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r/Aquariums•
questionablemoose

Possible Fungal Infection Questions, First Time Fish Owner (GSP's)

I'll be completely honest, and some of this will make some people cringe, but I need the advice.

My girlfriend and I picked up three juvenile Green Spotted Puffers a little while ago. We just transferred them to brackish water, salinity was 1.004 at the last test. The pet store sold them as fresh water fish, something I'm coming to understand is pretty common.

One of the fish looked like he had a little bit of torn flesh, but now it looks more like a fungal infection than anything else. It's not slimy. White growths all over the poor fish.

This is the best picture we were able to get. It looks slimy in the picture, but it resembles your common green kitchen mold more than anything else, except it's white.

Here's a picture of the infection.

Based on the way it looks and what we've been able to read so far, we've begun treatment with Pimafix and Melafix.

I'm brand new at this, I'm sure I'm doing something wrong or there's something I can do that I'm not. I'm pretty sure the fish is going to die. He's swimming around right now, obviously can't see too well, and is obviously weaker than the others.

Any advice is appreciated.

Posted Jan 25, 2012, 4:46 AM UTC

223
Krishnath_Dragon•

Keep going with the medication. You should also increase the temperature by a couple of degrees for the duration of the treatment, as it will help combat the disease.

3
questionablemooseOP•

Thanks for the reply.

It's three days in. We should have recognized it sooner, but we're brand new to aquarium life. He's corkscrewing now. I've isolated him and I'm treating both tanks, but I think he'll be dead by morning.

Edit:

We've increased the temperature to 80 degrees. I've noticed a lot of varying recommendations regarding temperature.

1
Krishnath_Dragon•

Generally speaking, higher temperatures help the fish fight of the disease easier.

I hope your puffer pulls through. :)

1
questionablemooseOP•

Thanks! We're running about 80 degrees right now. Different recommendations on temperature put it right about there. :\

2
Krishnath_Dragon•

Good. I hope the fish recovers. :)

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_The_Editor_•

GSPs are a fickle fish... Taking them on as a first time venture is either very brave or very ill-informed!

They're spawned in fresh/brackish water, up river and travel down through the estuaries and to the sea as they mature.. The very young can be kept as freshies, but like you say they quickly require brackish, then as the reach adulthood they'll happily swim out in the sea.

You see people keeping Young GSPs, and adjusting their tanks accordingly.. IE start them in a jungle/amazon type biotope. Then change it to mangroves as it becomes more and more brackish. Then eventually once it's mature, a GSP can live in a full blown reef tank.

1
ogSPLICE•

Looks like Cotton Wool Fungus..up the temp.

I used this stuff to treat my oscar when he had a small instance of it on his fins. Cleared up in a few days. Best of luck

1
questionablemooseOP•

Unfortunately, the poor guy is dead. He started corkscrewing a few hours after I posted. We caught it way too late, I think. We're keeping an eye on the others and continuing to treat the tank.

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ogSPLICE•

By the picture, Im going to agree with you that it got too far out of hand to do anything. He appears to be almost 50% covered. I wish I knew what brought it about. Everything always leads to a dirty tank

My 2 tanks, before I upgraded, never had issues. Now that I upgraded them and their filtrations to something BETTER, and havent changed any ways that i handled them or maintained them, other then upping the procedure for a larger tank , Im running into all sorts of bacterias and diseases myself. It can get very frustrating.

1
questionablemooseOP•

In this case, I'm certain he had it at the pet store and the stress did his immune system in.

Good luck with your tank. We just moved the remaining puffers into a 50 gallon tank. Things seem ok so far. Regular testing and whatnot.

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FuckinWalkinParadox•

how large is your tank. three puffers need 30-40 gallons.

0
_The_Editor_•

Three GSPs need more than that.. By a long way.. >100g for 3

In 30-40g they'll fight to the death. You'll end up with only one left, likely battered from fighting!

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FuckinWalkinParadox•

i've heard that 10 gallons of well-planted tank per puffer is sufficient. they're so little.

0
_The_Editor_•

You may be thinking of the Figure 8 Puffer, even then I'd say minimum 15g.

GSPs require 30g min for one alone, if you add more you need about 40g per fish since they're so territorial.

1
questionablemooseOP•

50 gallon, two puffers. Third one died, unfortunately.

Everything I've read gives me the impression it's 30 gallons per puffer. Are you figuring volume for juvenile puffers?

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FuckinWalkinParadox•

nope. dwarf puffers, though, but i was under the assumption that's what you meant.

yeah, GSP is a dwarf puffer. and i have no experience with dwarf puffers, just going by what i've heard from people who do.

0
questionablemooseOP•

How are dwarf puffers classified? I haven't looked into this yet. GSP's run up to six inches, so I hear. These guys are maybe an inch, inch and a half right now.

1
_The_Editor_•

Dwarf puffers are a completely separate species, more specifically Carinotetraodon travancoricus.

Green spotted puffers are a big species that require some looking after. 50g is ok for now, but I'd seriously consider upgrading your tank to at least 80g as they mature.

This is a good source of GSP specific advice and guidance.

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_The_Editor_•

The GSP is not a dwarf puffer... GSPs are huge...

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FuckinWalkinParadox•

alright, no need for downvotes, the magic art of google has failed me. my apologies.

2