Valentini puffer got bitten pretty bad :/

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

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So i come home to find out tht my poor valentini puffer who is very small ... His entire back got basically eaten and i knw my porcuppine puffer did it for a fact. He hasnt been eating for a few days and yesterday all if a sudden he went after the valentini. My question is frm the pics you guys see is there any chance of me saving him at all? He is still swimming around but laying in 1 spot for the most part :/

Naiad · Oct 29, 2015

He needs to be isolated if he has any chance. Does he still eat? If he will eat then he has the will to survive and you can work with that.

melypr1985 · Oct 29, 2015

Oh gosh. That's not good, but he's still alive so there's some hope. The fear here is that he might have suffered too much damage for him to come back from. There's a fear of not eating after this and starving to death and also infection. As naiad mentioned, see if he's eating at all. If he is, make sure to feed him vitamins:

Soak fish food in vitamin supplements such as Selcon, Zoecon and Vita-chem or even Omega 3 & 6 fish oil. This will boost a fish’s natural immune system and is particularly useful for clearing viruses such as Lymphocystis.

You can also give him an antibiotic soaked in his fish food like kanaplex. You'd need to use a binder also such as Seachem's Focus. This will help fight infection of the wound. I mention feeding him the antibiotics because they are all in copper at the moment so it seems the best way to help him.

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

Naiad said:
He needs to be isolated if he has any chance. Does he still eat? If he will eat then he has the will to survive and you can work with that.

I just went to home depot to get a partition but they said they ran out and no he is not eating :/

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

melypr1985 said:
Oh gosh. That's not good, but he's still alive so there's some hope. The fear here is that he might have suffered too much damage for him to come back from. There's a fear of not eating after this and starving to death and also infection. As naiad mentioned, see if he's eating at all. If he is, make sure to feed him vitamins:

Soak fish food in vitamin supplements such as Selcon, Zoecon and Vita-chem or even Omega 3 & 6 fish oil. This will boost a fish’s natural immune system and is particularly useful for clearing viruses such as Lymphocystis.

You can also give him an antibiotic soaked in his fish food like kanaplex. You'd need to use a binder also such as Seachem's Focus. This will help fight infection of the wound. I mention feeding him the antibiotics because they are all in copper at the moment so it seems the best way to help him.

He is not eating, fed the tank but he was in a corner, went to home depot to get egg crates but they said thry ran out -_-. So he is stuck in there smh. Wow ok i will try to get some of those things tom. If he is still alive *crosses fingers*

melypr1985 · Oct 29, 2015

Hoping for the best. Good luck

AllSignsPointToFish · Oct 29, 2015

I really hate to see that!

Hope the little guy pulls through!!!

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

melypr1985 said:
Hoping for the best. Good luck

Thanks... I cant think of anything else to separate them... I was thinkjng about putting him in the DT sump? But as u knw I have ich in there

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

AllSignsPointToFIsh said:
I really hate to see that! Hope the little guy pulls through!!!

Me too and thanks

melypr1985 · Oct 29, 2015

Yes, the DT is not an option here. How about your other QT tank? Didn't you have that smaller tank before transferring the fish to the bigger tote? Why not use that for him?

AllSignsPointToFish · Oct 29, 2015

Can you get a big, clear bowl and drill a bunch of holes in it, then use that as a separator? You could use it like a colander, especially if it is taller than the water is deep.

Naiad · Oct 29, 2015

Or ever a Tupperware container with holes punched in it. Just something so the other fish can not pick at him. He needs to feel safe in his weak state.

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

melypr1985 said:
Yes, the DT is not an option here. How about your other QT tank? Didn't you have that smaller tank before transferring the fish to the bigger tote? Why not use that for him?

I thought of tht but i dnt have another filter, heater, etc.

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

AllSignsPointToFIsh said:
Can you get a big, clear bowl and drill a bunch of holes in it, then use that as a separator? You could use it like a colander, especially if it is taller than the water is deep.

Yes that is a good idea... I will go find something now!! Thanks.

merlberg · Oct 29, 2015

Naiad said:
Or ever a Tupperware container with holes punched in it. Just something so the other fish can not pick at him. He needs to feel safe in his weak state.

Yes i'm going to try n look for something in the kitchen tht should work. Thanks

melypr1985 · Oct 29, 2015

merlberg said:
I thought of tht but i dnt have another filter, heater, etc.

Yes i was concerned about that, but had to ask. The ideas mentioned above are good ones for sure. Make sure there are plenty of holes so he gets enough flow through the container.