Mighty Prawn Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 So after seeing these 2 fish in the tank at Pisces for over a month and a half, sitting on the bottom of the tank, white glazed over their eyes and nipped fins, I decided, or rather, my wife and I decided, we're going to buy them and try to bring them back to health. I made sure that they were still guarenteed, and talked to one of the guys about buying sick fish. He said they've had them forever, and have been treating them for a long time, but he thinks after all this time, they are just stressed out from being in that small tank. (Looked like a 2.5 gallon to me, for 2 4" puffers) So I forgot to ask about the guarentee, but I can always find that out tomorrow. More importantly, I need help identifying what exactly is wrong with these 2, and what I need to do to fix it. They both seem to be the same, one is worse than the other. The one has white cloudiness over its eyes, and he sits on the bottom of the tank. I've dropped some snails in there, but there seems to be no interest. One of the snails was sitting directly in front of the puffer for about 20 minutes, and nothing. So lack of appetite is one symptom as well, though that could just be from moving to a new tank. Now, the one of them has a small wound, it looks like it could be a week or so old, because there's no cotton-like growth coming from it or anything, no sign of any kind of infection. Should I use some Melafix for this, or let it try and heal without it? The other thing, is their colouring is quite dull right now. From what I understand a puffer will get darker colours when it is sick. I have found so much conflicting information on this kind of fish online I don't know what to believe. Half the sites say they are super aggressive and need to be left alone, half the sites say they can be in semi-community tanks in pairs, with fast moving fish as long as there are lots of plants and hiding places. The only thing anyone of these sites seems to agree on is that they are freshwater. I decided to put them both together for now, in a 15 gallon hex, heavily planted with plenty of hiding places. I figure if there are any signs of aggression towards each other, I can just move one. They get to about 5-6" I believe, and right now are about 4". When they are fully grown, if they get along, I'll probably move them to a 33 gallon hex once it's up and running. Do you guys think it'd be a good idea to put some little feeder fish in there for them? Like some danios or white clouds or something? These guys have pretty big mouths, I'm pretty sure they could eat a dannio in 2 or 3 bites. That's all, let me know what you think everyone. I really want to bring these guys back to health and give them a good home. Killed me seeing them at Pisces all that time, sick like that. Okay tear into me for being a fool, I'm ready for it. And yes, I am fully prepared to lose my $40 if they die after the guarentee is up. I just had to try! -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 The puffers are likely suffering from infectons/stress from being in a tank that was too small for so long, as you are likely aware they can be over sensetive to poor water conditions and puffers can put out quite a large bioload for their size (more likely because they are such sloppy eaters). I would recomend a treatment of Melafix and Pimafix to help with the cloudiness and ripped fins. I found this worked well for my puffers when I rescued a few. If their bellies are sunken in and they are looking starved you may want to treat them for internal parasites....otherwise if their bellies are looking mostly normal start feeding them some live blackworm, it should entice them to eat. Talk to Fatpuffer, I believe he has a clutch of baby crayfish that would make an excellent treat for the puffers. I would recomend against feeding them fish, they are shellfish eaters rather than fish eaters and a diet of feeder fish is supposedly too fatty and can wreck their liver. Another way to stimulate their appetite is to run a thread through a frozen prawn and dangle it through the tank....even with cloudy eyes they will likely attack the movement and once they figure out it's food will eat happily. I have used hex tanks for my puffers before, but found that the footprint was too small for multiple inhabitants to carve out territories without butting heads all the time. You would be better getting a 33 gal (3 ft), the chances of aggression will be greatly reduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Thanks so much for the advice. This 15 gallon hex is just a temporary home for them, while I wait to setup some other tanks. I have a 33 gallon hex and a 30 gallon standard just waiting to be setup as well. So you think they'd be better off in a standard? These guys are really cute even though they're sick. The sicket one finally ate a snail, shell and all! Hopefully that's not a big deal. It was a smallish snail, about a cm or two. I'll pick up some Melafix and Pimafix tomorrow, as well I'll probably pick up a crayfish or 2. I think I'll pm this fatpuffer fellow and see if I can purchase some from him rather than the LFS. -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Wow! They loved the prawn! Daaamn, it danced a delicious dance they could not resist. Now they are sitting right next to each other, not nipping or anything, but it's making me nervous. I think we may end up putting them in seperate tanks. We've also got a 17 gallon standard. Would they do okay by themselves in a 15 gallon and 17 gallon? Or do they prefer company of the other? -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 I think those puffs are fang's puffer (tetraodon conchinchinensis). I agree with pufferpack...melafix and pimafix. It helped my puff's cloudy eyes. They are okay with conspecific...just have enough space. My chased each other around the tank but did not attack or bite. The smaller one puffed when chased but deflates back to normal once he or she is back in its territory. Keep up the feeding...probably was starved in the lfs. GOOD LUCK! Js Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 If they are Fangs as Fatpuffer stated, they would be in quite happy in a 30 standard, and if you luck out you may end up with a mating pair. If you do decide to seperate them a 15 and a 17 should do them nicely, but as these two have likely been raised together I would try to keep them together, if you seperate them and try to reintroduce them at a later date your chances of aggression trouble will greatly increase. Personally I would put them into the 30 standard with at least 4 seperate caves/overhangs, to give them a choice of caves, a nice sand bottom for them to bury themselves in, and a variety of plants to help break up sight lines and give them small spots of privacy and lots of interresting places to explore. Ususlly with puffers the more visually complex their tank set up is, the lower their agression levels...it's almost like they get crabby when they are bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Okay so after only a day, they both are starting to show a spot on their side/back. Do Fang's also have a spot? When they are happy and healthy, will they still lay down on the bottom all the time? These guys don't seem like big swimmers. And if that's the case and they aren't big swimmers, would a fast, and mid level swimming fish be okay to live in there as well? Whatever they are, I am glad they are already starting to improve. Should I be leaving the shell on the prawn/shrimp when I feed them? -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pufferpack Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 Sounds like Fangs Puffer, check here for a good ID: Puffer List Although they are not all that active (a little more so at night) they will not hesitate to gut a fish swimming above them.....I wouldn't recomend trying tankmates that you have a fondness for. No need to remove the shells from puffers foods, their teeth are designed to crush and tear through shell. A nice treat for them is some nice fresh shellfish from the fish market, just be sure to remove any uneaten bits a couple hours after feeding (they can foul a tank pretty quick). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_Dave_Ab Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 Bless you for saving these fish (sounds like something I would do). I am curious did they charge you full price for your two friends? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 I had good luck with feeder minnows...too fast and too small to be a meal for a lazy fang's puffer. They are not very active during the day but if you put a red light...u can see them cruise around the tank. Minnows were good addition...increase the activity of the tank and ate left over bits of shrimps and such. Jonah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Prawn Posted January 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 Bless you for saving these fish (sounds like something I would do).I am curious did they charge you full price for your two friends? Dave Oh yeah, full price, $20 a piece. But there's more to that story I'll be posting later! -Hideo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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