So I have already lost 3 fish due to the resulting issues of ich. I have had no ich problems for at least 3 weeks now. I have lowered my SG and used copper. I think the combination of these has been too hard on my fish.

This morning my Spiney box puffer was not acting normal and when I got home he was at the bottom of the tank breathing heavy. As I looked closer I noticed he had 2 white things that looked like thread coming out of one of the spines on the side of his face. They were about 3/4 inch long. Since he looked so close to death and I have never seen these "threads" before i decided to pull the threads out. Each white string came out easily and was nearly 3 to 4 inches in length. If it was worms, they did not move at all when i pulled them out and they were so thin it was hard to see any distinctive features. HAS ANYONE EVER SEEN THIS!?!?!? If my hair was long enough I would pull it out right now! I am getting so discouraged with my aquarium. The puffer is alive for now. I will do a 10% water change tonight to reduce the copper levels, but I honestly do not expect him to survive the night.

So I uploaded photos but they did not show up. here they are.

Please take a look at my picture and tell me what you think.