911- inverted puffer!!!!!!!

Question
i have a 55 gallon with a silver cat, pleco, tiger barbs, a loach, and a spotted puffer. it's been set up since jan.(about 2 mos.). the puffer had a great appetite, and we tried some ghost shrimp for him, since i guess they're supposed to like shellfish. that was about 8-10 days ago. he has just been acting funny since then- no appetite, no interest in anything, almost like he's blind or depressed. now he's trying really hard to swim, but he's inverted.he doesn't seem to be able to move his body.???????

Answer
Hi Chrissy;

Poor guy. It sounds like either his swim bladder has failed or he is just too sick and weak to move. It would be best to put him in a separate tank and keep him as calm and safe as possible. Use 75% water from the main tank and 25% conditioned tap water to fill the isolation tank.

Sorry to have to bring it up but a sick puffer should not be kept with other fish. This is important because if the poor little guy doesn't make it, or he gets picked on or eaten by the other fish, puffers' internal organs are toxic and could kill the other fish.

If swim bladder is suspected I usually recommend changing the diet to include vegetables such as peas and romaine lettuce and it usually clears up. This is because constipation is a common cause of swim bladder issues. But, he seems more sick than that. Since he isn't eating and is depressed, I suspect internal infection of some kind. They can develop bacterial, viral or parasitic infections inside the body. I would start by using a fish antibiotic called "Maracyn 2". Viral infections are untreatable and internal parasites are very tricky to diagnose and dangerous to treat so antibiotics are really the only thing we can try.

Keep in mind that your puffer is really not compatible with the fish you have so you may want to keep him in his own tank even when he does recover. When puffers are healthy, they are serious fin nippers and can outright kill other fish very quickly with their sharp teeth. They can grow pretty large too. Some require salt in their water too. There is more than one type of spotted puffer and they have slightly different requirements too. Here is an excellent web site about puffers to tell you more;

http://puffernet.tripod.com

Another problem your fish have faced in the past few weeks that may have seriously weakened them is "New Tank Syndrome". Puffers especially don't handle it well. They can be very sensitive so the problem may have started there. Fish waste toxins rise as the tank breaks in and it can have long-term effects if they are high enough. Here is a link to my own web page about it;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Hoping for the best for your little guy...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins