SteviesBirds
New Member
Hi all, first post here - 48h ago I picked up a one eyed Porc Puffer from a local LFS. He’s tiny, 1/2 inches, and has got some sections of his slime coat shedding. There’s no white spots, no visible parasites, no fuzz or anything at all that I can see other than him seemingly generating mucus from his skin, and it then sloughing off. He is resting a lot, but since he apparently lost the eye in the store right before I bought him, I am looking for advice on whether I should be trying to treat for possible ick/parasites/etc etc or whether this may be a stress response to the injury, new tank, etc. I am reticent to treat him with meds unless more experienced people advise this as he has no symptoms other than behavioural ones and the slime coat sloughing, so I don’t want to tip him over the edge if this is possibly a stress response already. But I also don’t want to leave him to succumb to something if it would be best to treat it. I am unsure what to do as I’ve never had a Porc before so am unfamiliar with the nuances of their healthy behaviour and reactions to things.
LFS said he had just injured the eye when I got him, the tissue was burst and still inside the socket. he was in a minuscule tank with a dwarf lion and a waspfish so no wonder. I was probably crazy to buy him, I assume he likely won’t survive, but I have kept many freshwater and brackish puffers so I figured I’d be a good person to give him a shot.
Yesterday he was at the top corner of the tank glass surfing for most of the day, and then bombed around when I fed some krill and shrimp. He ate a little. I noticed he was shedding a small patch of his slime coat (white snakeskin looking patch with no spots or fuzz) but assumed it was due to stress or rubbing on rocks as it was on the same side as his injured eye. This section of slime coat was later gone, and the cleaner shrimp in the tank was hovering around him with no aggression from the puffer (I assumed he may eat it but have heard they sometimes get along), so I assume the shrimp removed the affected tissue and resolved the situation.
This morning the puffer was hiding away in the rocks, breathing heavily, and he has significantly more slime coat shedding. He is also a little darker. The broken tissue of his eyeball is gone and there is no inflammation or infection. He came out for some food, ate a little, pooped, and then went back into the rocks where he was hiding. He was not heavy breathing while swimming around, but he is whilst at rest. Is this normal whilst they are sleeping?
He is currently QTing in a 30gal that I’ve been leaving to grow loads of macros and algae with a cleaner shrimp, some snails and some Kenya trees, thought it would be the best place for him as a QT to keep stress low rather than a bare tank. Parameters are good with 0 ammonia and nitrites. I don’t mind if he infects it with disease or parasites as I can leave it to fallow for as long as needed afterwards. I have a bare tank on standby if I need to treat him with anything that could kill off the inverts and macros in the 30gal. I may just be freaking out over a fish with a recent injury acting stressed right after a tank move which seems super obvious, but the situation seems fishy (pardon me) and I want to make sure I am making the right choices. Many thanks!
LFS said he had just injured the eye when I got him, the tissue was burst and still inside the socket. he was in a minuscule tank with a dwarf lion and a waspfish so no wonder. I was probably crazy to buy him, I assume he likely won’t survive, but I have kept many freshwater and brackish puffers so I figured I’d be a good person to give him a shot.
Yesterday he was at the top corner of the tank glass surfing for most of the day, and then bombed around when I fed some krill and shrimp. He ate a little. I noticed he was shedding a small patch of his slime coat (white snakeskin looking patch with no spots or fuzz) but assumed it was due to stress or rubbing on rocks as it was on the same side as his injured eye. This section of slime coat was later gone, and the cleaner shrimp in the tank was hovering around him with no aggression from the puffer (I assumed he may eat it but have heard they sometimes get along), so I assume the shrimp removed the affected tissue and resolved the situation.
This morning the puffer was hiding away in the rocks, breathing heavily, and he has significantly more slime coat shedding. He is also a little darker. The broken tissue of his eyeball is gone and there is no inflammation or infection. He came out for some food, ate a little, pooped, and then went back into the rocks where he was hiding. He was not heavy breathing while swimming around, but he is whilst at rest. Is this normal whilst they are sleeping?
He is currently QTing in a 30gal that I’ve been leaving to grow loads of macros and algae with a cleaner shrimp, some snails and some Kenya trees, thought it would be the best place for him as a QT to keep stress low rather than a bare tank. Parameters are good with 0 ammonia and nitrites. I don’t mind if he infects it with disease or parasites as I can leave it to fallow for as long as needed afterwards. I have a bare tank on standby if I need to treat him with anything that could kill off the inverts and macros in the 30gal. I may just be freaking out over a fish with a recent injury acting stressed right after a tank move which seems super obvious, but the situation seems fishy (pardon me) and I want to make sure I am making the right choices. Many thanks!
