Puffer loss of Appetite.

Hello Prof.This is a difficult one.I have a Puffer who has gone all quiet, lost appetite, and is now quite weak.He shows no or little signs of stress (Black along the sides).When he lies on the bottom of the tank, he coughs.His Gills are wide open at the moment, and he goes to the top for air.

 

Hi Gilbert,

I have no experience with puffers whatsoever so I will give you some general advice.

If the fish has gone off its food you should try to tempt it to eat something that is very tasty so that he just gets something into his system so that he can hopefully pick up condition again. I would suggest that you try some frozen bloodworm or better still some live black mosquito larvae if you perhaps have some somewhere in a garden tub.

With regard to his gills he may be having some sort of gill fluke attack in which case I would use Sterazin.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Maybe I can help.

First of all, it'd help to know what kind of puffer you're keeping? You see, some puffers that are often avaliable are actually brackish water species. What this means is that some species can live in freshwater for some extended periods of time - however, after a while the effects of living in the incorrect environment start to show after time. The green spotted puffer, Tetraodon nigroviridis, is a brackish to marine species, while the figure-8 (T. biocellatus) is a freshwater species that tolerates brackish. Getting the right condtions are normally the first step to getting healthy fish.

A second important note that you should take is that ALL puffers are very sensitive to any build up of nitrates, nitrites and ammonia, well, is simply deadly to them. Be sure that you have an effective filter and that you keep your water changing schedule up to date with puffers.

Other than that, if none of the above apply to your situation, could you give us more details? Size of tank, type of filtration, water parameters, tankmates if applicable, diet ect. are all important to know when trying to pinpoint a problem.

All the best
SA

 

This is very important.

Some puffers are also subject to internal parasites.

 

Green spotted Puffer

Salinity 1.005 - 1.007

In a 30L on his own.

Two Aquaclear 30's running.

Fed Bloodworm and snails

50% Waterchange 1 a week.


Sadly the little fella didnt make it.

 

Dam Sorry to read Gilbert

 

Thanks
He was one of the Favorites.

Ineresting thing I was the Coughing/Barking.. Never seen that before.