Dog faced puffer

[nicolecraig]

Hey
I have a dog faced puffer and its slime coat is very stringy and it looks like lint. (if thats the right term). Its very lethargic and all it does it sit at the bottom of the tank underneath rocks. What is a good treatment for this and what are probable causes? Its in a 75 gal cube along with a matis shrimp. The rock work was moved around about a week before he started acting kinda funny. Dont know If that has anything to do with it.

Nicole

 

[Stuart60611]

Without a picture it is very hard to diagnose. The slime coat stringyness that you describe could be the fish trying to fight off the problem by increasing its slime coat. My best guess without a picture is the puffer is suffering from crypt (ich) because this is the most common problem usually seen, and the symptoms you are describing are consistent therewith. In dogfaces, it is easy to diagnose. Look carefully at his fins, and if you see any white/transparent sprinkes on his fins, then he has crypt. Research the treatments for crypt here and decide how you want to treat. As a general matter, puffers in particular do not tolerate crypt well and usually die during any major outbreak without treatment. Also, puffers can withstand the cupramine treatment just fine if that is the route you elect to treat crypt.

Good luck.