Porcupine Puffer Foggy Eyes

dbartkow

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My porcupine puffer seemed a little lethargic last week but was eating. A couple of days ago I noticed his eyes got all foggy. I was assuming it was flukes. I gave him a fresh water bath yesterday for 5 minutes. No noticeable change in appearance but he was definitely more active after that. Since the eyes were still foggy today, I did a fresh water bath for 10 minutes. He is active as ever now, but no noticeable difference in the eyes. Any ideas or suggestion? I have attached the latest pictures. Hard to take when he is moving so much, but I think it captures it fairly well. The second picture shows how part of his eye is clear.

IMG_7929.jpg IMG_7931.jpg IMG_7932.jpg
 
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dbartkow

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Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention is that there were no noticeable flukes at the bottom of my bucket, after the freshwater bath/dip.
 
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dbartkow

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Puffer seems sluggish again today. No noticeable change in appearance. If anyone has any suggestions, I really appreciate it. Should I do another freshwater bath/dip?
 

Jay Hemdal

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You may not always seen flukes in the dip water unless you look with a microscope.
Cloudy eyes have 3 main causes: flukes, bacteria or protozoans (so pretty much every disease!). A FW dip won’t cure flukes, but it will knock them back for a week or so. The eye damage from them will take a few days to heal. FW dips will have no benefit if it is bacterial. With protozoan infections, a FW dip may offer a day or so of relief.
Is the puffer breathing open mouthed or fast?
What other animals are in with it?
How long have you had the puffer?

Jay
 
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dbartkow

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You may not always seen flukes in the dip water unless you look with a microscope.
Cloudy eyes have 3 main causes: flukes, bacteria or protozoans (so pretty much every disease!). A FW dip won’t cure flukes, but it will knock them back for a week or so. The eye damage from them will take a few days to heal. FW dips will have no benefit if it is bacterial. With protozoan infections, a FW dip may offer a day or so of relief.
Is the puffer breathing open mouthed or fast?
What other animals are in with it?
How long have you had the puffer?

Jay
Puffer does not seem to have any labored or fast breathing. There is a powder blue tang and clown trigger in with it. Had the puffer about 4 weeks. I am thinking I should assume the worst and treat for ich. I will use Copper Power and treat in hospital tanks and let DT go fallow. Any other meds recommended?
 

Jay Hemdal

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Puffer does not seem to have any labored or fast breathing. There is a powder blue tang and clown trigger in with it. Had the puffer about 4 weeks. I am thinking I should assume the worst and treat for ich. I will use Copper Power and treat in hospital tanks and let DT go fallow. Any other meds recommended?
Puffers do tend to carry a lot of parasites, including ich. Trouble is, if it is ich, then your other fish have been exposed and will also need treatment, especially the PBT. Do you see ANY spots on the puffer's body or fins that would better show that it has ich?

Jay
 
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dbartkow

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I did notice one spot above his eye. You can see it here. No spots on fins
 

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Jay Hemdal

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It is difficult to see ich on porcupines - the spots just don't show up all that well. I can almost see spots further back on the fish. It probably would not be a bad idea to be prepared to treat the whole tank with copper if it is a fish-only system. If you have inverts, then you'll have to go the QT/ DT laying fallow route, which is a real hassle. I wouldn't pull the trigger on that just yet, but be ready to. I'd give the porc another day to see if the eyes resolve at all.

jay
 
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