puffer fish stung

Rockyreiter

Rockyreiter

Reefing newb
my fuzzy dwarf lionfish stung my porcupine puffer sometime last week, after the sting the puffer has been laying the rocks not eating or anything, but today he started acting differently and it's really worrying me:
his face got really pale and he kept spitting up what looked like brine shrimp (but he hasn't been eating so im not sure what it is). right now he is completely vertical and spinning circles in one spot while bobbing up and down, his eyes changed to different shades of blue and are unresponsive to any movement and doesnt move when i touch him.
the people at the fish store said they werent sure what i could do for him besides wait and see what happens.
i just want to double check and see if anyone here knows what i can do!
 
Your puffer was obviously poisoned by the venom in the lionfish. As far as I know there's nothing you can do to remove the venom. Puffers and other fish are known to harass lionfish and end up getting the proverbial bull by the horns. IMO your puffer is just struggling to stay alive. From the sounds of it, he's blind which explains the color of his eyes, the unresponsiveness, and the crazy vertical swimming, but I'm sure the venom has obviously destroyed the puffers equillibrium.

What you're describing sounds alot like how a fish acts with a pretty severe bacterial infection. Unfortunately, once a fish is blind it's just a matter of time.

Sorry.

This is cut and pasted from reefkeeping .com

Special considerations need to be used when selecting tank mates for lionfish. Lionfish will eat any small fish or crustacean that fits into their cavernous mouths. Even though lionfish are venomous, lionfish are not immune to being harassed or even eaten by other fish. Large eels, frogfish and other scorpion fish are all predators of lionfish in the wild. According to Michaels (1998), large angelfish, pufferfish, and triggerfish are also known to harass lionfish. Triggerfish are notorious for nipping off the dorsal spines before killing lionfish. However, I have found the planktonic feeding triggers (Blue cheek, Pink-tailed, Niger) to behave more predictable towards lionfish, and I would consider them compatible tankmates. Because of the small confines of many aquariums, lionfish have been known to impale tankmates with their venomous spines. Envenomation likely occurs for several reasons: the lionfish may be retaliating for a prior attack and intentionally impales the fish, or a tankmate accidentally swims into the venomous spines. When jabbed by a lionfish spine, the victim will usually develop a good size lesion at the point of impalement and the area will become inflamed, reddened, and necrotic. Other signs of the venom on impaled fish are increased breathing rates, distress, color loss and decreased swimming. In many instances, death will occur. According to Michaels (1998), most fish injected with a large dose of lionfish venom (more than what is injected with just one spine) will die with 30 minutes.
 
No problem. Just make sure you do your research on the fish that you choose for your tank. 40g is not nearly enough for a porcupine puffer. They look cute but can be aggressive, and if they're cramped in a tank you're gonna have these issues. Nobody wants dead fish (especially the fish). I think I've asked questions on this forum before I've bought everyone of my fish, and it's helped alot. There's alot of great advice on this site. Take advantage of it.

Here's an article to read (it also has links):

https://www.livingreefs.com/do-your-research-first-t26793.html
 
i went out for dinner and i came back and he was gone... this is the most heartbreaking loss in my fish tank thus far... definitely not something i want to go through again :(
 
Sounds horrible. I couldnt imagine that happenign to my fish :( I have a lionfish at the moment and have been wondering what tank mates to keep with him. More research is needed I guess! Sorry for your loss :(
 

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