Porcupine Puffer way too puffed up and can not deflate

[Yeetmeister]

Tank has been established for 13 Months and he has been in this tank for 5 months
Parameters
Ammonia 0ppm
NO3 1-2 ppm
NO2 0,025 ppm
salinity 35 ppt
Ph 7,3
Hello everybody, i have a very urgent emergency. I just came back from work and found my porcupine puffer completely puffed up. In general he tends to be a bit more skittish and puffs up rather easily if you approach too fast, so i thought maybe the door opening startled him. Usually he depuffs very quickly but not this time. He has been puffed up for about 30 minutes like this and you can tell he tries to depuff because he wiggles around a lot when trying. I already tried to burp him, however nothing came out and he seems to be swimming fine when puffed up like this. Does anyone have an idea what happened to him or how i can help him?
There have not been any signs before and he eats very well usually.
Attached are some pics what he looks like

 

[SlugSnorter]

@lion king

 

[vetteguy53081]

Tank has been established for 13 Months and he has been in this tank for 5 months
Parameters
Ammonia 0ppm
NO3 1-2 ppm
NO2 0,025 ppm
salinity 35 ppt
Ph 7,3
Hello everybody, i have a very urgent emergency. I just came back from work and found my porcupine puffer completely puffed up. In general he tends to be a bit more skittish and puffs up rather easily if you approach too fast, so i thought maybe the door opening startled him. Usually he depuffs very quickly but not this time. He has been puffed up for about 30 minutes like this and you can tell he tries to depuff because he wiggles around a lot when trying. I already tried to burp him, however nothing came out and he seems to be swimming fine when puffed up like this. Does anyone have an idea what happened to him or how i can help him?
There have not been any signs before and he eats very well usually.
Attached are some pics what he looks like

number one reason is Often stress related and used as a defense mechanism if they feel there is a threat to them, which can be another tank mate and even as simple as light too bright spooking them. Also being crammed in too small of a tank can stress them .
Those numbers seem low for a puffer tank in which a puffer can be messy. Are you by chance using Api kit ?

 

[Yeetmeister]

number one reason is Often stress related and used as a defense mechanism if they feel there is a threat to them, which can be another tank mate and even as simple as light too bright spooking them. Also being crammed in too small of a tank can stress them .

I turned off all the lights immediately after to let him relax, the other wrasse in the tank is asleep under the sand and the few chromis never bother him. Btw tank is a 175 Gallon and he is about 6-7 inches

 

[vetteguy53081]

I turned off all the lights immediately after to let him relax, the other wrasse in the tank is asleep under the sand and the few chromis never bother him. Btw tank is a 175 Gallon and he is about 6-7 inches

Low light should help

 

[lion king]

Ph is low, I'm not sure if that could be the issue. It is usually due to stress, is there someone in the tank picking on him. Even non threatening chromis, if a few of them take a swipe at him. Could there be a predatory hitch hiker in the tank sonewhere.

 

[lion king]

I think a drop in ph can also indicate a drop in oxygen exchange, is there anything you could have added in the tank to cause this.

 

[Yeetmeister]

Ph is low, I'm not sure if that could be the issue. It is usually due to stress, is there someone in the tank picking on him. Even non threatening chromis, if a few of them take a swipe at him. Could there be a predatory hitch hiker in the tank sonewhere.

Ahh no i meant Ph is at 8.3, didn't mean to write 7.3, my bad. Not that I am aware of, they tend to leave him alone when I'm there, but of course can't see what happens when i am not around. What type of hitch hiker are you thinking? i rescaped the tank about 2 months ago and I didn't see anything. Thank you for the help!

 

[lion king]

Ahh no i meant Ph is at 8.3, didn't mean to write 7.3, my bad. Not that I am aware of, they tend to leave him alone when I'm there, but of course can't see what happens when i am not around. What type of hitch hiker are you thinking? i rescaped the tank about 2 months ago and I didn't see anything. Thank you for the help!

Hitchhiker like a mantis shrimp ot something that can pinch or sting. Another thought what about stray voltage. They usually don't puff up out of the blue.

 

[Yeetmeister]

Hitchhiker like a mantis shrimp ot something that can pinch or sting. Another thought what about stray voltage. They usually don't puff up out of the blue.

Noo, there's nothing in the tank from what I can tell. Stray Voltage, didn't think of that. I turned everything off. He still is puffed up, so will see if that makes a difference

 

[Yeetmeister]

Good news, he is finally depuffed. He's still breathing quite heavily, which is probably from all the stress. I disconnected everything except the aeration stone to keep the surface moving and provide oxygen. Already ordered a voltage tester, which should be here tomorrow, then i'll test every equipment because the wires all look alright.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Good news, he is finally depuffed. He's still breathing quite heavily, which is probably from all the stress. I disconnected everything except the aeration stone to keep the surface moving and provide oxygen. Already ordered a voltage tester, which should be here tomorrow, then i'll test every equipment because the wires all look alright.

As suspected- Lights should help. Being inflated for that long, he is bound to breathe heavily and will simmer but assure Nitrate does not become elevated.
For voltage- its not anything to do with wires but rather electrical leakage (as you know salt and electricity dont mix well)
It can be from Power heads, return pump, heater or skimmer pump - even lights that is . . . IF you have leakage. If your place fingers in tank, you would feel a sting should there be leakage but not Always.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Puffers often swallow water as a stress response (as we all know). The stressor can be a variety of things, and sometimes, we just don't know what the stressor is. The biggest issue is if the puffer swallows air instead of water. That typically happens when a puffer is being netted and moved. It can also happen in other cases, but the picture does not indicate the positive floatation seen in that case.

I had a 2 foot long porcupine puffer that would inflate in the morning for no real reason and then swim around like a big balloon for an hour or more. I took pictures of it because it looked so comical, but the fish never seemed to suffer from it.

Jay

 

[AydenLincoln]

Puffers often swallow water as a stress response (as we all know). The stressor can be a variety of things, and sometimes, we just don't know what the stressor is. The biggest issue is if the puffer swallows air instead of water. That typically happens when a puffer is being netted and moved. It can also happen in other cases, but the picture does not indicate the positive floatation seen in that case.

I had a 2 foot long porcupine puffer that would inflate in the morning for no real reason and then swim around like a big balloon for an hour or more. I took pictures of it because it looked so comical, but the fish never seemed to suffer from it.

Jay

Do you still have the photos? I’d love to see them. That’s funny lol.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Do you still have the photos? I’d love to see them. That’s funny lol.

No - we had video also, but all that is lost on the file server somewhere......

Jay

 

[The Ginga Ninja]

Tank has been established for 13 Months and he has been in this tank for 5 months
Parameters
Ammonia 0ppm
NO3 1-2 ppm
NO2 0,025 ppm
salinity 35 ppt
Ph 7,3
Hello everybody, i have a very urgent emergency. I just came back from work and found my porcupine puffer completely puffed up. In general he tends to be a bit more skittish and puffs up rather easily if you approach too fast, so i thought maybe the door opening startled him. Usually he depuffs very quickly but not this time. He has been puffed up for about 30 minutes like this and you can tell he tries to depuff because he wiggles around a lot when trying. I already tried to burp him, however nothing came out and he seems to be swimming fine when puffed up like this. Does anyone have an idea what happened to him or how i can help him?
There have not been any signs before and he eats very well usually.
Attached are some pics what he looks like

Can I ask what are you feeding him? We experienced similar problems with our fish when he started eating only Krill: