porcupine puffer suffering from ich

[reeIzer]

Aloha,

I'm absolutely loving my new fish from Petco - he's settling in amazingly well here in Hawaii. He's eating like a champ, super alert, and really curious. I'm totally smitten.

However, things took a turn on Saturday night when I spotted tiny white specks all over him. At first, they were hard to notice, but now they're more obvious. I've received a ton of advice, ranging from "just make sure he's eating and add some stress coat" to more aggressive treatments like copper, formalin, or methylene blue (which I know he'll react badly to). Some people say hospital tank, others say no way. Then there's the fresh water dip debate - anywhere from 1 minute to 3 hours. And let's not forget the hyposaline dips at 1.009ppt.

It's all a bit overwhelming, and I just want to do what's best for this little guy. Yesterday, I added some stress coat to his tank, and today I did a 15-minute hyposaline dip. Five minutes later, he was swimming just fine.

My current water parameters are: pH 7.6, nitrite 0.125 (could be lower, I'm not entirely sure), nitrate 15ppm (or maybe as low as 10ppm), and ammonia 0.

What's my next move? I could really use some guidance here.

[seinecatch]

Aloha reeIzer,

In a mature tank, I'd expect ammonia and nitrite to be 0, did you cycle the tank beforehand? I'm guessing the journey might've been super stressful for your little guy, mail order can be tough on them. That stress alone could be causing the whitespot.

Got any tank mates for him?

[flame9x]

I think the best approach would be to just let him be for now. Keep providing him with high-quality food, enriched with vitamins - I personally recommend using selcon and garlic. When it comes to dealing with fish that come in with issues, I've found that a combination of good food and good water quality can really help them recover.

In my experience, flukes are a common issue with these fish, and we've had success using Prazipro to treat them. When I set up my fowlr, I'll actually be using prazi as a preventative measure.

Regarding your nitrite test, did you re-check the results? If I get a weird reading, I always retest to make sure I'm getting an accurate reading. If you're unsure about the color, it might be helpful to have someone else take a look and give their opinion.

[felinxo]

A quick update - my little guy seems to be doing alright, still eating well and active.

[reeIzer]

Hi Seffie, thanks for checking in. I appreciate your concern. He's still doing okay, but his appetite has taken a bit of a hit. He's being a bit finicky with food - snubbing one type of shrimp, then eating the other when I offer it. Those white spots have grown in size, but after two consecutive days of 12-15 minute hypo dips, they've reduced in size. I'm not sure if they'll just shrink away or what. The dips didn't seem to stress him out too much, but catching him was a different story - that definitely added a lot of stress. Now he's super aware and will dash to the back of the tank the moment I approach, even during feeding. That's why I've backed off a bit. Maintaining his eating habits is crucial right now, so I'm being careful. Any advice would be great, thanks.

[felinxo]

I'd give him some space for now - is he solo in the tank?

I'm a bit surprised by the nitrite reading, how long since you cycled the tank? You've got live rock for filtration, right?

What's your phosphate level looking like? And what's your specific gravity?

Did you try tempting him with some prawn on a stick? How long did you acclimate him for?