Help id what's wrong with my Spiney Box Puffer plz!

[Chiefmaster30]

What's wrong with my puffer?

 

[Chiefmaster30]

And sry about the back glass being dirty. And the tiny white dots are air bubbles from my skimmer.

 

[Maritimer]

So we're looking at his tail and eye, then, and not the little white dots on his fins that look like ich? Skimmer-bubbles - always in the way when you don't need 'em!

The eye ... not sure about that one. Perhaps @melypr1985 has seen something like it before.

That tail could have a bacterial infection, which would be best treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics (Kanamycin, Furan-2, Metronidazole) in a quarantine tank.

~Bruce

 

[ngoodermuth]

So we're looking at his tail and eye, then, and not the little white dots on his fins that look like ich? Skimmer-bubbles - always in the way when you don't need 'em!

The eye ... not sure about that one. Perhaps @melypr1985 has seen something like it before.

That tail could have a bacterial infection, which would be best treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics (Kanamycin, Furan-2, Metronidazole) in a quarantine tank.

~Bruce

+1 the tail definitely looks bacterial. The eye could be as well, but I'm also interested in what @melypr1985 thinks.

The fish also looks VERY thin. Is it eating for you?

 

[melypr1985]

Agreed on the tail. The eye, I'm not too sure. Is that white bit just a reflection or is it something on the body that sticks out some? Oh, and he is pretty darn skinny... curious about his diet.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

He's eating very good. I'm feeding krill and shrimp daily. He eats 3 or 4 Krill and a couple pieces of chopped shrimp. At first I thought my panther Grouper may have nipped his tail or something but I think it's gotten a little worse within the past week.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

Would you all recommend something else in particular for me to feed him also?

 

[melypr1985]

The tail will likely need antibiotics. The eye may benefit from it as well. You'll want to start shifting his diet to more shrimp and less krill adding in clams and whatnot.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

Will melafix be ok?

 

[melypr1985]

Will melafix be ok?

No, you'll probably need an actual antibiotic. Kanaplex, furan2, erythromycin are all good ones.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

Can anyone give me an idea on what type of clams to get. Sry I'm not much of a seafood guy.

 

[melypr1985]

Can anyone give me an idea on what type of clams to get. Sry I'm not much of a seafood guy.

Just raw clams from the grocery store. You will need to split them open but leave one half of the shell on the clam. You can also purchase clams from most LFS that care other whole frozen options.

 

[jasonrusso]

Can anyone give me an idea on what type of clams to get. Sry I'm not much of a seafood guy.

Mine loves mussels and oysters as well. Serve on the half shell.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

So I treated my puffer with Furan2 per the directions and the fin/ or tailrot cleared right up pretty quickly. He looked really good for several days until yesterday. When I got home from work I noticed this and it's just as bad today. He is in qt still and yesterday I treated the qt with cupramine per the directions. It says repeat dose in 48 hrs. Is there anything else I can do??

 

[Chiefmaster30]

He has been eating very well up until last night. Last night he wouldn't eat anything.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

 

[jasonrusso]

Looks like velvet to me. Looks too small to be crypt. I really don't like copper with puffers (or other scaleless fish), CP is a better option. You need to keep the dose lower with copper which may or may not be therapeutic.

Also, FWIW, I have a harlequin tusk (who isn't doing well at all) that has a velvet re-occurrence and his fins are also tattered. I think that the velvet either caused it or allowed a bacterial infection.

 

[4FordFamily]

He is covered in what looks like velvet. The outside spots are nothing compared to the damage to its gills. Acriflavin bath would be a good idea, or methelyn blue if you have that on hand, followed by a freshwater dip. If you cannot access CP I would think you're stuck with coppersafe...

 

[melypr1985]

Your going to have to treat for velvet sweetie. I'm sorry for that, but if you can only get ahold of copper then use coppersafe and ramp up to 2ppm within 24 hours. I've kept box puffers in coppersafe before with good results, but they are all different and some will be able to tolerate it and others wont.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

How much copper safe to get to 2ppm In a 29 gallon biochbe?