Cozy Cuttle Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 My baby Schoutendeni Munchkin, is swelling oddly it seems. I've included pictures from today, one a week or two ago, and the day I got her. I noticed a few days ago she looked odd and put the trio in the water, but today I woke up and she still looks sick and the water is super cloudy. I haven't tried feeding her yet today but yesterday she wouldn't eat, there are plenty of snails in her tank though. She's in a 29 gallon and her tankmates were two African butterfly fish, a blue panaque pleco l239, and an Amano shrimp, though I moved one of the butterfly fish out since he was pretty big and I thought he might've been stressing her out a few days ago when I did the meds. I have the trio, Prazipro, Kanaplex, Furan-2, and salt on hand, with just the trio in the water right now. Can anybody give me some advice an how to help her? Is this normal? She's pretty small, like 1.25 inches total in length, and my last puffer was full grown when I got him, so is this just a weird growing stage? I'm starting to get really concerned, and I'd really appreciate any help or insight! Water Parameters: pH - 6.4 Nitrates - 10 Hardness - 300 Nitrite - 0 Ammonia - 0 KH/Buffer - 40 Water Temperature - 77 Fahrenheit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 4, 2021 Share Posted September 4, 2021 It could be suffing from constipation have you seen him pass anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozy Cuttle Posted September 4, 2021 Author Share Posted September 4, 2021 I don't think I have since this started, what could I do to help her if it's constipation? And would that cause the swelling in her face too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 (edited) With the head swelling as well it's possible it a bacterial infection causeing the swelling what I would do is fast a for a couple of days and treat with kanaplex as your puffers not eating kanaplex is good choice of antibiotic as it's absorb thought the skin after a couple of days try offering some blood worms soaked in garlic guard to help stimulate her appetite Edited September 5, 2021 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozy Cuttle Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 Okay, I'll get her moved to quarantine with just kanaplex asap. Any idea why the erythromycin from the trio meds isn't helping her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 On 9/4/2021 at 6:58 PM, Cozy Cuttle said: Okay, I'll get her moved to quarantine with just kanaplex asap. Any idea why the erythromycin from the trio meds isn't helping her? Might not be a bacterial infection, or you need a stronger antibiotic like Kanaplex. Also, with any antibiotic in the water column, test ammonia every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Erythromycin treats gram positive bacterial while kanaplex treats gram negative and some gram positive bacterial kanaplex is a more broad spectrum antibiotic there's always a possibility something else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozy Cuttle Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 Okay gotcha, thank you so much! I'll update if something changes, fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Stupid question, but could she be practicing her puffing? In any case it might be worth asking on the pufferfish enthusiast Facebook group. They can be a bit sanctimonious but might have some good advice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Is he feeling threatened? His decrease in coloring and puffing may be a sign of stress. Are any of the fish in the tank aggressive, day or night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozy Cuttle Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 On 9/4/2021 at 9:54 PM, Patrick_G said: Stupid question, but could she be practicing her puffing? In any case it might be worth asking on the pufferfish enthusiast Facebook group. They can be a bit sanctimonious but might have some good advice. Would she be able to practice for days like this though? I thought when they did a practice puff it was a quick all in puff, not like half puffed for a long time? I'll try to post this in there too now, thank you for the tip! On 9/4/2021 at 11:15 PM, eatyourpeas said: Is he feeling threatened? His decrease in coloring and puffing may be a sign of stress. Are any of the fish in the tank aggressive, day or night? The only tankmate that seemed problematic I had already moved. She got along with just the one smaller butterfly fish pretty well while they were in my 10 gallon for quarantine. A few weeks ago when I put them both in my 29 gallon with the bigger butterfly fish I noticed the two of them bicker, but she didn't seem to care. I took the bigger one out a few days ago incase she was afraid of it, but she hadn't improved. Now she's all alone with some shrimp so there shouldn't be any aggression towards her if it was happening before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Mmmm, I wonder if the meds are contributing to her state. Puffers are very sensitive to medication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozy Cuttle Posted September 5, 2021 Author Share Posted September 5, 2021 I'd be nervous to move her again so soon, but maybe after the kanaplex I can try just plain tank water again? Since that's what she was in when this all started though I'm not sure. I wish I'd written down the date when I first noticed there was something wrong, this is so stressful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 It might be time to look for an exotics vet. I’m so sorry she’s sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cozy Cuttle Posted September 8, 2021 Author Share Posted September 8, 2021 Just saying thank you for all your help everyone. I really appreciate all the guidance you gave me, and I will try to apply what I learned going forward. I wound up taking her to a vet on Sunday but she passed about an hour after we got home... 😭 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted September 8, 2021 Share Posted September 8, 2021 I’m so sorry. I was hoping she would pull through. I think you did your best and gave her top level care. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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