I currently have a small (3-4) striped puffer in my saltwater which had 2 wave makers in it. Unfortunately one morning i found him stuck to the suctiong part of the wave maker and thought he was dead. But when i picked him off he was still alive. He looked a bit shook up and his eyes were very foggy. Fortunately he looked a lot better the next morning. However later that morning i found him stuck again to the same wavemaker. Now he looks very beat up and it almost looks like patches of skin are missing from his face and parts of right before his tail. Also, his eyes look white with a tint of blue. He is not lying down like he did the first time but is just lightly swimming along the surface. I tried to feed him but he has not ate and when fish swim by him he does not move. Could he possibly have been blinded and is there anything i can do for him?
2007-03-14 08:41:08 · 3 answers · asked by SED757 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Understand your puffers don't have scales, they have skin and are very sensetive. It is possiable your wave makers (Which one is usually sufficient Why the need for two?) is up too high for this particular fish (unless you have a reef tank of more than 200 gallons, wavemakers are more trouble than they are worth. Personally, I never cared for wave makers anyway) What is the rating on your wave makers? How about the size of your tank? To spare your poor fish turn the darn things off. Keep the power heads running. Puffers are hearter than most people think. Usually a puffers eyes will cloud over during undue stress or when something is not right. Let him keep swimming on his own. Hopefully you have turned the wave makers off. and allow him time to heal. If he is eating and showing no signs of ich forming, let him go. His skin will heal. Don't poke or proad at him. Be sure he is eating normally. I don't suggest moving him from the tank and placing more undue stress on him.
There is a chance his head or eyes could have been affected, however I would be more worried about internal organs. He is small, how small and how powerfull is your wavemaker?
Give him a day or two to attempt to eat. If he doesn't attempt to eat with in the next day or so, try to hand feed, either with tongs designed for your tank or a skewer and move the food right in front of him. It is possiable he could have ruptured an ocular nerve.
Feel free to im or email me to let me know how he is doing.
2007-03-16 04:50:36 · answer #1 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I keep him separated from your other puffers for a while - try a tank divider if you don't have a spare tank - and just let him be for a few days. He may recover this time as well.
I'd look into some kind of guard for your wavemaker. I don't know what brand you use, but they make a coarse sponge attachment for some to spread out the suctioning force over a larger surface area - this sounds like something your little guy needs!
ADDITION: Here's what I was talking about - a sponge prefilter made for a "Powersweep" wavemaker: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?infoParam.mode=1&infoParam.itemKey=204413
2007-03-14 09:28:54 · answer #2 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
put it in another tank. let it heal no more wave things in the new tank for it.
2007-03-14 10:21:39 · answer #3 · answered by devin s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋