Blue spotted puffer - need advice!

[SpunCoral]

I've had the sweetest blue spot puffer for almost 6 months now, and the poor fella is skinny and hanging on by a thread.

The poor thing is definitely blind (hazy eyes). Spoke with an lfs and found out that blindness is common among pufferfish from a brain parasite. Doesn't sound like there is a treatment but im open to suggestions.

I havent seen it eat more than a few Pellets per day since I got it. I've tried everything; clam on a halfshell, krill, large mysis, soaking all food in garlic, live hermit crabs, live snails, hell I've even put a juicy looking acan and zoas in front of him and he won't do it. The only thing he eats is Pellets, which sounds like a blessing, but the poor thing is obviously starving. He is too blind to manage getting enough Pellets to actually feed him.

I've had him in a 30 gallon QT tank for 2 months now just to see if a smaller tank/less flow would help. It's maybe helped a bit but not enough to make a difference.

Any advice? I'm attached.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've had the sweetest blue spot puffer for almost 6 months now, and the poor fella is skinny and hanging on by a thread.

The poor thing is definitely blind (hazy eyes). Spoke with an lfs and found out that blindness is common among pufferfish from a brain parasite. Doesn't sound like there is a treatment but im open to suggestions.

I havent seen it eat more than a few Pellets per day since I got it. I've tried everything; clam on a halfshell, krill, large mysis, soaking all food in garlic, live hermit crabs, live snails, hell I've even put a juicy looking acan and zoas in front of him and he won't do it. The only thing he eats is Pellets, which sounds like a blessing, but the poor thing is obviously starving. He is too blind to manage getting enough Pellets to actually feed him.

I've had him in a 30 gallon QT tank for 2 months now just to see if a smaller tank/less flow would help. It's maybe helped a bit but not enough to make a difference.

Any advice? I'm attached.

Please post videos or at least pics of fish
What is current ammonia-nitrate and salinity?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I've had the sweetest blue spot puffer for almost 6 months now, and the poor fella is skinny and hanging on by a thread.

The poor thing is definitely blind (hazy eyes). Spoke with an lfs and found out that blindness is common among pufferfish from a brain parasite. Doesn't sound like there is a treatment but im open to suggestions.

I havent seen it eat more than a few Pellets per day since I got it. I've tried everything; clam on a halfshell, krill, large mysis, soaking all food in garlic, live hermit crabs, live snails, hell I've even put a juicy looking acan and zoas in front of him and he won't do it. The only thing he eats is Pellets, which sounds like a blessing, but the poor thing is obviously starving. He is too blind to manage getting enough Pellets to actually feed him.

I've had him in a 30 gallon QT tank for 2 months now just to see if a smaller tank/less flow would help. It's maybe helped a bit but not enough to make a difference.

Any advice? I'm attached.

I've not heard of a "brain parasite" in puffers. It does likely have some systemic infection though - eating put getting thinner is a sign of internal parasites. The blindness *may* be due to it simply becoming too thin and then using its liver for energy, which in turn causes other organs to fail.

A Video would help us tell the severity of the issue. It may be time to consider euthanasia.

Jay

 

[SpunCoral]

Here is a short video. I just put Pellets in the tank and it woke him up and he began searching for them, with little success.

Ammonia, Nitrite- 0
Salinity - 1.026

I'm a fairly experienced reef/fish keeper, but this fella has stumped me. If you think there are medications I should try, im all for it. Maybe maracyn 2?
Also curious if you guys think whatever the puffer has got may have infected other fish? No other fish he has been housed with over the last six months seem to been infected/sick at all.

 

[SpunCoral]

I've not heard of a "brain parasite" in puffers. It does likely have some systemic infection though - eating put getting thinner is a sign of internal parasites. The blindness *may* be due to it simply becoming too thin and then using its liver for energy, which in turn causes other organs to fail.

A Video would help us tell the severity of the issue. It may be time to consider euthanasia.

Jay

See post above! Thank you

 

[apb03]

I'm sorry to hear about your puffer struggling, I love these guys. Have you tried a chunk of shrimp? My puffer loves shrimp

 

[SpunCoral]

I'm sorry to hear about your puffer struggling, I love these guys. Have you tried a chunk of shrimp? My puffer loves shrimp

Many times I can think of a single occasion that he went for it, and then never again.

 

[Cell]

My advice would be stick to the knowledgeable folks here at R2R, I would avoid Reddit for reefing advice (I saw your reddit post on this issue). You will also get better, more accurate info here than your average LFS!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

See post above! Thank you

Sorry - IMO, that fish needs to be euthanized. You cannot bring fish back from that level of emaciation, even if you could get it feeding well again. They utilize their liver for energy, so once that organ is used up, they just can't keep going.

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[SpunCoral]

Sorry - IMO, that fish needs to be euthanized. You cannot bring fish back from that level of emaciation, even if you could get it feeding well again. They utilize their liver for energy, so once that organ is used up, they just can't keep going.

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

I figured this may be a result of this post. Had I caught this earlier, could I have been able to treat it? The fact that he was eating the Pellets kept me from seeking treatment sooner, I thought that he was just getting used to new settings. Thanks for your input.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I figured this may be a result of this post. Had I caught this earlier, could I have been able to treat it? The fact that he was eating the Pellets kept me from seeking treatment sooner, I thought that he was just getting used to new settings. Thanks for your input.

I'm not sure what happened here. If it was eating a good amount of pellets and got this thin, then internal parasites would be the primary suspect. However, if it just wasn't getting enough calories over the long term and got thin that way, then parasites may not have been involved.

Jay