my puffer has this weird stuff growing on him!!

[carlyajackson]

Hello!

I got my puffer a couple weeks ago, experienced a spike in nitrates and ammonia. That spike has been resolved. I have a 40 gallon tank and planning on upgrading soon. He was very lethargic but once the ammonia spike went down he started swimming around more. He is eating perfectly fine and started eating krill and squid. Before he was just eating Mysis. My SG is 1.023 and temp is 72.3° F. I started treating with Melafix but I’m not seeing any improvements. It looks like his skin is peeling, his eye is all white and he has white stuff all over his face. I’m not sure how to help him

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[AydenLincoln]

YIKES! Poor baby. Does he rub up against the glass by any chance? I suspect he does especially since he’s in a 40 gallon tank and it’s an extremely common pufferfish thing. If he doesn’t stop rubbing he will only make it worse and cause reinfection. That and the stress probably made it worse. He has a major infection and since it’s on his face I would suspect he’s got a nasty bacterial infection most likely but perhaps a fungal infection from repeated rubbing up against the glass and opening the skin. You need to remove him and start treatment ASAP. I recommend kanaplex and metroplex together or separately in a quarantine tank and make sure it has an air stone. Honestly I hope for the best for him but that’s a major infection that looks like it spread quickly. And the fish disease experts will be able to tell for certain and give you more info but I suspect most of them are asleep lol.

 

[Jekyl]

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Sorry, I've never seen anything like that. I imagine it is a bacterial infection, but I can't say what might have caused that. Did it start in a more localized area and then spread to this larger area?

A gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex might help, but it is going to harm your beneficial bacteria as well. Melafix is just a tonic and really doesn't help with severe infection.

Jay

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Is the water kept cold for a reason? (just asking)

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello!

I got my puffer a couple weeks ago, experienced a spike in nitrates and ammonia. That spike has been resolved. I have a 40 gallon tank and planning on upgrading soon. He was very lethargic but once the ammonia spike went down he started swimming around more. He is eating perfectly fine and started eating krill and squid. Before he was just eating Mysis. My SG is 1.023 and temp is 72.3° F. I started treating with Melafix but I’m not seeing any improvements. It looks like his skin is peeling, his eye is all white and he has white stuff all over his face. I’m not sure how to help him

salt is low, water is cold and it is bacterial
Tank looks fairly new and this is not an ideal first fish for a new tank
Temp - 76-79
salt- 1.024-1.025

Melafix is teak tree oil and rendered useless in a marine tank - simply does nothing, even in freshwater setting

 

[carlyajackson]

Is the water kept cold for a reason? (just asking)

my heater broke so I had just put a new one in and the temp is back up again

 

[carlyajackson]

YIKES! Poor baby. Does he rub up against the glass by any chance? I suspect he does especially since he’s in a 40 gallon tank and it’s an extremely common pufferfish thing. If he doesn’t stop rubbing he will only make it worse and cause reinfection. That and the stress probably made it worse. He has a major infection and since it’s on his face I would suspect he’s got a nasty bacterial infection most likely but perhaps a fungal infection from repeated rubbing up against the glass and opening the skin. You need to remove him and start treatment ASAP. I recommend kanaplex and metroplex together or separately in a quarantine tank and make sure it has an air stone. Honestly I hope for the best for him but that’s a major infection that looks like it spread quickly. And the fish disease experts will be able to tell for certain and give you more info but I suspect most of them are asleep lol.

he does not rub up against anything

 

[nereefpat]

I suspect there is something beyond the bacterial infection going on too.

I would get it into a QT and treat with meds. I might start with General Cure (Prazi + Metro), then antibiotics, then copper if it isn't cured.

 

[Spare time]

Get a QT setup as soon as possible. I would use something like kanaplex. I wonder if you can throw an ammonia removing pad into a hob filter for a QT.

 

[carlyajackson]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Sorry, I've never seen anything like that. I imagine it is a bacterial infection, but I can't say what might have caused that. Did it start in a more localized area and then spread to this larger area?

A gram negative antibiotic like Neoplex might help, but it is going to harm your beneficial bacteria as well. Melafix is just a tonic and really doesn't help with severe infection.

Jay

I noticed the white part only on his eye at first so I thought it was from the ammonia spike. after a couple water changes I got my ammonia back down but it kept spreading around his face.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I noticed the white part only on his eye at first so I thought it was from the ammonia spike. after a couple water changes I got my ammonia back down but it kept spreading around his face.

The spreading to me, after the ammonia was controlled, implies a bacterial infection, something that is growing.

 

[carlyajackson]

The spreading to me, after the ammonia was controlled, implies a bacterial infection, something that is growing.

so should I set up a QT tank and treat with Kanaplex?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

so should I set up a QT tank and treat with Kanaplex?

I would….

 

[AquaLogic]

so should I set up a QT tank and treat with Kanaplex?

I would get a large cheap tank for him for QT on which you can put a cover and a decent HOB filter in which you could seed media like MarinePure with a bottled bacteria. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing. Also can't hurt to add an airstone, as some medications can create situations in which oxygen becomes depleted. Then I would treat with whatever Jay recommends. He's the expert. You could get an inexpensive 40 gallon breeder or something for QT for him. Then I would work on getting a much larger tank for him when he comes out of QT. 40 gallons is just too small for a permanent home.

 

[AydenLincoln]

How is the little buddy doing? I’ve been thinking about him and wishing him well.

 

[Celestion]

Cold water can kill fish

 

[cdemoss01]

Yes how is he doing?

@carlyajackson​

 

[AydenLincoln]

Cold water can kill fish

I do agree the salt and temp are both lower than what tropical fish thrive in.