Porcupine pufferfish care assistance needed

[tideburn]

I've had my porcupine pufferfish for two years now, his diet consists of squid, sprat, lancetfish, krill, brineshrimp and he's particularly fond of garden peas. I've got an Aqua One Reef 200, it's home to a Goby, a Foxface Rabbitfish and my puffer. Yesterday morning I found him stuck on the overflow, so I gently knocked him off, but he kept going back to it, doing the same thing. I ended up building up the rocks to block his access and that solved that problem, but then he spent the entire day bumping into the tank walls like he was disoriented, and he hasn't eaten since the night before. I've tried offering him oysters and fresh squid, but he's not interested. I did a 10-gallon water change, thinking it might be a water quality issue, but I've tested the water twice and everything looks fine. Now I'm wondering if maybe the Foxface is stressing him out, they've been tankmates for a year and always gotten along, but you never know. His beak looks okay, so I'm ruling out any beak issues. I'm getting really worried, I love him like family, it was love at first sight when I got him. Please, can someone help me out, I'm at a loss.

[brunobear]

I wish I could point you in the direction of someone who'd know exactly what to do, but sadly they're not around right now - fingers crossed someone on here can offer some guidance soon. I'm wondering, do you have a separate quarantine tank? Given your puffer's struggling to move and refusing food, it might be worth separating him from the other fish, just to rule out any potential issues with them, especially with the foxface, even though they've been fine together for a year.

[felinxo]

I wish I could point you in the direction of someone who'd know exactly what to do, but sadly they're not around right now - fingers crossed someone on here can offer some guidance soon. I'm wondering, do you have a separate quarantine tank? Given your puffer's struggling to move and refusing food, it might be worth separating him from the other fish, just to rule out any potential issues with them, especially with the foxface, even though they've been fine together for a year.

PM Andywg, sent you a PM too.

[fleeton]

I'm really not much help here, but I did think of a couple of possibilities - maybe an internal parasite or a swim bladder issue.

[zenoxa]

I've had puffers act strangely like this before, it's not uncommon for them to be a bit 'off' sometimes. They're intelligent, resilient fish, so a short fast won't do them any harm. I'd suggest giving him a few days to see if he snaps out of it - if not, then you might have a more serious issue on your hands. Without any physical symptoms, it's tough to pinpoint the problem.