Rescue Operation II - More Poor Little Puffers

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SirMinion

Sexy Martha Fahaka
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Today LadyMinion and I took a trip to Colchester again to get worms for Boris and our usual weeky stock of live foods for everyone else from Swallow Aquatics.

Against our better judgement we also popped into another store nearby as we needed vitamin dusting powder for Boris's waxworms & earthworms and Swallow's didn't have any.

This is the same infamous shop that Cookie came from. A shop that we swore we'd never buy fish from again but as we were there we had a look at the fish anyway.

And there, in the same freshwater tank we found Cookie & Martha in all those months ago were two sad little figure eight puffers.
Cloudy, infected eyes, ragged fins and the worst fungal and ich infection I've ever seen on a live fish.
One of them is in better condition than the other, but still very unwell.

Anyway, we once again gave the manager 'some advice' on keeping puffers and he agreed to let us have both of them for free as they'd be dead by tomorrow anyway.

So he bagged them up and we took them home and floated them in our hospital tank then mixed up a bucketful of marine salt solution to bring the SG up to a mild brackish level. A couple of hours of slow acclimatization and they're in the tank.

one of them seems to be enjoying the new more comfortable salinity and is playing in the filter current, but the other is looking very sick indeed, it had lost a lot of colour and spent the first hour being pushed randomly about the tank by the current with little resistance.
Dead fish swimming was the phrase LadyMinion used.

In the last hour, since being in brackish water he's regained control of his boyancy control and a little colour has come back to his skin. I fear that even if he survives he may lose an eye to the infection but it now looks like he has a chance.

Here they are still bagged up.They don't look too bad from a distance...
f81.jpg


But a closer look reveals why some people and some shops shouldn't keep puffers if they don't know what they're doing.
f82.jpg


We'll keep you posted....
 
That's a shame... I was dissappointed by my lfs today too. They have this huge moray eel in a 29 gallon tank. It's huge, and can barely move. Last time I shop there...
 
Oh dear, I can't say i spotted that this morning, only took a glancing look :*)

I hope they both pull through.
 
I've just posted a thread called AAAAAGGGHH (or something like that!!) about a similar thing..although possibly worse actually. Let us know how they get on and please look at my post as I could really do with some help in this matter. I'm at a bit of a loss really.
 
Oh the poor dears!! They're very lucky you found them before it was too late. Hope they both make it and get nice and healthy :)
 
Really sorry to see they're in such a terrible condition, and that the shop hasn't changed it manners yet. I guess some people will never learn.

Hope both of them will pull through, I'm sure that if they do they'll have a loving home waiting for them, be it with you or someone that might adopt if you don't have room. I'm glad to see that some people are still willing to give those that need some help a chance to survive.
 
Wow, thats bad. Its great you took these fish and are now caring for them.
I hope they pull through, good luck with them!
 
The Minions:puffer Rescue...should be the new drama show on tv :p

I applaud you Sir and Lady for taking in these fish :clap:
Good luck with them and i hope they make it:thumbs:
Have you spoken to the apropiate athorities about this LFS?

DD
P.S: What are the names of these guys?
 
You see, this is why you need to carry a big stick around with you :) Hope they make it OK, at least you didn't end up with another fahaka :p
 
Well they both survived overnight and the bigger one has really perked up. He still looks awful but his behaviour is almost normal. He's eaten some bloodworm with enthusiasm and even done a poo.

The other, smaller, sicker one is still just about alive and seems to have completely recovered motor control although he is still looking very sorry for him self sitting motionless on the sand.
He's become more aware of his enviroment and is taking an interest in what's going on around him rather than looking glassy eyed and staring.
He's not eaten yet, but fingers crossed he may still pull through.

Stay tuned.

Dwarf_Dude said:
What are the names of these guys?
[snapback]870154[/snapback]​
SeaPets, Stanway, Colchester, Essex.
 
i've been following the cookie thread for a while now although never posted anything as i know nothing about puffers. all i can say is thank god there are people out there like you with such a good heart. i'm sure many people walked past that tank and thought "look at the state of those, not buying that" and went on to another store. the fact is these "products" are living things, it's not their fault theyve been bought (the shop that is) by idiots with no idea of their needs.

well done AGAIN i'm sure they'll recover nicely, at least theyve got the best chance now anyway.
 
Well done ! Hope the little one pulls through.
I went to my lfs a few weeks back and the had a few tanks with different types of puffers. I can't even describe how appalling, gaunt, with hollow bellies and listless they looked :(
They were only small.
I just wanted to know what type of puffers they were (there were some really beautiful ones with bright red eyes), but when I asked the chap he said "you don't really want to know - they are evil gits" and said I wouldn't want any -_- not that I wanted them anyway, but I just wanted to know what they were, however did not really expect that response. Therewith ended the conversation.

He obviously never looked at their tanks much, as when I pointed to them he chucked in some bloodworm and the little things immediately scoffed it all up.
At least they were eating, but honestly - they state they were in were just unreal.
 
bloozoo2 said:
Well done ! Hope the little one pulls through.
I went to my lfs a few weeks back and the had a few tanks with different types of puffers. I can't even describe how appalling, gaunt, with hollow bellies and listless they looked :(
They were only small.
I just wanted to know what type of puffers they were (there were some really beautiful ones with bright red eyes), but when I asked the chap he said "you don't really want to know - they are evil gits" and said I wouldn't want any -_- not that I wanted them anyway, but I just wanted to know what they were, however did not really expect that response. Therewith ended the conversation.
He obviously never looked at their tanks much, as when I pointed to them he chucked in some bloodworm and the little things immediately scoffed it all up.
At least they were eating, but honestly - they state they were in were just unreal.
[snapback]870407[/snapback]​

It sounds like they were Red-Eye puffers, most likely c. lorteti and he's right, they are evil little buggers, but that's all part of the appeal!
Lorteti puffers are one of the very few species of puffer where the males and female look totally different and they pair for life.
 
The Minions:puffer Rescue...should be the new drama show on tv

I applaud you Sir and Lady for taking in these fish
Good luck with them and i hope they make it:thumbs:
Have you spoken to the apropiate athorities about this LFS?

I 2nd that, maybe you should rename your house " The Minions Puffer Hospital and rehousing centre "
 

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