Lorelei
New Member
(I don't know if this is the right place to post this. Please bear with me.)
I've had my porcupine puffer for almost a year and he's been healthy and happy until now.
I recently have a power outage and when the power came back on, the filter in my tank did not. I didn't notice until I saw my other fish gasping at the top. I immediately got the filter going again and put an extra bubbler in there to get the water oxygenated again. Well, all my fish went back to normal fairly quickly, but my puffer stayed at the bottom breathing heavily for for two days. He wouldn't eat and he was lethargic. His fins turned yellow for a little while too and his pupils were shaped funny (like ovals instead of circles).
Now, he's a little better; he swims around a little, his fins are whitish again, as his pupils are circles, and he's no longer breathing heavy, but it's clear that either he can't see at all, or he can see very little. His eyes move like he's looking around and he seems to move away from the shadow of my hand, but he bumps into things sometimes and he no longer looks at me through the glass like he used to. It's been about 4 days since I turned the filter back on.
I've fed the other fish brine shrimp and I know he can smell it and that he's hungry because he gets very excited when I put it in, but I don't know how to get him to eat. I usually feed him bits of squid, but he won't take it. I tried putting it by his mouth, but he doesn't know it's food. I've even corralled him toward the top of the tank and tried to get him to take it where he couldn't swim away from it, but it doesn't work. He'll bite it a little, but he won't actually eat it.
Is there any suggestions anyone can give me? Any other food or methods I can try? I'm getting desperate. I love that little guy. I'd be heartbroken if he starved to death.
Has anyone else had this happen? Did the puffer get better? Did it die? I've seen similar cases on the internet, but none of them ever explain past the point of their puffers starting to swim around again.
I'm so worried. Please help?
I've had my porcupine puffer for almost a year and he's been healthy and happy until now.
I recently have a power outage and when the power came back on, the filter in my tank did not. I didn't notice until I saw my other fish gasping at the top. I immediately got the filter going again and put an extra bubbler in there to get the water oxygenated again. Well, all my fish went back to normal fairly quickly, but my puffer stayed at the bottom breathing heavily for for two days. He wouldn't eat and he was lethargic. His fins turned yellow for a little while too and his pupils were shaped funny (like ovals instead of circles).
Now, he's a little better; he swims around a little, his fins are whitish again, as his pupils are circles, and he's no longer breathing heavy, but it's clear that either he can't see at all, or he can see very little. His eyes move like he's looking around and he seems to move away from the shadow of my hand, but he bumps into things sometimes and he no longer looks at me through the glass like he used to. It's been about 4 days since I turned the filter back on.
I've fed the other fish brine shrimp and I know he can smell it and that he's hungry because he gets very excited when I put it in, but I don't know how to get him to eat. I usually feed him bits of squid, but he won't take it. I tried putting it by his mouth, but he doesn't know it's food. I've even corralled him toward the top of the tank and tried to get him to take it where he couldn't swim away from it, but it doesn't work. He'll bite it a little, but he won't actually eat it.
Is there any suggestions anyone can give me? Any other food or methods I can try? I'm getting desperate. I love that little guy. I'd be heartbroken if he starved to death.
Has anyone else had this happen? Did the puffer get better? Did it die? I've seen similar cases on the internet, but none of them ever explain past the point of their puffers starting to swim around again.
I'm so worried. Please help?
