My Puffer Has MI and Wont Eat

[ZaSheik]

I am new to the Saltwater Hobby and my first mistake was probably going out and buying a 75 gallon tank.

After a month I bought 9 Astrea snails and a couple of Damsels. A few weeks later when I thought the tank had cycled through, I purchased a Dog Face Puffer. In about two weeks I was shocked as my Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels had climbed. When I got my water checked I was told to do a water change immediately. I did as told and bought my own kit and three days later the levels had changed, but not much. I soon found out that using tap water was a big mistake after being mislead by a store associate. I had previously read the New Marine Aquarium, by Michael S. Paletta, and decided to set up a quarintine tank to save my fish. This time i used RO/DI and mixed the water with some Instant Ocean Salt and Let that sit in my 20 gallon tank with a Maxi-Jet 600. After 12 hours I put my Puffer in the tank, little did I know he had Marine ich. He had stopped eating in the 75 for a few days and I wanted him out of there stat. He still refused to eat the frozen Krill and frozen silver sliders so i bought live shrimp. At first he tried to catch them, but appeared to be to weak. I dropped in a dead one to fool him and he worked. I tried it again the next day and he wouldnt eat. In the 75 gallon tank I thought it had been cute seeing him roll in the live sand, but now I could see why he was itching. The White specs appeared and I bought him some treatment. I moved him to a bucket and moved the heater and pump in there for circulation and have been treating him for two days but he still refuses to eat. I would have left him in the tank, but i didnt want to kill the snails with the meds. I put a little cave in the bucket so the pump didnt blow him away but im afraid he is going to die if he doesn't eat..
Help???

[twisted]

why arent you treating it in the qt tank? there are quite a few other issues but the one that needs to be addressed at the moment is that the fish is in a 5 gallon bucket which is stressing it more. qt tanks are set up to treat fish and monitor them before going into the dt. go to the stickys and there is a thread on ich. that should help

[ZaSheik]

My 75 had to be draines so i moved all my snails and the puffer into the qt tank. I was afraid that the medicine would kill the snails and crabs so i put the puffer in a bucket to treat him. Are you saying i should put him back in the qt tank? And if so, where should the snails and crabd go so i dont kill them off?

[Parrothead]

why did you have to drain the 75?????, you cannot treat snails and crabs with copper based meds, it will kill them, the crabs and snails would have been fine in the 75, the puffer should be medicated and treated in the qt tank.

[twisted]

you are better off with the snails and crabs in the bucket and treat the puffer in the qt tank. and yeah, why did you have to drain the 75?

[ZaSheik]

I originally had the 75 up and going for three weeks. My mistake was mixing the instant ocean salt mix with Tap water. 60lbs live sand, 20lbs live rock. Added some damsels. Thought the tank was cycled and bought the puffer. Then I started Seeing hair algae and my sand (originally tan) started turning a very dark brown. I bought some conch and turbo snails to help clean that up. Hardly helped though. I got my water tested and the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels were all extremely high. I performed a water change as directed and removed 1/2 of the water. Two days later the results were not as high, but close. Meanwhile, my Puffer had quit eating. Wouldnt eat frozen Krill, frozen squid, live shrimp, or sliders. My snails were dying off and so were some of the damsels. I wanted all of them out. So I returned the remaining damsels who were alll healthy and moved the puffer and snails into the QT. The pufffer got marine ich and the story i assume can be followed by what i first posted.

[Parrothead]

first off where did you get the sand??????????


Secondly, the amm., nitrite, and nitrates will all look extemely high during the initial nitrogen cycle, draining the tank did not help things, now you will have to start from scratch, cycle wise that is, the tap water issue could have been resolved had you asked.

If you haven't filled the tank back up, I suggest you don't at the moment and spend the next couple days(at least) doing some reading, there are some excellent stickies here in all the different sections here at reeflands

[ZaSheik]

I got my sand from the Aquarium shop. I cannot remember the name brand off the top of my head, but it came in 20lbs packages (I got 3), was marked live sand, and had water in it to preserve it. I didnt snag it out of the ocean if that is what you are asking..And when I added the tap water to my tank I always measured out the correct dosage for AmQuel (it removes ammonia, chloramines, and chlorine) and some Reef builder by Seachem. I had been told that tap would of been fine as long as i added the AmQuel.

I drained the 75 because the lady at the store scared the bajeezus out of me when she told me that it was going to take quite a while to work the algae out of the system and that all the bad phosphates or whatever were in my live rock and live sand. Not to mention after I cleaned the walls of the tank I would have had to of done a major water change again. For me, it just seemed so much easier to start from scratch so that I had nothing to deal with.

Not to sound rude, but this is my first time setting up a tank... and I am, and will for years and years after, still learning. I have read a 144 page book from cover to back about a step by step setup and stocking guide. I promise I didnt just didnt jump head first in...It is called the New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta. I dont know if you are familiar with the book, but it covers choosing the tank and appliances, to feeding and maintenance. I honestly learned a great deal from it and aim on getting another book to read. I believe everyone needs a little help when they first start and everyone has to experience it to learn the most. I just think I got help from the wrong people and got bad advice, but i think this place might be a very good place to start getting some good advice. I honestly do thank you a great deal, and anything i can learn would be helpful.

[Parrothead]

Do not ever use tap water, it really doesn't matter how much amquel you use, tap water contains alot of stuff, like metals and phosphates to just name a couple that you do not want in your tank. Use ro, ro/di or distilled for salt water and top off water.

I'm not familiar with that particular book, I'm sure it is a good one

Here is some more reading for you, start here, you'll learn alot from these articles by some of the masters in this hobby

Click here before you ask, (links to answers)

If your puffer did in fact have marine ich, your tank will need to remain fishless for at least 6 - 8 weeks for the parasite to go through it's life cycle and die off.

[Ninong]

Hi ZaSheik,



Yes, Paletta's book is a good basic book for beginners on how to set up a marine aquarium. You should also consider The Conscientious Marine Aquarist (2nd Edition) by Robert Fenner and Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman in case you ever decide to switch to a reef aquarium. Fenner's book covers both Fish-Only aquariums and to a lesser extent Reef Aquariums. Borneman's book is exclusively Reef Aquariums.

However, in the meantime, I suggest that you read some of the many sticky posts at the beginning of this forum (Marine Fish Care, Health and Disease Treatment) and the beginning of the Fish-Only forum. Lee has put up a lot of very detailed articles in those threads, such as:

Curing Fish of Marine Ich

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

There are at least three dozen different sticky threads in those two forums. Lee wrote all of those articles so that people with Fish-Only aquariums could find answers to typical problems quickly. Check them out, especially the two that I linked here. Read those two first.

Good luck!

[ZaSheik]

Thank You! Thank You!

I greatly appreciate both of your help. I will see if I can get my hand on that first book you had mentioned. I will remember this thread if i ever decide on coral. Although, I am positive that im not heading in that direction for a couple years. Im currently reading all i can online from this website to get a better understanding. Im sad to say that the Puffer died though. I moved him back to the QT, but he still refused to eat.

[Ninong]

Even though you removed the puffer and even though it has died, it is still important that you read these two threads. In fact, it's very important.

Curing Fish of Marine Ich

Marine Ich - Myths and Facts

[ZaSheik]

Half way done with the first link now