HELP!!!! Dwarf Puffer emergency?

I recently aquired 3 dwarf puffers. They are alone in a 15 gallon freshwater tank with lots of plants, à heater, and à filter. I am breeding snails for them and have fed the frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms. They have been happily exploring for the past 2 says theeveiling been with me and I have thoroughly enjoyed theur cute little faces. I tested the water à day before they arrived, and everyday since. The tank has been set up for about 3 months, and I have been cycling iT with à single male betta. I use the API Master Test Kit for freshwater, and the parameters are practically perfect. There has been no aggresion, and everyone is being fed a bloodworm via tweezers.

The one thing I am concerned about is this one fish. It was noticeably pale and has and had à black bump on its stomach upon arrival. I know that they change colors, and the paleness could be the result of shipment stress, but I am stumped by the bump on her stomach. She is à bit larger than the others, of that means anything.

 

these are very sensitive fish. I had one. 20 Gal. not cycle tank and lived for 5 months.
my girlfriend bought him for because she thought he was cute.

so I did my reserach and boy you got your work cut out for you.

atleast your tank is kinda cycle which I have read they need a REALLY cycle tank.


the grey is stress the body is loosing color due to it. he might not like his tank or mates
if the water is good then could be many other things

Brackish tank is my only solution in the long run but I'm a newbie only sharing my experience and what I read. Best of Luck

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm still researching about the black lump but I can't find anything.

 

mine had it. it got worse after he got ICK. poor guy went through so much stress cause I was just learning the cycle. I got the Ick to go away half dose for a few days.

I tried feeding him small brime shrimp and they would stress him out just looking at them. loves snails (very very small)

Melafix and Pimafix might help medicate if he gets worse.

 

Any idea on what it is though? I will run to the store tomorrow for Melafix and Pimafix.

 

Needed to add stuff

HI there, first off I'd like to say that I've never actually kept dwarf puffers before, so you can take my advice with a grain of salt if you choose.

That said, I did do some research into these little puffers a few months ago when I saw them at my LFS and thought they were cute.

Carinotetraodon travancoricus, also known as the dwarf or pea puffer, is a purely freshwater species of puffer hailing from the Pamba River and Vembanad Lake of India. Thus, if you put them in a brackish tank, they will die.

Since you mentioned that your water parameters are very good, my thought is internal and possibly external parasites. Although hobbyists have been able to successfully breed pea puffers in captivity, I believe that the majority of them are still wild-caught. Therefore, they are often infected with parasites, and when they're caught and shipped thousands of miles, the stress weakens their immune systems, sometimes allowing the parasites to gain the upper hand.

The pale skin, sunken belly, and stringy poop in the top right corner of the 2nd picture are all indicators of parasites to me. I'm not sure what the black spot is, but it may be a skin fluke. You can use Seachem Paraguard for external parasites.

As for the internal parasites, you may as well treat the whole tank anyways, 'cause your other puffers are probably also infested, even if they aren't showing symptoms. HikarI Prazipro is effective at dealing with both external and internal parasites.

Both medications can be found on Amazon for cheap and fast shipping, or in certain stores, especially good LFS's.

Good luck with your fish.

 

Thanks to everyone!!

 

LOL I think I had a GSP now that I look at it....sorry for bad advice newbie still learning how to walk and talk haha