Toby Puffer not well, should I force feed?

[ReefMeUpScotty]

I have a blue spotted puffer approx. 2 inches long. For almost a week he will not eat and has been extremely lethargic and having trouble swimming, he will find a spot and stay. I had a valentini puffer before that showed these signs after pufffing up from being spooked and it died the next day and idk if it happened to this guy or if he has a parasite. Today this guy found a spot in the back rock and is looking bad. Also, I did treat using ich attack over a week ago when my coral beauty had a small outbreak.

One fish had a long white trail in its poo but it ate a giant piece of shrimp that night so not sure which it is. I did treat with prazipro three days ago and the puffer had a little more energy yesterday but still won’t attempt to eat. His beak doesn’t appear overgrown and he always bites on clam shells and rock to dull it down so I don’t think that’s it. My water parameters show no ammonia, nitrates or nitrites and my ph was at 8.2. Salinity is 1.023.

His body doesn’t show anything out of the ordinary except his colorings a little darker and the line on his belly that’s isually light grey was darker. I did have a squirrelfish that I rehomed due to it stressing him and other fish out at night after 6 months of having him so some possibilities are stress, parasite, ich attack treatment, maybe a piece of food was contaminated from the seafood counter... something in the water.. I’m stumped since he doesn’t show any clear signs.

Please let me know any info I didn’t provide that may help in his diagnosis. I have read about puffers being force fed with luck and since he’s so small idk if that’s a good route to take. I have a syringe and can soak food in vitamins but is it worth trying to catch him and attempt this? I’ll upload a picture of his belly to show the dark line which I hope helps. Since he’s in he back hiding and not moving tonight is probably his last night for treatment and I’d rather attempt feeding him and seeing if he can gain his strength back if an experienced fish keeper thinks that’s worth trying.

 

[EmdeReef]

I don’t think force feeding a fish makes sense until you know the reason for not eating. In your case sounds like it could be disease causing the lack of appetite so force feeding could make it worse or not resolve anything.

White stringy poop is a sure sign of parasites. I’m
Not familiar with what are the ingredients of ich attack.

What other fish do you have? Are they showing any other symptoms? Any spots on the puffer?

If prazi helped it’s possible that it has a flukes. I would consider treating with prazi again and possibly metro in case it’s an internal parasite.

 

[ReefMeUpScotty]

I’ve been feeding scallops, Mysis, krill, flakes, table shrimp and other frozen food for Angelfish soaked in Kent’s marine vitamin C and a drop of garlic xtreme. The treatment for ich was successful and no fish show any signs but maybe it’s still affecting him.. he still looks around and occasionally will flutter his fins but he’s been resting all day behind the rocks like he’s just waiting to pass.. but has been doing this for days now.

Before I got the squirrelfish caught and out of the tank when he first started acting like this I put him in a separate breeder netted cage at the top of the so he wouldn’t be harassed and was hoping he was just to stressed to eat.

 

[ReefMeUpScotty]

I don’t think force feeding a fish makes sense until you know the reason for not eating. In your case sounds like it could be disease causing the lack of appetite so force feeding could make it worse or not resolve anything.

White stringy poop is a sure sign of parasites. I’m
Not familiar with what are the ingredients of ich attack.

What other fish do you have? Are they showing any other symptoms? Any spots on the puffer?

If prazi helped it’s possible that it has a flukes. I would consider treating with prazi again and possibly metro in case it’s an internal parasite.

I have a coral beauty, scooter blenny and six line wrasse and none of them show signs of illness. I have a few snails and couple hermits in there that are doing well. The ich attack consists of various natural oils and is marketed as reef and invert safe and requires a daily dose which I stopped a couple days before dosing prazipro and did two large water changes about 30% each. It’s been about 3 days so I will dose prazi Pro again.

Force feeding if he has a parasite or anything else is what I wasn’t sure of and didn’t want to make things worse so sounds like a bad idea at this point so appreciate the help.

 

[EmdeReef]

Unfortunately none of the reef safe cocktails will eradicate ich, some substances may slow it down...

Ich should be showing but may not be always easy to see.

I would try prazi once more and then you may want to quarantine and treat with metro. It could also be stress when did you re-home the squirrelfish?

 

[ReefMeUpScotty]

Unfortunately none of the reef safe cocktails will eradicate ich, some substances may slow it down...

Ich should be showing but may not be always easy to see.

I would try prazi once more and then you may want to quarantine and treat with metro. It could also be stress when did you re-home the squirrelfish?

I caught the squirrelfish in a large acrylic trap three days ago so he wasn’t able to harass him and then let the puffer back free in the tank. The squirrel was in there until today when I moved him to his new 200+ gallon tank.

I’m dosing prazipro now and will post an update tomorrow if the puffer is still alive and fighting.

 

[EmdeReef]

Good luck hope he pulls through!

3 days may not be enough for a fish to de-stress so could be still stress.

 

[lovelivelife321]

I have a blue spotted puffer approx. 2 inches long. For almost a week he will not eat and has been extremely lethargic and having trouble swimming, he will find a spot and stay. I had a valentini puffer before that showed these signs after pufffing up from being spooked and it died the next day and idk if it happened to this guy or if he has a parasite. Today this guy found a spot in the back rock and is looking bad. Also, I did treat using ich attack over a week ago when my coral beauty had a small outbreak.

One fish had a long white trail in its poo but it ate a giant piece of shrimp that night so not sure which it is. I did treat with prazipro three days ago and the puffer had a little more energy yesterday but still won’t attempt to eat. His beak doesn’t appear overgrown and he always bites on clam shells and rock to dull it down so I don’t think that’s it. My water parameters show no ammonia, nitrates or nitrites and my ph was at 8.2. Salinity is 1.023.

His body doesn’t show anything out of the ordinary except his colorings a little darker and the line on his belly that’s isually light grey was darker. I did have a squirrelfish that I rehomed due to it stressing him and other fish out at night after 6 months of having him so some possibilities are stress, parasite, ich attack treatment, maybe a piece of food was contaminated from the seafood counter... something in the water.. I’m stumped since he doesn’t show any clear signs.

Please let me know any info I didn’t provide that may help in his diagnosis. I have read about puffers being force fed with luck and since he’s so small idk if that’s a good route to take. I have a syringe and can soak food in vitamins but is it worth trying to catch him and attempt this? I’ll upload a picture of his belly to show the dark line which I hope helps. Since he’s in he back hiding and not moving tonight is probably his last night for treatment and I’d rather attempt feeding him and seeing if he can gain his strength back if an experienced fish keeper thinks that’s worth trying.

Dose the water with some Conditioner and then soak some brine shrimp in fresh pieces of garlic clove and squeeze those in there through a squeegee he will go to town sooner later