New Puffer has micro bubbles all over belly.

LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
So yesterday's trip to the LFS resulted in a tiny Stars and Stripes Puffer joining our family. Someone ordered him and then decided he was too small. He would have spent a long time waiting for the right person. Huge fowlr tanks aren't the norm here. Our tank has some coral, but it is definitely all about the fish at our house. :)

Anyway he looks great and is eating like a little champ. He is sharing the QT with an Emperor Angel who seems happy to have a friend. Today he has tiny micro bubbles all over his belly. Doesn't seem bothered at this point but there are more now than there were this morning. What should I do?

The tank is a 20 long and has a few pieces of live rock that will be removed and acid washed for storage if treatment is needed. It has a hang on back filter with chemipure elite running. Temp is 77°.
Ammonia 0
Nitrates <10
Nitrite 0
pH 8.0
Specific Gravity 1.026 (via refractometer recently calibrated. )
Not sure of alk. I will test when baby naps.

Acclimated by drip for 30 min. Since specific gravity ans pH was the same.

Was running a small powerhead but it seemed too much for him so I removed it. Filter is providing a lot of flow and surface aggitation.

Sorry so long but wanted to share as much info as possible. Emperor Angel seems fine and no bubbles on him at all.

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LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
Pics.
Yesterday during acclimation
qyhate4a.jpg


Today.
mubutube.jpg

e8agy6ys.jpg


The pics make them look like white dots but they are plainly tiny clear bubbles. I was going to treat for ich, but I wanted to see what you guys thought first. I don't see ich but these bubbles make it hard to tell for sure.



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Last edited:
Newjack

Newjack

Member
ooooo... I know you said there not white but it sure does look like ich. Before you do anything I would take something like a paper towel and gently wipe his belly just once. If the bubbles pop or float up its micro bubbles and only thing I could think is there micro bubbles in the tank and it just sticking to him. If you can pop them or get them off I would say it looks awfully like ich. and would start treatment. Especially if its on the rim of his eye... Kind of a strange spot for a bubble to stick.

Please let us know what happens after you wiped him.
 
Newjack

Newjack

Member
ow and one more thing you could do is turn all the lights off and shine a flash light at him. If the bubbles reflect or is shiny its just bubbles.. If they don't its also more likely its ich. Ive read that ich is mostly white but not always.
 
LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
Ok. I will go wipe him with a qtip. he is really small, less than an inch for sure. I will take pics again after.
 
LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
Ok. They were definitely bubbles most floated off when i grabbed him. I see a few white spots too which is why I was going to start hypo, but I worried this was a sign of something else being wrong.
 
Newjack

Newjack

Member
he could just be a sticky fish and bubbles in the tank are sticking to him. I would get a second opinion first. Also its hard to tell but is the QT bare bottem? or does it have sand? He could have shifted some sand around and gotten bubbles on him.
 
LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
QT is barebottom but has a bit of white sand that came off the rocks. I was going to treat with hypo bc I have used it successfully in the past. I have heard a lot about tank transfer too, but I don't have a second set up.

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LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
He has a tiny nip out of his fin that looks on the mend I can see new clear fin there. I noticed it during acclimation.

The emperor has been in there for a few weeks. Long story short I have a big adult emperor in the display, my son saved his money and I told him he could get a sand sifting goby or a small blenny for the biocube. I wasn't feeling well and my husband took him to the store. The owner had ordered this "changing" emperor, but he wasn't changing enough for the buyer. He wasn't acclimated with the rest of the shipment bc buyer was supposed to pick him up so they sold it to my son for 40 bucks. Can't beat a 4 inch emperor for 40 bucks.... unless you already have one... lol. He seems happy to have some company. No aggression at all.



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Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
I would not wipe off the fish, you will take off precious mucus which protects the fish, particularly b/c this is a scaleless fish and w/o scales all it has to protect itself is the mucus. You mentioned in your post with the pic that what you see on the fish are bubbles, then I believe you, photographs manipulate what we see.

One reason why puffers are more resilient to ich is b/c of the thicker mucus layer, which they have b/c they are scaleless. I wouldn't wipe it off.

I wouldn't worry about the bubbles. If your tank is producing small bubbles then that fish will just accumulate more bubbles b/c of its shape, flatter belly. The bubbles aren't going to hurt the fish.

You also mention that you are going to treat for ich - if so I highly recommend you read up on treating puffers for ich b/c they are scaleless the chemicals will affect them differently then other fish.
 
Newjack

Newjack

Member
this is why I said gently wipe it.. Not accually clean it off just no more than if the fish brushed up against something.
 
LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
I didn't even have to wipe the bubbles just floated off as soon as I touched him. I was wearing nitrile gloves so I wouldn't hurt his slime layer. I read up on treating puffers for ich, that is why I was opting for hypo over a chemical treatment. I have used hypo in the past so I am familiar with it anyway.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
When a fish brushes against something it takes the mucus off - I wouldn't do it. It invites ich if ich is in the system. That thick mucus layer is an excellent protection for scaleless fish.

Gosh, that is one gorgeous fish!
 
LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
Thank you! I am lowering the salinity over the next several days. I might just go buy a second set up and do tank transfer method. I am nervous about it.

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S

Steve L

Member
Puffers are magnets for sand and crud. It seems like everything sticks to them. Don't worry about the bubbles, it's not like any ich I've seen. I also wouldn't drop the salinity. You might just stress him into a full blown ich attach. They're tough little fish and can handle a lot of abuse. Aclimate as you would any fish and he should do fine as long as he's not carrying any internal parasites that haven't shown up yet. If he is carrying something, there are treatments that work in well in quarantine which don't require salinity decreases or copper.
 
LSUFireGal

LSUFireGal

Member
Thanks. Yes during last night's water change I got all the sand out and haven't seen a spot since. I figured out where the bubbles are coming from. He likes swimming low and riding the return current up. Lol. I added the power head back and just aimed it in the corner so there are still areas of low flow.

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