Porcupine puffer lost appetite

[Fishbird]

Sorry about your puffer! A few things jump out at me.

1. Is your puffer in your RedSea 170?
2. I would take any advice your LFS gives you with a huge grain of salt, given that they are diagnosing tangs as dying of "tang disease". Were they the ones who used copper on the puffer? As @lion king says that is a not recommended for puffers specifically. I've read a lot of articles on fish diseases because I wanted to be prepared when I got my fish and I've never heard of "tang disease" so I would say that your store is not providing very accurate information about diseases/treatment and also probably not following good quarantine procedure based on lack of knowledge, unfortunately.

Unfortunately I can't help with solutions for this puffer going forward except possibly moving it into an appropriately sized tank if in fact it is in your tiny Red Sea (not saying nano tanks are bad, my tank is a nano, but that puffer needs a 180 gallon tank).

Good luck!

 

[lion king]

So what do you suggest as a long term solution

Address any water quality issues, sometimes high nitrates effect appetite in certain species. Watch carefully for stringy poo, cloudy eyes, sunken stomach; just to continue to rule out parasites. Sometimes certain fish will just off feeding for no known reason, then resume as if nothing happened. If it is to do with previous copper treatment, the damage is done, and at that you can only hope for the best.

 

[Oliverw17]

Live ghost shrimp to excite a feeding response is a good idea, but that may not address an underlying issue.

He seems to have eaten one or two out of 8 or 9 shrimp, but it looks like he is struggling to see them? Is it possible he’s lost his eye sight

 

[Oliverw17]

Address any water quality issues, sometimes high nitrates effect appetite in certain species. Watch carefully for stringy poo, cloudy eyes, sunken stomach; just to continue to rule out parasites. Sometimes certain fish will just off feeding for no known reason, then resume as if nothing happened. If it is to do with previous copper treatment, the damage is done, and at that you can only hope for the best.

Upon reviewing it and pondering throughout the day I may believe it might be a nitrate problem?.. he had a lot of the symptoms of nitrate poisoning; loss of appetite, rapid gill movement, dazed appearance, loss of equilibrium and sitting on the bottom of the tank. Also had an algae bloom but put that down to More sunlight. My nitrate was fairly high once I tested it around 50ppm So I have done a series of water changes to bring it down. Also changed my ro membrane, 5 micron filter and carbon filter. Do you think I have taken the right steps and my presumption is right? TIA

 

[lion king]

Upon reviewing it and pondering throughout the day I may believe it might be a nitrate problem?.. he had a lot of the symptoms of nitrate poisoning; loss of appetite, rapid gill movement, dazed appearance, loss of equilibrium and sitting on the bottom of the tank. Also had an algae bloom but put that down to More sunlight. My nitrate was fairly high once I tested it around 50ppm So I have done a series of water changes to bring it down. Also changed my ro membrane, 5 micron filter and carbon filter. Do you think I have taken the right steps and my presumption is right? TIA

Some may consider 50ppm nitrates high, and think it depends on the individual fish if they are effected. But lowering that never hurts and you may see an improvement.

Mentioning his eyesight and having a hard time seeing food. Blindness may also be another consequence of copper poisoning. I've had a few blind fish that I have tracked back to copper treatment, as well as others from friends. TRY this, use a feeding stick and pierce one of the ghosties or chunky food he may enjoy, and see if he will take it if you put it in his face. You can also test his eyesight by putting something in his line of vision to see if he reacts.

The dazed appearance and loss of equilibrium also points to copper poisoning. As much as I am hoping he'll rebound and thrive, copper is just bad news.

 

[Oliverw17]

Some may consider 50ppm nitrates high, and think it depends on the individual fish if they are effected. But lowering that never hurts and you may see an improvement.

Mentioning his eyesight and having a hard time seeing food. Blindness may also be another consequence of copper poisoning. I've had a few blind fish that I have tracked back to copper treatment, as well as others from friends. TRY this, use a feeding stick and pierce one of the ghosties or chunky food he may enjoy, and see if he will take it if you put it in his face. You can also test his eyesight by putting something in his line of vision to see if he reacts.

The dazed appearance and loss of equilibrium also points to copper poisoning. As much as I am hoping he'll rebound and thrive, copper is just bad news.

I only ever ran cupramine which is the safest form of copper treatment and only ever at therapeutic levels, never exceeded and only kept it in for as long as his ich was there? I wouldn’t think that would poison him? After the large water changes I have done he seems a bit brighter and I think he has fed on the ghost shrimp over night. So thinks are looking up but still keeping an eye on him.