Porcupine Puffer with huge tear/rip down belly

[BlessedMommy]

We have had our porcupine puffer for less than 12 hours (many other fish for much longer, though) and when we got up this morning he was somehow sucked up under one of the smaller powerheads. We tried to use a net to get him off (gently of course), but we ended up having to pull him off with our hands. He is still alive, but has a HUGE rip in his skin all the way from the bottom of his jaw down to his tail...his organs aren't hanging out and there's no blood coming from the area but his skin is very much torn (and a small patch under his chin is actually missing) and kind of flapping open as he swims. What on earth can we do to help him? We don't want him to suffer but is it likely this will heal on its own? He's fairly small, only about 2 1/2-3 inches long.

[thebkramer]

I hope someone can help you soon! I had a similar situation with my dwarf fuzzy lionfish and he ended up dying from a bacterial infection. I'm thinking you might have to quarentine him and treat him for wound, but not 100%
Do you have other fish that might now pick at his wound from underneath?
Don't puffers release poisonous toxins? If no QT you might have to bring him to LFS and let them treat him.If the wound is not that bad, maybe it will take care of itself.
These are just some thoughts, not expert opinions. I feel so bad for you and your puffer! They are sooo cute! Good Luck!

[capnfritz]

Fish have amazing recover abilities, so, unless somebody's picking on him I would leave him in the DT.

[dcombs44]

It probably wouldn't hurt to prepare yourself to treat for a bacterial infection and get a quarantine tank set up.

If you see that he starts to show symptoms of infection, then you could move him to QT and be ready to treat. I believe Maracyn is a well known treatment for bacterial infection.

[Kungpaoshizi]

check out 'thepufferforum.com' they might have something to say, lots of puffer fanatics that are devoted to pretty much puffs...
Not sure about the toxins, it could be, do you have anything else in the tank?
They house the toxins in their flesh, and are not emitted normally, but if he's torn open...
Melafix I think is the one? Might also use Primafix is it for bacterial stuff, just as a preventative for infection... You'll prolly want to do wc's everyday to keep the water as clean as possible...
I agree with capnfritz though, fish have amazing abilities to recover, if not, think of all the fish that would have died out long ago from 'catch and release' fishermen

[jdthomas24]

Originally Posted by dcombs44

it probably wouldn't hurt to prepare yourself to treat for a bacterial infection and get a quarantine tank set up.

If you see that he starts to show symptoms of infection, then you could move him to qt and be ready to treat. I believe maracyn is a well known treatment for bacterial infection.

^^^^^^ +1 ^^^^^^^^^