help with new fahaka puffer

[yshurtleff]

I bought this puffer from my lfs,(never again though).. They sold me this little guy the same day they recieved him and needless to say hes not doing well ...He is in my freshwater hospital tank with stress coat any help to understand this fish and this horrible sitchuation would be appreciated thanks:confused:

[Pufferpunk]

What's wrong with him? Is he skinny? Is he eating?

[rjl420]

is the tank cycled? have you tested your ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte?

if the tank isn't cycled, please consider fishless cycling. puffers are VERY sensitive to a cycling tank.

you could try keeping the tank at ~80*F, they seem to like the slightly warmer water. a lot of times puffers arrive with internal parasites, does is belly look sunken inwards? the more info you can give us, the better we can help you.

[yshurtleff]

he is about one inch long about as round as a womans thumb.yellow on the sides of his belly,color light brown to light tan.a little lighter since I bought him.the tank is not cycled because it is a temp. home trying to get him well before I put him in my fifty five gal. tank that has been going for over two years... I change the water twenty percent every other day and it is a ten gal.with only the puffer in it...I';m treating him right now with super sulfa due to what looked like a peeling upper dorsal fin,or kinda peeling ... he spends a lot of time just sitting on the bottom..he';ll swim alittle but only for about five or ten minutes..cant tell if he is eating or if the baby feeder fish are just hiding..breathing is fairly slow but sometimes his front belly under his head looks like he is struggling to breath then other times hes fine..I have had him now for four days.He seems to be getting better but I dont like feeling helpless,,I dont want to increase his suffering that is why I ask for help...Just trying to help the little guy make it...:(

[littleprince]

I would do daily water changes since your tank is not cycles. Maybe some ammo carb too. Is there no other sponge filter or filter media you could put in there?

I found that the fahaka can change colors slightly to blend in. Mine seemed to be an ambush hunter, and often times would lay on the bottom to wait for food to swim buy, or bury himself in the sand with only part of his head sticking out. Definately not as active as other puffers like fig 8's, gs, and fugu's.

When I first got mine, it was hard for him to catch ghost shrimp and feeders. Feeding him bits of frozen shrimp was perfect because they would sink to where he was sitting, and he would strike with force.

What is in your 55 tank? I hope nothing prized. Fahakas are mean critters.

[Pufferpunk]

1st of all, you are going to need to keep a very close eye on your water parameters. Since your tank will be cycling, I would test your ammomia & nitrites several time a day. As soon as you see a rise in either test, do a 20% water change. If it's really high, (over .5) do a 50% water change. I would use Ammolock or something comparable as a dechlorinator. Make sure you have a good water flow & add a airstone, because ammonia cuts down on oxygen.

Get some Melafix, it works great with bacterial infections & is a wonderful all around tonic. I can be used in conjunction w/other meds & is all natural.

What kind of foods are you offering? Fish are not usually on the menu for puffers. They eat any kind of shellfish, worm or mussell. Your best bet right now is feeding it blackworms in a cone feeder.

Do you have any fish in the 55? The fahaka can't go with other fish.

[yshurtleff]

i'm starting to learn that I may be getting a new tank setup for my fahaka.I have two other puffers and other fish that I hadnt planed on loosing.I think as soon as my lfs opens again I'll go and visit that person that sold me the fish as a good fish for my strong brackish tank when he is a fresh water fish...thank you all for the help...He'll be taken well care of in fresh water ....dont worry he wont be the cycling fish I'm going to buy a tank seperator and he'll go in my fresh tank till I get the other cycled since he may be in it for awhile....

[Pufferpunk]

I can't say enough about Melafix. It works wonders on sick fish (bacterial).:D

[chrisnsimon1]

My fahaka loves live crawdads. Just make sure you take off claws, if not he my get pinched and he will bruise and swell. Night crawlers are allso good food, proabley better cut it up some. Just because he sounds to be very young. Small live clams are good to have in the tank with him, he will open them himself. If you can get small crawdads I would try them, you should see him hunting for them in know time. By the way my first puffer(fiuger 8) I had I tryed to use melafix on, and he died. All I use for my fahaka is aquarium salt and a heater when needed to cure.

[chrisnsimon1]

He will attack any other tank mates, tried several times to find him a friend. But he just eat them or stress out the new comer.

[Puffernewbee]

chrisnsimon1,
You are aware that this post is from New Years 2003.