Puffer freaking out

Mfreddy · Mar 6, 2016

i did a 60 gallon wc today, waited about an hour after done, and fed the fish. About an hour later the puffer puffed up, first halfway then about five minutes later fully. He stayed puffed for 20-30 seconds and then violently expelled by thrashing. Everyone else was on the other end of the tank. Any ideas? Here's a pic, post puff where his skin is still stretched or holding bubbles.

Humblefish · Mar 6, 2016

Not sure if this is a problem or not. However, I'm going to move this thread over to the "Predatory Fish" forum to attract the attention of those more familiar with puffers and their behavior.

Also [HASHTAG]#reefsquad[/HASHTAG] any advice?

4FordFamily · Mar 6, 2016

I've seen them do this before, my dogface over the years seemed to do this once per year without apparent reason.

What are his tankmates? If it feels threatened it might do this. Puffers that do this a lot may stress and die.

hybridazn · Mar 6, 2016

I had a porcupine puffer that would do this every once and a while. Keep an eye on him for the next day or 2 to make sure he goes back to normal. If not you will have to burp him

Diesel · Mar 6, 2016

Sorry I'm no help on puffers but will follow on.

Mfreddy · Mar 6, 2016

Purple tang and clown trigger that is smaller than him. No one was around, it seemed random. The wife didn't like it very much either

4FordFamily · Mar 6, 2016

Clown trigger? I've never owned one but I have heard that they're very aggressive. You might keep an eye on that fella.

Mfreddy · Mar 6, 2016

The trigger doesn't bother him. Lots of room in a 240 with only 3 fish. Getting ready to add more.

Mfreddy · Mar 6, 2016

hybridazn said:
I had a porcupine puffer that would do this every once and a while. Keep an eye on him for the next day or 2 to make sure he goes back to normal. If not you will have to burp him

How the heck do you burp them?

hybridazn · Mar 6, 2016

Mfreddy said:
How the heck do you burp them?

You basically hold then in your hand and rub their belly until the air gets out. You can tell if they can't burp on their own because they will have a buldge in their belly.

Mfreddy · Mar 6, 2016

Thanks. I sure hope he can do it on his own!

AlexG · Mar 7, 2016

Puffers periodically do puff up without being threatended. I am guessing it is like stretching out for them. Unless they get air trapped in them they should not have any problems.

MUSBFRANK · Mar 8, 2016

Yup, I seen it quite a bit over the years where they'll puff up for no apparent reason, definitely not being threatened, not sure why they do it (obviously there's a reason) but I've seen them perfectly happy and healthy one minute and all of a sudden turn around and its big as a football. The violent thrashing is just them working the air/water out of their system, so that's normal after puffing up. As far as "holding bubbles", I'm not sure what you mean by that but at times they do have issues (usually during shipping) of trapped air in their body, if this isn't resolved by tomorrow, then as stated above, you'll need to assist him in getting it out, if he starts to have buoyancy issues, then that's when you'll need to step in.