Experienced in Puffers and ich? Nothing's working and I need help.

[Pufferpunk]

That increases the parasite's metabolism causing them to die off faster

That may be true for Fw ich (actually the recommended temp is 86-87 degrees) but not true at all for SW "ich" Actually not ich at all but cryptocaryn.

I do agree--if your puffer has spots on it's eyes & is scratching, it may have an external parasite. In your pic, all I see are it's spines. Good pic, BTW.

 

[BToast]

I have been to the fish collection. Not a bad selection of corals and frags, but thier advice is'nt always going to be accurate. Also, thier knowledge of corals is'nt bad, but most indepth info will have to be researched yourself. The fish don't seem bad, but the lighting on the fish display tanks could be alot better. I always want to see as much of a potential new tank addition as possible. Prices are middle of the road. I do much better on several fish and coral at my local guy(not more than 10-15 min. away from this place.)

 

[AndyKatz]

If he's feeling better by way of eating hearty, then that's good. It can be difficult to differentiate between parasites and debris on a fish's body. So long as he doesn't appear too stressed and you can keep up the water changes to minimize ammonia until the cycle reasserts everything ought to be okay.

I honestly don't think you have a problem with nitrates. The level you report is really quite acceptable, particularly for a puffer tank. I wouldn't worry about using anything to reduce it--the water changes will keep levels acceptable.

I'm still a bit worried about the scratching, but at this point perhaps it just bears watching and not intervention.

Andy

 

[davina]

The ammonia came down slightly today...almost to 0. Nitrates are still the same at 20. I had to do a 6 gal change last night again because my s.g went up to 1.026...which I have never had it that high. I don't know what could have caused that.

Today...well, he's back in the corner. :headshake2: If anything the water quality is better, so beats me. I wish I had had him for a little longer before all this started to really know his personality and be able to make better judgments.

What I've noticed now is at night when he goes to the corner to sleep, a lot of the white dots are on him. Then in the morning when he's up swimming, it comes off. Like I was saying in a prior post, it varies from day to day, so it must be debris...but it's small and definitely takes on the appearance of ich. But all I can do is monitor now. I've done everything in my power to do what's right. I still need to buy another skimmer though...just waiting on extra money. Mine seems to be running, but like i said, the spring that goes up and down to monitor the flow doesn't work. i just set it to the highest position and can feel a little bit of the flow blowing out the bottom. I think it's probably not working 100%. Unfortunately I built my system for the skimmer, and my other one is too big and is a hang on, where that one is submersible. And because I have a closed canister filter, I can't add anything to that. Blah.

 

[Amphiprion]

That may be true for Fw ich (actually the recommended temp is 86-87 degrees) but not true at all for SW "ich" Actually not ich at all but cryptocaryn.

I do agree--if your puffer has spots on it's eyes & is scratching, it may have an external parasite. In your pic, all I see are it's spines. Good pic, BTW.

Agreed, assuming you are referring to dying off. That actually doesn't apply in freshwater, either. It will not cause ich to die off--period. It does speed the entire life cycle, however. In other words, yes, they do die faster, but breed faster as well. Not doing much good in really any instance unless the tank is being treated.

 

[Angelxoxo]

Your puffer is sooo cute! I am in love with mine! Mine are super chubby its adorable! haha

 

[BToast]

It's been a bit warm around here lately, are you keeping up with your fresh water top up's? The salt gravity is alot toucher with so much evaporation.

What are you using for top off's and water changes? Ro/di? With all the water changes you've been doing, the nitrates should be bottoming out too. Do you ever check the parameters of a batch of top off and change water? Is it at 0 going in?
I had a setup very similar to yours in the past and could never get my nitrates to 0 with crushed coral and treated tap water. Dispite constant scheduled water changes.
I stacked the odds of success against myself from the start.

 

[davina]

I just read about a tap water filter for filtering out nitrates...but I've never done anything like that before...still learning I guess. I just make sure that my s.g. in my bucket matches, or will reduce the s.g. in the tank and try keeping it stable. I dechlorinate the tap water and add the buffer, and that's about it.

So, tonight the fish seemed to be regressing. There were spots on his eyes and fins again, and he is only using one gill. I've seen him do that once before for a short time, and I don't know if it's normal or a characteristic of puffers, or if it's bad. He's very alert and watches me still.

I took the carbon back out and dipped him again for 8 minutes, and added the Rid Ich. I raised the dose to 4 teaspoons for the 60 gal. It should be 6 teaspoon for 60 gal, but I was cutting in half based on what I read about puffers. It says right on the bottle to not increase or lower the dose and that Rid Ich is safer for scaless fish than most other meds...but what the heck is the right answer?

So maybe the ich did clear up for a day or 2 when he was swimming and doing better...on to the second cycle I guess. How many weeks is this going to continue?

Now, I remember reading that if the fish is out of the tank for 48 hours, the ich dies in the tank because it can't attach to a fish. Is that true, and if so, how would you know what cycle the ich is in and when to take the fish out? Also, I read if you don't treat the tank with chemicals and just remove the fish, it takes 6 weeks to die.

 

[davina]

Pufferpunk,

I was wondering if I should use the Pimafix I read about in the library on The Puffer Forum? Would PetCo sell that? I'm assuming now that the closed gill is not good and not something that they just do, after reading about worms. I never knew fish had worms!! But that would certainly explain why he's still banging against the rocks...and the fact that after stoping treatment for a day, the ich returned. I don't even know if the RidIch treats for internal parasites. As you can tell by his photo, his gills are black, so I can tell if there is anything going on in there. I know there are no ich spots around the outside of it, but they are on his fins.

I also read on there how the ich lasts 21 days. Do you recommend that I buy a quarantine tank (I can get a set-up from wal-mart for $30) and treat him in that for 21 days or just treat the show tank? He's the only fish, but I'm wondering if the ich will die off better if there is no fish in there, and I can treat him better and save money on salt water changes and chemical amounts by putting him in a smaller tank...

Also, there are worm things living in my live rock...all kinds of stuff I've seen come and go over the last year. Is that the worms getting in there, or is it maybe another type of thing that doesn't live on the rock?

OMG, what is driving me to keep this up!...Oh yeah, those cute little eyes! If I can make it through this with success I'll be so happy.

Thanks.

 

[Pufferpunk]

That's what live rock is all about--living things in there.

my s.g went up to 1.026...which I have never had it that high. I don't know what could have caused that.

Are you using FW for top offs from evaporation?

Pimafix is for fungal infections. Melafix may help his irritated skin, eyes, & gills from the parasite.

The tank must remain fallow (empty of fish/hosts) for 8 weeks, to insure total die-off of the crypt parasite in the tank. In the meantime, the fish goes into hypo in a QT, with massive water changes in the QT.