Blue Spotted Puffer Overate?

[Maddlesrain]

I have a blue spotted toby that has 'clamped' himself to a rock and doesn't seem to want to swim around. He has never done this in the four or five months I've had him. He's usually right at the front of the tank begging for food when I get home from work. I have fed him a bit heavy this week since I got a fuzzy dwarf as a tank mate for him, and his stomach is quite full. He looks like he swallowed a gulf ball he's so fat. When I fed the tank, he unstuck himself from his perch and swam to gobble up some pellets, but seemed to be having a difficult time swimming. When he swims, it's almost like he wants to just float to the serface from the tail end. A buoyancy problem? Could this be the result of a sting from the lionfish? He immediately clamped himself back on the rock after sucking up a few pellets. Has anyone ever had this happen to their fish? Do you think he just overindulged? Is there anything I should do or just let him lay down and work it out himself?
Thank you.

 

[Maddlesrain]

I have a blue spotted toby that has 'clamped' himself to a rock and doesn't seem to want to swim around. He has never done this in the four or five months I've had him. He's usually right at the front of the tank begging for food when I get home from work. I have fed him a bit heavy this week since I got a fuzzy dwarf as a tank mate for him, and his stomach is quite full. He looks like he swallowed a gulf ball he's so fat. When I fed the tank, he unstuck himself from his perch and swam to gobble up some pellets, but seemed to be having a difficult time swimming. When he swims, it's almost like he wants to just float to the serface from the tail end. A buoyancy problem? Could this be the result of a sting from the lionfish? He immediately clamped himself back on the rock after sucking up a few pellets. Has anyone ever had this happen to their fish? Do you think he just overindulged? Is there anything I should do or just let him lay down and work it out himself?
Thank you.

Update: I attempted to burp him...and wish I hadn't because I stressed the poor guy out catching him. He's back to being perched on his rock. I'm not sure if he expelled any air during the "burping" but I didn't get too much of an opportunity to work on him before he slipped away because he's so small. If it is trapped air, can he expel it himself?

 

[lion king]

Blue spotted puffers are notorious for nipping at lions, and lions will defend themselves. Not saying this happened but I have seen lions sting blue spot puffers, more than once. This is a very common situation, so much so, I regularly do not recommend including a blue spot puffer with a lionfish.

 

[sc50964]

Is it possible that he has been inflating and stressing out?

 

[Maddlesrain]

Blue spotted puffers are notorious for nipping at lions, and lions will defend themselves. Not saying this happened but I have seen lions sting blue spot puffers, more than once. This is a very common situation, so much so, I regularly do not recommend including a blue spot puffer with a lionfish.

I do wonder if the puffer got a little too curious and the lion defended itself. Last night he seemed to have gone back to normal, whether venom worked out of his system, the burping helped, or he worked through some indigestion, I'm not sure. This morning they were both out without incident. I hope when I get home there's no issues today. I hadn't noticed the puffer showing any interest in the lionfish after being introduced, but I'm also gone for about 10 hours on the days I work.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Is it possible that he has been inflating and stressing out?

I'm not sure. I wondered if he may have tried to pick on the new lionfish and got a nasty surprise when the lion defended itself. I assumed if he did get stung, he would have inflated out of shock and was maybe struggling to release air. He seemed back to his normal self this morning, so I'm anxious to see how things are when I get home this afternoon. I have never seen him puff up before, so it would be a first if he did!

 

[sc50964]

I'm not sure. I wondered if he may have tried to pick on the new lionfish and got a nasty surprise when the lion defended itself. I assumed if he did get stung, he would have inflated out of shock and was maybe struggling to release air. He seemed back to his normal self this morning, so I'm anxious to see how things are when I get home this afternoon. I have never seen him puff up before, so it would be a first if he did!

Get a little Wi-Fi camera to record the tank.

 

[Maddlesrain]

Get a little Wi-Fi camera to record the tank.

I actually do have one for that purpose, but usually only plug it in when I'm on vacation. Setting it up now might be good though!

 

[Maddlesrain]

Update: puffer and lion are both happy and seem normal. Whatever happened yesterday I hope was a one-off and if there is a chance it was due to the pufferfish trying to pick at the lion, I hope he learned his lesson.