puffer not him self

[EXVISOR]

Hi all, I'm getting ready to head to work were our surver is down so I have know way of coming on this site but is you can email me with any thoghts that would be great, (RROSS@USWARRANTY.COM)
My puffer was raised on freeze dried krill, I got him to start eating frozen krill about four months ago, for the past fw days you can tell he wasnt realy wanting to eat it, yes he would take it and chew on it but most of it would wind up in the tank floating, today he would not even come to it, turned his head like he was insulted ,I broke out what I had left of the freezed dried which was not much, some small pieces
He at least came to it but again when he took it and chewd on it he got some but most afloat in the water after he chewed on it
Not his normal self, any idea what could be going on?
Again I have no surver at my work , not sure when it will be working but if you can email me with your thoughts that would be great
email is RROSS@USWARRANTY.COM
Thanks` all

[EXVISOR]

come on all, need some help, i'm home now, puffer now wont eat anything, comes to it but then swims away like the food i'm giving him is not good enough, they guy at the store syas its normal for puffers to fast every so often but I find that odd, in the four monthsi've had him he eats about twenty krill a day ,seems to me when a fish is not him self then something is wrong

[fish-brother]

try enticing him with live food

[EXVISOR]

Tried that, he never would eat live food, have smaler fish in there now he can eat but does not care about them, he was tank raised ,wont harm another fish

[Doctor_Reef]

Is there any thing that would make you think that he is sick??? Any external marks, bumps, odd color??? He may be just fasting...I have had lion fish, and eels do that for several days at a time...Can't say I have had a puffer do that but have heard from those who keep them that they do!!! ????

[EXVISOR]

all looks good other then not eating, just seems weird because this fish expected to be feed at exactly 7 am in the morning and if you ran late or overslept boy did he let you know by splashing and making all kinds of noise to get your attention, for four months straight he ate 10 krill in he am and 10 at night and still always acted like he was still hungry

[Doctor_Reef]

Have you added any new fish in the past month??? Done a water change in the past couple days??

[EXVISOR]

did a waterchange sunday, I do one every week, I only change about 8 gallons a week, use ro water that I make my self and mix with salt, use reef crystals, been using for about a year now, switched from instant ocean because I was doing corals at one time which I dont do now but the salt worked so good I continued to use

[Doctor_Reef]

Any chance that you got something in the water from the wash room or some other place??? I would think that your other fish would show signs of water problems or accidental poison...I guess what I am saying if you have done the check list and it sounds like you have...then don't sweet it...He just isn't hungry for some reason...If he does this for a few more days then I would be getting somewhat worried about that...If I remember right he did this once before??? I think I remember you saying he wasn't acting himself a few months ago and not eating right???

[EXVISOR]

No first time, other then that he's always ate at the same time never missing a beat ,I just noticed tonight a few minutes ago I stuck my hand in the water to see if I could get him to eat and it was like he got upset that I was near him, never seen him act like that before

[EXVISOR]

alays wash up first just to be safe

[Doctor_Reef]

How is he doing today???

[Condiman]

Any luck yet.

[EXVISOR]

No luck at all ,today he ame to me all excited waging his tale , came to my hand took one look or snife of the krill and turned his head u and went away ,after that its almost like he's mad at me, why I dont know ,can he be tired of krill, does that happen, what else to give him, tried siver sides-krill-snale-shrimp-live food
Im confused, one guy told me at the store that puffers some times act up like that, another guy I know at another store say not a pufer that big, when a puffer that big just stops eating then something caused them to shut down and if that happens then they will not eat again and then death, I dont even want to think about that, I love that fish
If that fish dies then I will not keep my tank ,cant do it
Today I bought squid, they guy at the store says not fish / puffer will ignore this, guess what, my fish did, does not want anything to do with it
I dont know hwat to do, everything was going so well ,he was so happy ,we enjoyed each others company, if he dies then I dont want a fish tank anymore

[EXVISOR]

That fish has been my world, he's like my little buddy, not really little but compared to a person
Dont understand

[Doctor_Reef]

Wow...Does he act ok other than the eating thing???? I have lost some really good pets, dogs, birds, cats, horses, and losing a pet is not fun...I really hope that you don't lose this pet...But if you have done every thing right for this pet and kept the water quality and food right then you have given him a great home and also had a wonderful time with keeping it...I know that puffers are great pets and they are all very much like your puffer...they act like dogs... There has to be another puffer that will be ready for a good home with a friend like you that gets attached and cares the way you do for his welfare... Again don't get me wrong...I hope that he snaps out of it and just has a belly ach or something like that....and starts eating and begins to act normal again….We are all pulling for him….hang in there…!!!!

[EXVISOR]

Thanks
Im trying not to think about it at work buts its hard not to being I start my day off feeding them and he wont eat, today samething
Its weird because its like he's swimming around and looking for something o eat but nothing seems to get his attention for food
I know know what im going to do, I don't know that I would even want to replace him, cant even think about that right now
just hoping that come monday I can right you all back saying everything is great and he's back to normal but all I can do is hope

[Doctor_Reef]

We are all hoping he snaps out of it...boy was sure hoping that by today he would be eating again.... :(

Do you think he could have gotten a hold of something that got stuck in his throat??? Just wondering!!!

[EXVISOR]

Well still not eating, I was thinking mayme he ate a piece of rock, tends to be biting on it all the time, he does not appear to be choking or gasping but he has not et out any waste either
I know this because when he goes its like a horse went, I have to clean the tank everyday when I come home, have not had to do so this week
I hate to say this but if he does not eat by minday tuesday I think its over for him at that time, kills me to know this but there does not seem to be much I can do
Wish he was able to talk or somehow tell me whats wrong, at least I might be able to make it better or help, I know that sounds stupid but I just wish I could do something, ifI only knew what was wrong
He looks normal, no signsof anything going on, stll swimming around and doing the normal things, just not eating

[Doctor_Reef]

Hmmmmmmm...that really bites!!!! :(

[EXVISOR]

Well hate to be negative but today is day four, still has not eaten ,when I use to go to the tank he would come rushing over wagging his tail, now when I come over to the tank he runs away from me, dont understand, almost sems like he wants nothing to do with me, never sen this kind of reaction from a fish before, well not one that i've had a long time that was use to me ,this fish is acting like a fish in the store that was just captrd and brought in , I dont get it

[EXVISOR]

What i think about hte most is his personality, had one like no other fish
out of all the years I had fish this was the first that got my rotts attention
My dog would go to the tank and put her face up to it, the puffer would come right down to her and the would both wag there tails and play, of all things a dog and a fish
It kills me to know I will never be able to replace that fish, like I said he was more then a fish, he was my friend and thers nothing I can do except sit here and watch him die

[EXVISOR]

I just noticed something and I dont know if this means anything but he use to be a light brown kind of a beige color with white spots the size of a dime ,now his spots look like little white lines almost like sprinkles on an ice cream cone, does that mean anything?

[Doctor_Reef]

Man again I am sorry...may be these people can help with this problem...

http://www.thepufferforum.net/

Lots of puffer keepers....may be they have had this problem....

[EXVISOR]

Thanks, i'll give it a shot at that site

[ccampbell57]

I have a porcupine puffer that is the same way. He is like a little dog. I feed him out of my hands and he always munches all the krill that i feed him.

A few months back, he went through a situation identical to the one that you are explaining. He did not eat for over a week. He would just get the krill in his mouth and spit it back out.

Turns out that one of my water changes and the use of Melafix caused him to tweak. I thought that I was going to lose him too, but after i skimmed out all the meds, he was back to normal.

He is like my coral. With time, they will come back around if everything else is normal.

Good luck,
C

[evo8hks]

is he eating yet?