Infected Porcupine Puffer can anyone help out ?

[fullnewview]

I got this Blue Pelagic Porcupine puffer about 2 weeks ago,
it came in like this I am assuming it's ich?
It's been in a QT the entire time, I have dropped the Salinity Slowy to 1.009 using a Refractometer Assuming it's ich. It's been at 1.009 for 3 days so far doesn't look better at all, it kind of looks worse now.
Fish is eating fine, tried feeding twice a day and he spits out the food, so sticking to once per Day
Tank Temperature is 78°
15% water changes every 2 days

Any help is Greatly Appreciated

 

[jsker]

I would suggest bring the salinity back up to 1.026 and treating with Metroplex and focus mixed with your frozen to treat the Ick. Less stress on the fish and the med will treat the whole system.

 

[Bo.]

I know nothing to help, but I hope you mean 1.009, not 1.09!

 

[fullnewview]

I would suggest bring the salinity back up to 1.026 and treating with Metroplex and focus mixed with your frozen to treat the Ick. Less stress on the fish and the med will treat the whole system.

Thank you, I’m not sure how successful hypo salinity works with puffers, haven’t found any information at all with that specific method getting rid of ich on puffer fish.

 

[fullnewview]

I know nothing to help, but I hope you mean 1.009, not 1.09!

Yes it’s 1.009

 

[jassermd]

Let's call in the experts...
@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ich is a possibility as would be brooklynella which is very regular with porcupine and spiney box puffers. These fish are hard to treat as they they dont respond well to many treatments and can be tricky with treatment often resulting in hazy cloudy eyes, etc.
Starting with hypo which means bringing the salt content down to a range of 1.010 to 1.013 SG to be effective for parasite control. When reducing the salinity, be sure the pH and temperature of the water do not differ from the current water conditions for the fish. In this case it helps SORT OF as I would have recommended a FW dip with a little perxide added which I say still do for temporary relief whether it be trophants or brook. My thoughts are if ich which I still have a hard time saying it is. . .. I would give it a 90 min bath in ruby Rally reef and then treat with ruby rally for 10 days. It is mild and takes longer but does work and treats an array of issues.
If fish IS eating, I would grab some metro and focus and get the fish to take it. As for copper- coppersafe is best bet.
Im sure Jay will chime in and we can see what he thinks also

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I got this Blue Pelagic Porcupine puffer about 2 weeks ago,
it came in like this I am assuming it's ich?
It's been in a QT the entire time, I have dropped the Salinity Slowy to 1.009 using a Refractometer Assuming it's ich. It's been at 1.009 for 3 days so far doesn't look better at all, it kind of looks worse now.
Fish is eating fine, tried feeding twice a day and he spits out the food, so sticking to once per Day
Tank Temperature is 78°
15% water changes every 2 days

Any help is Greatly Appreciated

It does appear to be ich. Hyposalinity isn’t my treatment of choice for this, but now that it’s started, you should continue with it Changing a treatment will give too much lag time: 4 days minimum to get the fish out of hypo and then 3 more days before the new treatment begins to work. Hypo can take a week to ten days to get things under control. It has the added benefit of controlling some species of flukes.
You also need to confirm that this is indeed ich. Puffers can be prone to other issues. Watch the spots in one section of the fish, if the same spots are in the same location for more than 36 hours, it may not be ch.


Jay

 

[fullnewview]

It does appear to be ich. Hyposalinity isn’t my treatment of choice for this, but now that it’s started, you should continue with it Changing a treatment will give too much lag time: 4 days minimum to get the fish out of hypo and then 3 more days before the new treatment begins to work. Hypo can take a week to ten days to get things under control. It has the added benefit of controlling some species of flukes.
You also need to confirm that this is indeed ich. Puffers can be prone to other issues. Watch the spots in one section of the fish, if the same spots are in the same location for more than 36 hours, it may not be ch.


Jay

It does appear to be ich. Hyposalinity isn’t my treatment of choice for this, but now that it’s started, you should continue with it Changing a treatment will give too much lag time: 4 days minimum to get the fish out of hypo and then 3 more days before the new treatment begins to work. Hypo can take a week to ten days to get things under control. It has the added benefit of controlling some species of flukes.
You also need to confirm that this is indeed ich. Puffers can be prone to other issues. Watch the spots in one section of the fish, if the same spots are in the same location for more than 36 hours, it may not be ch.


Jay

Curious to know what treatment you would have applied instead of Hypo Salinity ? Thanks

 

[fullnewview]

Ich is a possibility as would be brooklynella which is very regular with porcupine and spiney box puffers. These fish are hard to treat as they they dont respond well to many treatments and can be tricky with treatment often resulting in hazy cloudy eyes, etc.
Starting with hypo which means bringing the salt content down to a range of 1.010 to 1.013 SG to be effective for parasite control. When reducing the salinity, be sure the pH and temperature of the water do not differ from the current water conditions for the fish. In this case it helps SORT OF as I would have recommended a FW dip with a little perxide added which I say still do for temporary relief whether it be trophants or brook. My thoughts are if ich which I still have a hard time saying it is. . .. I would give it a 90 min bath in ruby Rally reef and then treat with ruby rally for 10 days. It is mild and takes longer but does work and treats an array of issues.
If fish IS eating, I would grab some metro and focus and get the fish to take it. As for copper- coppersafe is best bet.
Im sure Jay will chime in and we can see what he thinks also

@vetteguy53081 Thanks, Since I have started hypo I'm gonna continue for at least 10 days, if there isn't any improvement then I'll try to treat it with Meds, I'm trying not to cause any more stress on the fish since its probably already so stressed out from shipping and hypo.

 

[fullnewview]

Update:
Today will be the 5th Day with Hypo salinity @ 1.009 Temperature 78°
No medication at all
Looking so much better eating aggressively.

Thinking about doing the tank transfer method,any suggestions ?
@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

 

[Jay Hemdal]

No need - just keep it in hypo, it’s obviously working. TTM requires moving the fish, and these Diodon can inflate with air and then have difficulty deflating, no need to risk that.
Jay

 

[fullnewview]

No need - just keep it in hypo, it’s obviously working. TTM requires moving the fish, and these Diodon can inflate with air and then have difficulty deflating, no need to risk that.
Jay

I’ll do that thank you !

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I’ll do that thank you !

I'm not sure how long you should keep it under hypo - 14 days beyond when the spots left for sure, but 30 days is probably safer for ich, but riskier in terms of the fish reacting to it. Remember - when bringing a fish out of hypo, you need to do it very gradually, over 5 days if going back to full salinity.

Jay

 

[fullnewview]

@Jay Hemdal
From what I’ve read for hypo salinity to be as affective as possible 30 days is required and the salinity should never go higher than 1.009 if it does go higher the clock restarts for another 30 days, my only concern is causing any long term damage to the fish keeping it in hypo salinity for 30 days.
When brining it out of hypo salinity I’m thinking of stretching it out to maybe 7-10 days more time to acclimate just to be on the safer side.