Puffer sick? :(

[Q-ball]

ok, my dog-faced puffer seems have some type of infection or something on the side of his face. The side of his face is swollen, and there are two small circles in the swollen area that look like they are developing into some sort of ulcer? He is eating like a horse still, but does seem to be hiding in his cave just a bit more than usual. I haven't had a chance to test the water, but will as soon as I get home from work tonight. He's in a 90g tank, wet/dry for filter, 2" sandbed, 70lbs liverock. Snoopy is about 5" long or so, his tankmates are a 5" volitan lion & a 3" odontis niger trigger. I am worried that this might be some sort of aggression from one of his tankmates, but so far I haven't seen any sign of anything like that. I did give him & the trigger their weekly clam 3 days ago, maybe he cut himself on the shell? I'm really worried about this guy, he quickly became the favorite of mine & my wife and I really hate to see him like this. Any help, much appreciated.

Q

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wife: "What's it going to cost THIS time?"

 

[Pam]

Hi Q-ball,

Can't say that I've seen a puffer with a swollen spot that lasted for long. (The swelling that is.) I would guess that a trigger bite would be an identifyable mark and the lion would cause far more damage.
He may well have tried to force his face deeper into the broken clam than space allowed and given himself some nicks. Also possible is that he is still learning how to safely eat urchins, which are a popular treat should one become a nuisance eating the coraline too quickly. You may want to count urchins and remove any that have pet status.
Should the swelling continue to grow or the redness become generalized you will need to contact Dr. Ron and see if he knows any pathologists. Watch and wait as the familiar refrain from me goes I'm afraid. If you develop an overwhelming desire to spot treat the wound make absolutely certain that you do not get any medication into the gills.
I know how scary it is when a fish that you love is injured but this is likely to be no worse than a child's skinned knee. Look for foreign objects, watch for infection and show interest when it is presented.
Hang in there.
Pam

 

[Michael2]

Sorry to hear your puffer is sick. I too had a puffer quite along time ago now. It had what i think you are describing as the same thing. I think it is some kind of infection or disease they are prone too. Mine had an open ulcer about an inch long. At first it just looked like a scrape but got worse as time went on. I tried different types of medication but nothing seemed to help. He lived for several months after getting sick. Hopefully yours is not the same thing. I never did figure out what the puffer had. We were very fond of our puffer too. HE was a real character. Always happy to see us and when it was feeding time he would come to the surface and squirt water out his mouth as to say hurry hurry i'm hungry. Sorry for being long winded but Puffer's are cool and i miss mine. Anybody no what this infection is????

 

[reefmanic]

HEY Q, could be a tough clam there?Or...maybe the trigger and lion are jealous of your biased affection for ole snoopy snoop puff daddy ? And when you're not home maybe they're putting the Squeeze on him ?I'd say what Pam said is in order.It's good to see ya back,stay with the pink ones and quit expirimenting with the blues August

[This message has been edited by reefmanic (edited 02-03-2000).]

 

[Q-ball]

Hi all, thanks for your advice. I went last night to the only lfs around that I can really trust (bout 2 hours away!). The guy I talked to seemed to know his stuff, didn't think it was the lion, mainly because the puffer's skin is really tough and would be very difficult to puncture. Didn't rule it out totally, just not as likely. I don't have any urchins, so that can't be it. Maybe the trigger bit him, but I just don't seem him getting the chance to bite him more than once before the puffer would really lay into him! He's got some monster teeth on him! hehe I did test the water last night, nitrates were low <20 or so, the only thing I noticed a little off was my alk was a little low, so I'm goin to slowly bring that up. So far there is no redness, leading me to believe it isn't a pathogen, but I'm going to watch for this. RM: The clam couldn't have been too tuff after I smashed the end of it with a hammer (I like making it a LITTLE easier for em to get at it! LOL!) The only treatment I've begun so far is last nite I treated all their food with ZOE vitamin supplement, which I will do every other day, and on the off days I'll supplement with Selcon. So far so good, they didn't spit it back at me, hehe. Oh, and RM, they have me on a new experimental yellow w/ red polka dot pill, totally new. I'll let ya know how it turns out. BTW, did ya get my email, I've been having a bit of trouble with it? Thanks again all,

Q

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wife: "What's it going to cost THIS time?"

 

[reefmanic]

Hey Q I got it,twice and a day apart Glad to see ya around,I always can use a good laugh -August

 

[Q-ball]

WOO-HOO!!! Snoopy is looking much better. I dunno if the vitamin supplements are helping, or he's just a tough-guy, but the ulcer-like things are almost totally gone (they never did get any red color in them), the swelling has gone down 75% as well! The other night I guess I didn't get his food in the tank as fast as he thought I should after I opened the lid, lil *$#@#! spit a glob of water right in my eye!

oh well, least he's feeling better!

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wife: "What's it going to cost THIS time?"