Wounded puffer – HELP

Pterois

Pterois

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My favourite fish, my Exquisite Toby has developed a huge ulcerous wound on his side and I do not know what to do:

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I suspect that he hurt himself one night – he freaks out if the light go on or off suddenly at night – and I think this has become infected. Skin has sloughed off exposing tissue below. Also his whole side look swollen and grim. He is eating a bit which is a good sign.

What I have done is try to raise the tank temp a little. I have had it at around 21*C, so will bring this up a tad (to 24 or 25*C). Food is said to have garlic in it. Another option is to slowly lower the salinity. It is a fish only system with tough butterflies and a bean as tank mates. None of them show any signs of distress and all are tough buggers that should cope with changes to the water parameters. I am not in a position to quarantine him or move him to a separate system. If he get worse (my limit normally is if they stop eating) I will have to think about doing him in. Not a light decision as I am particularly fond of him… quite the sweetest, friendly little fish.
 
I initially thought it was a powerhead wound, but there is no chance of that. One hermit and a few small shrimps... so nothing obvious could have bitten him.

On the temp side, I have been keeping the tank at around 22 over winter. I have purposefully kept the temp low as the tank is fairly small and I do not want them growing too fast. All locally caught fish that can survive lower than 20*C. If you look at sea tmeps off Durban where many of these things have breeding populations, the temp in winter goes down below 20 in some cases. I saw a great article somewhere about keeping fish at a lower temp extends their life spans... lower metabolism mean they do not wear out so fast. The butterflies have definitley grown slower this year than last year when I had the temp up at about 27.
 
When I saw this thread title I had visions of someone doing mouth to mouth and just blowing the puffer back up like a ballon :D Other than that suggestions, sorry can't help, know even less about fish that I do about corals...
 
Rory said:
When I saw this thread title I had visions of someone doing mouth to mouth and just blowing the puffer back up like a ballon :D Other than that suggestions, sorry can't help, know even less about fish that I do about corals...
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With that big hole in his side you'll just get a sound that sounds like :razz: ...
 
I can't offer any help, just wanted to say that it is a stunning fish, is it a local species?
 
Pterois said:
On the temp side, I have been keeping the tank at around 22 over winter. I have purposefully kept the temp low as the tank is fairly small and I do not want them growing too fast. All locally caught fish that can survive lower than 20*C. If you look at sea tmeps off Durban where many of these things have breeding populations, the temp in winter goes down below 20 in some cases. I saw a great article somewhere about keeping fish at a lower temp extends their life spans... lower metabolism mean they do not wear out so fast. The butterflies have definitley grown slower this year than last year when I had the temp up at about 27.
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true i agree with you.the temp does drop to around 20 degrees.i noticed in all my FOWLR systems the fishes health was better at warmer temps(these are all local caught).well thats maybe because ive never dropped it below 24.
 
hi there, what you can try, i had a similiar expierence, try nutrafin aqua plus, its actualy water conditioner but also premotes healing. it worked for me. let me know what happend? all the best
 
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i was just tagging along on this thread as I am very interested in puffers (having one myself).how is he doing, and most importantly is he feeding? I batttled a little with mine to start but his favorite treat in the world is blood worm, so if all else is still failing try that, although that maybe just specific to my guy!

Just a random thought (thinking about snoek actually) often fish has protective layers and soft skin (snoek do, and i think puffer maybe similar). When they tried to catch snoek for two oceans they really battled with this as it ended up causing terrible holes in the skin.Try give the two oceans a call, they may have experience with how they overcame it (although i have a feeling the reason we dont see snoek in oceanariums is because they havent over come it)

Just may be a source of info for u
 
Pterois said:
Yes. I have seen a few down here in the Kariega. Here is a pic of him in better health:

img07142170510.jpg
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hey banded like a lion fish....i've always loved your photography and would love you to help in the "eye pic"thread i started yesterday, have a look under the photography section and please post any if you have:)
 
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