white-faded spot on puffer's fin

[zenghe]

Hello,

Desperately looking for some help here... I have a puffer who per my wife has not eaten anything for almost two weeks even with garlic concentrate. We have noticed a white, not-well-defined white spot on its rear fin and a tiny piece of that fin is either chipped away or eaten by something.
Apart from that, everthing looks normal on the remaining body and no other white spots have been found.
There are 7 other fishes in the tank and they all look fine.
We are very new to the fish tank and any suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

[usmc2b2004]

What are your ammonia and nitrate levels at? Pictures? What are the tank mates?

[zenghe]

Originally Posted by usmc2b2004

What are your ammonia and nitrate levels at? Pictures? What are the tank mates?

Well, I havent checked the ammonia and nitrate levels lately after LFS guy did the one-time maintenance. Do these levels have anything to do with the white spot?

Tankmates are all non-agressive like clown fishes and etc. 500-gallon tank only houses 8 fishes as of now...

Here is the picture... Really appreciate your input!

[usmc2b2004]

Yeah the ammonia and nitrate levels can have a big effect on fish, It's hard to tell from the pic, is there anyway you can get a clearer image? And do any of your other fish show any of the same signs? Maybe this will help with getting someone else to chime in to help you out further.

[hairbear]

I do not know if this is relevant or not but, I had the same problem with a valentini puffer that I had bought. He wouldn't eat and there was white spots on his tail. Then, I noticed that my snails and hermits were disappearing. Then, my peppermint shrimp disappeared. The puffer was the only fish in the tank, and oh boy was he eating! In a matter of 1 week, he wiped out my entire cleaning crew! He was so bloated, I thought he was going to explode! His little tummy was pushed out soooo far! The LFS had told me that they would all live together in harmony. Nature surprises again. LOL. Just keep an eye on your snails and hermies! As far as the white spots, I did some research and found out that they were supposed to be there! Hope this is a little help.

[Twitterbait]

not a chance, puffers are ravenous critter eating monsters. they will also nip fins. you want a really nasty treat give them a small goldfish and watch the carnage.

in regards to the white spot, puffers are swimming trash cans, the pigeons of the sea. the normally house all kinds of parasites and icky stuff that will pop in and out. i wouldn't worry about the spot on the tail. if your water quality is good then your puffer will be fine.

I used to have a softball sized puffer who would suck in entire crabs, shell and all. then you would hear a crunching sound and it would spit out the broken shell pieces. he ate over 40 cleaner crabs in about 3 days.