# Heeelp Marine Puffer Ick



## m45t1n (Aug 1, 2007)

Heeelp ive got a stars and stripes dogface puffer and he seems to be breathing heavily, hides a lot and is covered in tiny white spots that i can only assume are marine ick also the glazing over his eyes has gone a dark blue to green and looks kinda cloudy/oily, does anyone know of a medication thats "puffer safe? :idea: as ive previously had troubles when adding commercial whitespot treatment to my old freshwater fugu ocelatious puffer tank, he didnt take it too well and soon died  

Many Thanx In Advance
Martin


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Welcome to Fishforum.com, Martin.:wave:

May I ask for more details of your tank? Tank size? Tankmates/occupants? Is this a reef tank?


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## m45t1n (Aug 1, 2007)

Hiya there its a 40" tank the only other occupants that are still alive are a humbug and a couple of other damsels and a mandarin, i lost 2 clowns to the disease along with a couple of damsels at the weekend, the tanks mostly live rock, and a few mushroom rocks, i did have a small rock with some polyps on it but the puffer soon ate that, oh ive got a few hermits (he doesnt seem to bother any of the tankmates ever). hope this helps also amonia =0.5ppt nitrite=5.0ppt nitrate=10ppt sg=1.024 and temp is 83.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Your tank seems cycling. Do partial water changes on daily basis until you get the ammonia and nitrites to zero. The ich will not appear unless the fish is stressed but it appears your fish have been stressed by the presence of ammonia and nitrites, both of which are quite toxic to the fish triggering the ich to be able to host on them.

How long have you had the mandarin dragonette? Is it doing well right now? Also, what do you feed your fish? Vary their diet so they can get different vitamins strengthening their immune system.

Several methods have been suggested in the removal of the ich but not all are safe enough for the inhabitants.
1. Copper-Not suggested as it can kill your invertebrates and traces are difficult to remove. A quarantine tank will be recommended if you intend to use copper in your battle against ich.
2. UV sterilizer
3. Hyposalinity-Quarantine tank is recommended. Please read this link for more details.

The last advice is not to use the meds despite being labelled 'Reef-safe'. I've seen people complaining how they managed to kill their invertebrates simply by dosing medicines. You have to be careful in treating your fish.


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