help! puffer with ick

[latestmonkey]

I'm relatively new at this but i have 2 dwarf puffers i bought at a pet store and now one of them has an advanced case of ick. I think that's what it is. It didnt affect his skin at first, it was on his eyes and his mouth. Looked like cataracts...

Anyway, what do I do? Is it too late? He's practically blind and keeps running into the glass and cant eat.

thanks

[Pufferpunk]

Doesn't sound like ich. Maybe a bacterial infection. Get some Melafix & do daily water changes of about 20%.

[Sharyl C]

I agree - without seeing the little white specs - I would hesitate to call it ick.

I'm not up on my non native puffers - are dwarfs a brackish or FW species?

If they are FW you could also try adding a little bit of non-iodized salt to your tank (1 tablespoon/ 5 gallon).

If they are brackish - you could freshwater dip them for about 3-5 min (make sure FW has same pH and temp as tank). this is typically used for ectoparasites but I have had it help other ailments when combined with other treatments

[Pufferpunk]

Dwarfs are FW puffers. I don't think there is a parasite problem, but Sharyl is right, a little salt would thicken their body slime & help their immune system to fight off the bacteria.