Puffer Sick?

[dankolle]

Hey guys, My puffer seems like he isn't doing so well. I thought he bumped his head when I was trying to fish out a very aggressive coral beauty from the tank about two weeks ago. He had a white spot on his heat that is now gone. However, he now has a white line on the top of his body and a large black stop with a few more white blobs on it. That's not normal, should I give him a fresh water dunk? (He had ick and that cured it after a few dunks...

• Black blob on his left side
• White line on top of body
• White blob on right most side of black blob

Best picture I could get - You can at least see the discoloration, there isn't much more than that:

 

[tlsims]

first my spelling sucks so hopfully if i spell some of this stuff wrong someone can come behind me and fix it.

I cannot tell by the pictures but it sounds like you got more than one thing going on. the brown spots could be stings from a coral or anenome, or it could be a secondary infection to the ich.

next and possibly another secondary infection type deal is HLLE - head and laterial line erosion- it is seen a lot in tangs.

and last- if the white blotches look like cotton it could be lymphosyotis- it is a fungus and usually resloves itself unless it get into the gills, mouth or eyes.

like i said i think you have more than one thing going on.
you might do some research on cures etc for all the above... the only advice i can really give is ,
to put fresh garlic not bottled but actual fesh garlic from the store, chop it up/ mince it and mix with food it has something in that helps fight infection and also will make your fish eat, the reason you want fresh is the active ingeredient were looking for (cant remember the name) is very short lived once the clove is cut open.

of course do water changes cause i cant remember if box fish let of toxins when stressed or in danger, but if so he could be poisioning himself.

the jury is still out and debate is still on, but i have a ultra violet sterilizer on my tank and knock on wood i have not had any real problems with ich etc. the only thing i have had is lymphocyctis on my cow fish and it resolved in a couple days.

i hope this helps a little,
tracey

 

[dankolle]

Thanks for the reply!

It's more like a large black blob with some white lines. I have had a tang die of HLLE about a year ago, and the flesh isn't really rotting away. I tried to get a new picture of it...but I couldnt. So I took this video. Towards the end you get a really good look at it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTBdleDUF-Y]YouTube - 0401001500.3g2[/ame]

If it is a sting, I have an anemone and a stingray in the tank...maybe he messed with the stingray?

As far as energy, he will lay down on the bottom as if dead, then he will zoom back up and swim all around (as you can see in video). He is eating his normal puffer amounts (basically trying to eat everything I feed the whole tank, and then some)

 

[VAreef]

That looks like a pretty healthy fish. I see a semi dark spot in the video but thats it. He looks active, you say he is eating normally. Maybe he just got stung or hit and thats it.

 

[tlsims]

+1 VAreef
I've tried to find something to match the description and video but cannot find anything, i think he was possibly stung by something also. i am not sure if this would help but maybe put some stress coat in the tank to help heal and sooth the stings (if that is what it is) but make sure other fish could handle that, oh and watch you skimmer stress coat makes mine go whako and foam over.

let me know how he is doing.

 

[dankolle]

Thanks for the advice! He is still alive and eating as a puffer does this morning! The black is slowly fading away, but it's definately still there. My LFS is closed until tomorrow so I'll see about getting some stress coat.