question on the yellowmouth moray, i myself never seen that eel in my life for it was buddy who had that eel that he said was about 40 years ago in a tank by itself. I myself do know how to care for eels and maintain them, but as i said, i am in no way better then buddy himself and i like to add if i may that in these pass year, buddy had told me of thing i never knew or know of any species for no one person is lord in knowing it all for buddy also admits that even after 60 years, he still not know everything and you AW2EOD in all your replies seem to think you do.
I know now from buddy that you not had eels for that long that you a whitemouth that buddy says is more then a year you had it but not years and the dragon eel, wasn't it buddy who told you it was a female? Yes, buddy told me of that story months ago and you still wanted a DNA done for that tells me you questioned his personal knowledge on the species. But it was still the same a female, was it?
So no AW2EOD, in knowing your personal failures and the type of anger you show those who you hate, i will not care to remain here for i only join to see better the misguidance people as yourself give to others for you yourself aren't anymore successful then any beginner or novice.
And andy, i seen many of the things you said to buddy and have to say that he stilled tried to stick with you and tell you things that is to do with eels and i do remember that the last time he put a question to you, you took it as he was playing some game on you for believe it or not, buddy does this with me. He ask me questions on something and just to see what answer i give him.
I see where this is going and i will not join another forum location for as it is, i not the time as buddy do in trying to truly assist others in keeping eels.
And by the way, i live in the state of Virginia some 5 hours drive it is from buddy, i seen his home and his tanks and his reef tanks will be fantastic when it is done.
Good Bye, i am out of here for that andy is an undesirable person for me after the nonsense he did to buddy and it was all out of hate for the man.
So i do hope you others know that the info to the yellowmouth moray is credited to buddy and not myself.
Here is the latest from what i can tell is the most recent failure of AW2EOD and those who follow him because you think he knows everything, guess again.
Josh
PS. unleashed, buddy said he will try to instant message you the moment he can and just in case he not have your screen name, do you remember his? If you do please send him an email so he can make contact. Later
 

unleashed

Active Member
Originally Posted by wayne27
Crazy! I Did not know that. My puffer is around 10-11 inches and i'd rather keep my hands and fingers away from his mouth.. he's already drawn blood.

thats why you use a net lol.trust me it hurts to try and hold onto a ball of spikes lol
 
Top