Puffer was stuck on in-line outflow

[KurtsReef]

My wife woke me up this morning because the puffer had during the night gotten stuck on the overflow too the inline pump I hooked up yesterday.

I hope he is going to be alright

 

[chuckh]

KurtsReef, that happened to dog faced as well although mine was in a powerhead. he lived for a few days after then perished. i was real upset i had just got him that night and woke in the AM to find that. i fell for you and hope yours makes it. mine kinda looked like this (like i big bubble where he was stuck at.

____| |____

Chuck

 

[KurtsReef]

It will be disappointing if he dies, there does appear to be quite a bit of internal damage where I will assume the skin was pulled into the guard and then was held there for a long time.

I turned off the pump and he swam free then deflated himself. He has not been acting normal today, less of an appetite than normal and swimming around quite a bit less.

 

[jfl14609]

I have a puffer that happenned to right after I for him he got caught on a powerhead that was over 2 months ago an he is doing fine I just fed him well and kept the water quality up high

 

[KurtsReef]

I decided too put the closed line loop on a timer so that it is not on for more than an hour at a time without kicking off, that way if something does become stuck on the intake it will be able to escape without being stuck for hours.

 

[jfl14609]

I just put sponge filter on my intakes just like I do in my main reef to keep my anemone safe

 

[nwrogers]

In my experiences when a fish gets stuck to a powerhead or intake it only has a few days left to live. I have never personally seen this happen to a health fish so I would keep an eye on the tank and be prepared to remove the fish once it dies. If you have a quarantine tank and can remove the fish now that would probably be best IMO. I could be wrong but the same thing happened to my puffer and he didn’t last more than a few days after it. Good luck!

 

[KurtsReef]

There was a piece of uneaten food stuck on the (sorry cannot think of the proper name of the fitting) grate that covers the overflow, I think the puffer had swam over there to attempt to eat it. The Dart is 3600GPH (off the top of my head) and only has a head of 3' here so its drawing quite a bit of water...I am not too keen on putting a sponge/prefilter over it only for appearence sake

Time will tell, he appeared to be swimming a bit better at "lights off" last night.

 

[nwrogers]

Hopefully he makes it ok! He looks like a really cool fish!!

 

[RowingMunkeyCU]

i had a 'special' betta that would regularly let himself get sucked against my HOB filter.

from everything i could tell, he was doing it on purpose because he would pull off if i put a bit of food in or poked at him a bit. never had to turn it off for him to get off of it though.

like i said, he was a bit on the 'short bus special' side of things...

i hope your puffer pulls through!

 

[dreaminmel]

Don't give up hope... Last year my sand sifting cuke got it's insides sucked into one of my powerheads. I mean the thing came apart and then somehow tried to seal back together on the other side. I wrote the thing off but still spent about 30 minutes prying back and forth to get it out of the powerhead. By the time I was done the tank lights were off so I put the cuke back in the tank and watched it for a while. The thing did not move for like two days. Then it started moving around but became really skinny and small for quite a few months. Everyone told me to expect death as once their insides are torn apart they never seem to heal back properly for digestion. That was a year ago. My cuke is still alive, gaining size and pooping out clean sand for me. Keep us updated on the puffer?

 

[KurtsReef]

He is eating again and swimming around though not as briskly as before the incident. The area that was stuck too the intake is now much paler than the rest of his body.

My hopes are up for a recovery since he is now eating.

 

[nwrogers]

Good news! I hope he makes it, keep us updated…

 

[chrisguy]

Any updates??

Also, can you post a picture of your closed loop intake. Maybe we can offer some suggestions to help avoid this in the future.

 

[tmz]

I had a dof face survive an incident with a powerhead . I released him as soon as I saw it in the morning so I don't know how long he was stuck during the night. He was mopey for a day or two but I still have him 2 yrs later.
Good Luck,
TOm

 

[KurtsReef]

Seems to be doing well. Feeding great and swimming almost normal again.

Not at home, do not think I have a shot of the overflow but here is some shots I took last night of the puffers injury

Looks kind of like the old scales are leaving and new ones are growing?

 

[KurtsReef]

Well, he is now doing really well. I have been feeding him a bit extra and soaking it in vitamins first.

The sore area is healing very well and he is acting 'normal' again (ate a snail I bought last night...one of 7 or 8 right after they were introduced)

Plan on taking some shots of the setup tonight and will see if he will pose. Of course I have planned to take shots other nights but seems I get too busy...weather permitting this may be a bon-fire and beer night.

 

[nwrogers]

I am glad to hear he is going to make it! They are such cool fish with their big ol’ smiles and sparkly eyes

 

[KurtsReef]

Last night the Puffer puffed up, I think to stretch out and get rid of some of the flaking dead cells around the injured area. What a difference too the injured area after he did this, now it only is a little different in color and looks quite healed.

I will pull out a camera and take photographs today. Very happy as I am confident he is going to live.