Hey everyone, I'm new tp the forum as well as new to owning fish. Here are the answers to the red questions:
1) pH 7.7, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0-0.5 (test strip, I know it's not accurate, but it's all I have right now), Nitrate 0-20 ppm & salinity was tested by my LFS & they said it was good (don't have a test for that yet)
2) Tank 24g - 1 porcupine puffer, live rock, & live sand (I know I will need a bigger tank as he grows, and I plan to upgrade to a much larger tank, but he is only 1.75 - 2 inches now)
3) Eats 1 - 2 times per day table shrimp and muscles, also "color enhancing pellets" every other day (as recommended by LFS). He has also tried brine shrimp, but has not had any since he began acting strange. Water has been changed once since the puffer was added 6 days ago.
4) No major changes, tank is pretty new, 2 - 2 1/2 weeks, used bio-spira before I placed "Pickles" my puffer in & they LFS said that he would be fine. Since then Diotomes have formed & before I knew what they were I cleaned most out of the tank. They have of course come back again. I did a 20% water change when the tank was cleaned 3 days ago (scrubbed the rocks & cleaned the sand as well as water).
5) As stated before the tank is new, only 2-2 1/2 weeks old and I was told that it would be ok to add fish after adding bio-spira.
My porcupine puffer was definitely over fed his 2nd day with me, however since then has been acting very lethargic (last 3-4 days). He was lying on the bottom of the tank in the sand, tail curled, and color changed to a very pale tanish color. Since then I read that he may be constipated and I fed him peas as a solution. He seemed to feel much better after eating and expelling the peas, and has since then been swimming normally until today, however his color has not returned to the way it was when I purchased him from the LFS. This morning he seemed to be sleeping in the corner, but quickly woke up when I turned the lights on and he noticed that I was standing in front of the tank. Up until a few hours ago he has been swimming normally and has not seemed lethargic at all, but in the last hour or so he has curled up in a corner (his color is still an almost grey color and his striped are very pale, however I cannot see a stress line on him and his belly is still white except for one spot which appears to be somewhat grey). I don't know what it wrong with him. The LFS said that the pH would be ok and it is better to have it low than high, but I don't know what's causing his color to be so off. Please help!!
HELP! Porcupine acting strange
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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luigimbu
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:29 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: Luigi the 18in mbu
Desmond the Gsp 4in (rehomed)
4 large Frontosas
Climbing pearch
Clown knife fish 20inch
And a nice new reef tank setup - Location (country): England dorset shaftesbury
- Location: England shaftesbury dorset
Re: HELP! Porcupine acting strange
Bigger tank needed, higher ph,you should not be scrubbing the live rock off!
you should not be putting any fish into a tank which is not properly cycled especially not marine fish which in the wild are used to perfect stable water conditions.
You need to get a hydrometer to test salinity it's not much money.
You seem to be getting bad advice from your lfs and they should not have sold you that fish knowing what tank you have and how new it was.
you really have jumped into the deep end having never kept fish
my best advice would be to return the fish to the store let the tank cycle properly and do a bit more research on keeping these amazing animals and also to get all of the equipment you need.
I don't mean to be harsh sounds like you started with good intentions but the lfs have failed you.
you should not be putting any fish into a tank which is not properly cycled especially not marine fish which in the wild are used to perfect stable water conditions.
You need to get a hydrometer to test salinity it's not much money.
You seem to be getting bad advice from your lfs and they should not have sold you that fish knowing what tank you have and how new it was.
you really have jumped into the deep end having never kept fish
my best advice would be to return the fish to the store let the tank cycle properly and do a bit more research on keeping these amazing animals and also to get all of the equipment you need.
I don't mean to be harsh sounds like you started with good intentions but the lfs have failed you.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32773
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: HELP! Porcupine acting strange
I have a refractometer for sale, $30 shipped.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Re: HELP! Porcupine acting strange
Thanks for your advice, I definitely got way in over my head for a newbie. I took him to a LFS with hospital tanks that can hold him until I can get the tank conditions right. I did purchase a hydrometer and tested the salinity, about 1.025 right now. Will the pH balance itself out eventually or should I purchase a pH up for that? As far as the live rock being scrubbed, I know that now, but seeing the diatoms form almost overnight really scarred me and I didn't know what else to do at the time. Really appreciate any feedback or tips that the "pros" have.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32773
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: HELP! Porcupine acting strange
pH should be stabilized by substrate & salt. I would not use a chemical for that. I'd also highly suggest purchasing a calibrated refractometer. I happen to have an extra one I'm selling that comes with calibration solution. You really need a much bigger tank for him, too. They grow fast!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"