dwarf puffer

[elmj]

the smaller one died i'm most sorry to say. got me upsad for a few days. i came home one day to find the both puffers covered with some white cotton looking thing especialy on their eyes, fins and mouth area. i immediately took them out into a quarentine tank and put anti fungus and finrot medicine. they healed quickly and remained fine for the next two days until the next morning when i awoke to find my little puffer all dark and 'blowing' out air bubbles. it died soon after

now the bigger puffer remains and i am doing water changes twice everyday just to stop it from dying. the white cotton thing seems to have come back and is present only on the fins and the mouth this time. everytime i do a complete water change with anti chlorine and redosage of the medicine, the white cotton on the puffer disappears and it begins to looks fine again swimming normally etc etc. the next day, the white cotton thing will appear on the tail and the mouth and it will hang around the bottom of the tank! so i have to do another complete change.

can anyone help me to permantly cure my bigger puffer so i can redo up his new tank for him and take him out of the quarentine tank? i know he doesn't like it there. i would also like to buy a mate for him. but i can't do all that to improve his living conditions if he doesn't get well!

somebody help!!!

 

[SBA]

Hi elmj,

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I'm no expert on fish disease I'm afraid. I'm sure OrionGirl will be better placed to advise. Looking on puffernet it suggests the following for your symptoms:

"The puffer has a multi-cellular parasitic infestation. The white spots or tufts may be evidence of a secondary infection of some kind. Treat with Coppersafe. Additionally, use Maracyn-two, Tetracycline Tablets , Maracyn or TriSulfa to treat/prevent secondary infections from bacteria"

What medicine are you using? Could the secondary infection be getting temporarily reduced by the med you are using and then re-appear due to the underlying cause not being dealt with?

Sounds like you might need to treat for parasites as well as the secondary infection to me, but like I say I'm no expert.

 

[OrionGirl]

I agree--the cotton is a secondary infection from a parasite. There are several good medications for parasites---one which is eaten will be the better choice, IME, since it can target them from the inside. For external parasites, salt will help, but should be used very carefully with puffers--slowly add the appropriate amount over the course of 6-8 hours.

Most disease need to be treated for more than one day, so make sure you are replacing medication with each water change. Otherwise, you provide the disease the chance to return quickly. If there are no other fish in the other tank that could be infected, you may want to put the fish in the main tank for comfort. This will lower it's stress level, and allow it to fight both parasites and bacteria better.

 

[elmj]

sad to say my bigger puffer passed on this morning.

thanks for all who helped. i'll use the advice for my future puffers if i keep them again.