Blue Spotted Puffer Not Acting The Same

[DerekBunzel]

Hello,

I am very confused on what to do and what is going on.

Every day I constantly check my tanks to make sure everyone is doing well. I started to notice about a week ago my Blue Spotted Puffer didn’t come out to greet me once the lights came on. This continued throughout the day and I began to get worried. I couldn’t really find him because he wasn’t in his normal sleeping spot. I found him in the back on a bottom rock under a overhang. He looks like his dull, pale, whiteish color he gets when he is sleeping, however, once he wakes up this usually goes away. This entire week he’s been that same color. He comes out sometimes to get food when I feed the tank, except he seems slow and not as interested. He also doesn’t eat as much. As soon as he is done eating, right back to that one spot under the overhang. He constantly lays there the entire day.

I first noticed this when I added some new coral frags... this is what gets me nervous. However, my Kenya tree hasn’t been opening which makes me think it was a water issue. I did a water change and checked parameters. The only thing that was a little high was ammonia which is probably due to over feeding since I was trying to get him to eat a little. I also noticed my salinity was a little high so I lowered that as well during the water change. I’m getting kinda nervous because I really love this guy. Please help!!!

 

[Rockit]

What exactly is "a little" for the ammonia and salinity off?
Ammonia needs to be zero.

 

[DerekBunzel]

What exactly is "a little" for the ammonia and salinity off?
Ammonia needs to be zero.

My ammonia was high 0.25
My salinity was at 1.028. I usually keep it close to 1.025
Nitrate 40 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm

Thanks for your reply

 

[EmdeReef]

Your salinity is ok. Ammonia at 0.25 is a concern although not toxic but could be a testing error as well.

Any aggression? Anyone chasing the puffer?

 

[DerekBunzel]

Your salinity is ok. Ammonia at 0.25 is a concern although not toxic but could be a testing error as well.

Any aggression? Anyone chasing the puffer?

Nobody chasing the puffer, they all get along very well. Yes, I’ve been doing water changes to try to get the ammonia down. However, I’m not sure if this is the cause. I woke up this morning and tried to look around for my puffer. He ended up being on the power head. I thought he was dead because he was almost stuck to it. I grabbed and net and got him out and was ready to say goodbye but he started swimming around. I got him out of the tank and put him in my 15 gal nano with my set of very friendly clowns. He looked really lethargic and just kinda sank to the bottom. Is it possible he could have been stung by one of the new coral frags? Or could the coral frags do anything to my water? I’m pretty new with coral but I’ve had my puffer and clowns for well over a year.

 

[EmdeReef]

Lethargy is never a good sign.

Post pics just in case even though it’s often tough to tell much on a puffer.

Any labored breathing? It makes sense that you moved him. At this point you could try a methylene blue bath Which sometimes helps

 

[DerekBunzel]

Lethargy is never a good sign.

Post pics just in case even though it’s often tough to tell much on a puffer.

Any labored breathing? It makes sense that you moved him. At this point you could try a methylene blue bath Which sometimes helps

Unfortunately it doesn’t look like he’s going to make it.. he’s just kinda laying at the bottom not moving, still alive, because he moved from the side of the tank to the back. It was hard for me to get these pics but I managed to get some from the reflection off the glass. It doesn’t appear that he’s breathing heavy. I think I might just turn the lights off in the tank and let this little guy rest..