Porcupine puffer FOWLER tank but everything else dies

[Tabitha20634]

I have a relatively young puffer, which we have had for a few weeks. He is about 2.5 inches, maybe. I keep trying to get him some tank mates, and every single one of them has died First, I tried three pretty electric blue damsels, and they all died a day apart, starting the day after they were introduced. This past week, we had a dwarf lionfish last about 3 days and found him dead this morning . I'm waiting on a new, much bigger tank ( 180 gal, delivering sometime next week), but there is plenty of room for his current size. The parameters are perfect when I test. Any idea why? He is a weirdly picky eater for a puffer. He loves mysis but hates krill and garlic. I keep trying to give him clams, but he seems too small to really get at them yet. That likely doesn't correlate to the other deaths, but I wanted to provide as much info as possible as I am newer to the hobby, and this is my first puffer. He seems great, growing normally, and seems happy in the tank and the current set up

 

[sc50964]

Did they have bite marks? Did you see him going after them? If not, how did you acclimate the fish and did you see them eat at the store?

 

[Tabitha20634]

they were from WWC so pretty sure it wasnt a stock issue. no bullying going on they didn't really interact at all. I acclimated the way we always do my partner has a coral and fish tank and we have never had any issue. He seemed healthy for the first day and a half but seemed to hug the rocks a lot then just died just like the damsels although they went quicker

 

[Tabitha20634]

they were from WWC so pretty sure it wasnt a stock issue. no bullying going on they didn't really interact at all. I acclimated the way we always do my partner has a coral and fish tank and we have never had any issue. He seemed healthy for the first day and a half but seemed to hug the rocks a lot then just died just like the damsels although they went quicker

sorry forgot to add i saw him eat several times after acclimation

 

[sc50964]

how big is your tank? Even if it’s small like a 40G, they shouldn’t have died so quickly if there isn’t a stock issue (I.e., illness) & bullying.

Sometimes, even the best store misses on fish illness. Lionfish is a sensitive specie so the acclimation process is important, so what’s your acclimation process of these shipped fish?

 

[Tabitha20634]

They arent shipped I live in central FL so it came directly from their orlando location. we drove home directly after purchase its about a 30 mins drive never had issues before we place the bag in the tank. I squirt some of the tank water in and wait a bit then release. Again he was healthy and ate after that but 1.5 days in he started hugging the rocks and then i woke up to him dead

 

[Tabitha20634]

it was the same with the damsels there was the normal pecking order that went on amongst them and when the first one died i just attributed it to that since it was the smaller of the three but then the other two died each a day apart so I'm perplexed at what it can be since its been two different species and no water parameter or behavior issues

 

[Tabitha20634]

i had three damsels introduced before the lion fish none were alive when I introduced him

 

[Naekuh]

hows the puffer doing?

Makes no sense how a damsel died yet the puffer is chilling.
Damsels are typically the last fish to die, unless they get killed off.

 

[Tabitha20634]

hows the puffer doing?

Makes no sense how a damsel died yet the puffer is chilling.
Damsels are typically the last fish to die, unless they get killed off.

He is doing great he has even grown a bit. I agree it is very perplexing. I am not gonna add anymore until my new tank comes in he is currently in our quarantine tank as my boyfriend's tank is coral its small but not for his current size.

 

[Naekuh]

did you check your rockwork for possibly a mantis shrimp?
Or they dying pretty clean?

 

[Tabitha20634]

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by clean. If you mean with no marks, then yes. The damsels did show signs of stress before dying by losing their color, but no bite marks or signs of attacks or bacteria since it likely would have shown up on the puffer first. I know they are super susceptible to disease. Rock is relatively new. I made the sculpture with leftover live rock from my boyfriend's tank, but I don't think any of the pieces were in his tank, and if they were, I did clean them before (rinse)

 

[Malum Argenteum]

The parameters are perfect when I test.

Could you post numbers?

I squirt some of the tank water in and wait a bit then release.

That's not much of an acclimation. What's the temp and salinity/SG differences between the bag and the tank?

Posting a full tank shot might give some clues.

 

[Tabitha20634]

The day I added the parameters, they were as follows: I tried to make them ideal for the puffer. Ammonia was 0ppm, pH was 7.8, nitrate was 20ppm, and salt was 25, which, unless the site I was following was incorrect, was the midline salinity range for a puffer.

 

[Tabitha20634]

The day I added the parameters, they were as follows: I tried to make them ideal for the puffer. Ammonia was 0ppm, pH was 7.8, nitrate was 20ppm, and salt was 25, which, unless the site I was following was incorrect, was the midline salinity range for a puffer.

I didnt do a test on the water he was in. I didn't know that was a part of the process I am still very new to the hobby and still processing hours of you tube knowledge lol

 

[slingfox]

Please post a full photo of your tank as well as the key parameter readings from your test kit. The more info you provide the more likely you can get help.

 

[Tabitha20634]

He hangs out mostly under that ledge where I circled. Again I know the tank is small (30gal) but he is only 2.5 inches and moving to a new tank next week and the lion was even smaller since it was a dwarf maybe 1.5

 

[Devaji]

I got a pretty good idea whats going on here...

sorry to say this but looks the puffy is so ugly that it's scaring the life out of all other fish you add.
haha j/k hope you get it figured out. it's never fun to lose fish.

 

[Tabitha20634]

I got a pretty good idea whats going on here...

sorry to say this but looks the puffy is so ugly that it's scaring the life out of all other fish you add.
haha j/k hope you get it figured out. it's never fun to lose fish.

lol yeah I dont wanna keep killing them not just because of the price also he is adorable with his cute little smile face lol its why I spontaneously joined my BF in this expensive space consuming hobby lol

 

[Naekuh]

Did the damsels all show the same lesions when they died?
Possibly Uronema? That could explain how your damsels got wiped out.

They usually die with mouth open and red marks like this:

I can see that wiping out your damsels... But you did say they were dead in perfect condition.

The Lionfish is another mystery tho.
Unless the Porq Puffer went Disneyland on its fins, did the lion die in perfect condition?


What is really stumping me is that the puffer is doing great, the other fish are dying.
Which means either the puffer is killing it, or there is a disease in your tank that the puffer is immune to, but is wiping out the other fish.