Puffer stuck to overflow box

[irocz02000]

I bought a dog face puffer a few days ago, the first day he was fine, he ate and swam all over the tank, he even found a cave to sleep in, the next day same thing, I was very pleased with him... now today, he nibbled a little of krill and he will not stay away from my overflow box, he puts his body up next to it like he is stuck but is not... why will he not stop sticking to the overflow and is this normal? thank

 

[beth]

Sometimes strange behavior doesn't mean much. Look for signs of illness of the fish. Discoloration. Not eating. Swimming erratically. Breathing rapidly. Spots on flesh, or discoloration. Etc.

 

[aquaknight]

This really doesn't have anything to do pertaining to him sticking to the overflow, but stop feeding krill. There isn't a positive to krill, and many puffers become dependent on krill as the only food they'll accept, and krill has been linked to lockjaw in some puffers. Fresh foods like whole shrimp, scallops, clams, etc are more proper foods.

 

[irocz02000]

well I did a water part water change and made him a cool cave to sleep in, he still loves the overflow box, I put a guard on it so he don't get suck into it... he has been eating okay and his color is good, not a dark color, he is turns white to a tanish color, his breathing is good and he still swims around, he just developed a love for the overflow box lol oh well lets see what happens and I'll pick up some other food for him, I think he is full, the other day he ate all my sponge that grew on my rocks and he ate some of my coral along with some krill, so maybe he's just got a full belly! thanks for the reply

 

[beth]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AquaKnight http:///forum/thread/384687/puffer-stuck-to-overflow-box#post_3370908
This really doesn't have anything to do pertaining to him sticking to the overflow, but stop feeding krill. There isn't a positive to krill, and many puffers become dependent on krill as the only food they'll accept, and krill has been linked to lockjaw in some puffers. Fresh foods like whole shrimp, scallops, clams, etc are more proper foods.
I second this. Appropriate diet needs to be followed for a puffer, otherwise you will encounter fatal problems with this fish.

 

[irocz02000]

thanks everyone, I'm getting him shrimp today and scallops.

 

[beth]

Leave the exoskeleton for the puffer to eat. Puffers need harder food sources, such as shells, exoskeleton, etc., to keep their teeth filed down.

 

[irocz02000]

okay, my dfp is no longer in love with the overflow box, seems like he was just getting used to the tank, I have purchased him some clams and fresh shrimp, he did nipple on the ship and I just put the clam in to see if he would like it, but now I have another problem hmmm puffers seem to be hard to take care of huh.... but he has cloudy eye and I noticed a few white spots, that look like sand on him, the pet store said it was ich and a fungal infection, so I purchased meds today for him.
My question is... are dogface puffer always this hard to take care of and is this normal for when you first introduce them into a new setting?

 

[beth]

Any fish that is quarantined before introduction to display tanks is at risk of ich.

 

[irocz02000]

yeah I have found that out! after putting the ich meds in the ich grew rapidly all over my Dogface Puffer, seems like he is the only one that has it, no signs on any other fish, but I'm sure they will have it too, so I will continue the treatment as the bottle instructed, I just hope the Dogface Puffer will make it through this, I will hate to lose him, just got him 4 days ago!

 

[aquaknight]

Quote:
Originally Posted by irocz02000 http:///forum/thread/384687/puffer-stuck-to-overflow-box#post_3371647
so I will continue the treatment as the bottle instructed
This sounds l like you're using Ich-Kick or some type of bottled 'medication' (using that term liberally here). The vast majority of aquarists believe there are only two forms of treatments that work on Ich. Either a hyposalinity treatment process, or a copper medication. With only one type of copper being safe for puffers (Cupramine) most hypo their puffers, and I would recommend in doing so. You can read up on them, in the second recommended thread, at the top of this section.

 

[beth]

Also, you can't dose your tank with copper, and you can't use hyposalinity in a tank with live rock.

 

[irocz02000]

yeah well the Dogface puffer died today, I have a bad feeling I might have some stray voltage in my tank, it seems like everything dies within 3 days of putting a fish in my tank, so I'm going to do a test on the voltage today! I posted some pics of my tank so you can see how big it is and I have to solve this soon, it's in the middle of my house, lol My goby died yesterday and the puffer and the flounder died today, all I have left is my yellow tang scouba tang and eel!