1. Parameters are pretty fair with nitrate being around 10 ppt, phosphates reading at .25, ammonia reading at 0, nitrites reading at 0, salinity at 1.012, ph 8.0, kh 6.5
2. Tank size is 10 gallons and I DEFINITLEY will upgrade my green spotted puffer to a 30 gallon aquarium when he starts growing.
3. I usually feed my puffer hikari half shell clams which also contain vitamin c. I recently tried feeding my puffers rosy red minnows from petco which unfortunately I have not treated them for parasites. My theory is that led to the green spotted puffer to having a parasite. I have noticed symptoms such as him not eating after 2 days of eating the rosy red minnows. Also noticed stomach starting to darken a very little bit. He is active however he is swimming up and down constantly.
4. I have done a 50% water change and the puffer still showed symptoms.
5. Aquarium is cycled set up for a month now and quickly cycled it using stability. The cycle turned out perfect and ammonia levels read undetectable after less than one week.
Further information: I do not know what type of parasite the puffer has, however, I am sure it is an internal parasite. The puffer is 1.5-2 inches and before illness, he loved to eat his clams. Since the symptoms are slightly darkening stomach, and loss of appetite, what type of parasite do you guys think my puffer could have? What should I medicate him with? Oh yes, I also feed him once a day. I feed him krill as well just so he doesn't eat only one thing. My biggest problem is I am gone for one week because of spring break. Do you guys think he will be okay? Could the parasite quickly kill him?
Puffer possibly infected, not eating, stress line starting
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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bertie 83
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Re: Puffer possibly infected, not eating, stress line starti
Hi and welcome. What test kit are you using? Sounds to me like a potential water issue. Please do not feed your puffer fish, this is not part of his diet. Krill should be kept to an occasional treat as puffers can become addicted to it. If you think he has internal parasites his food needs to be soaked in an appropriate med such as jungle parasite fizzy tabs, you can add some garlic and a good vitamin into the mix too
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
Re: Puffer possibly infected, not eating, stress line starti
I am using Api master saltwater test kit and I feed clams to him more than krill because he seems to enjoy clams more. The krill I got for him are sanfransisco bay from petco which was a close destination to my house therefore it isn't really a good brand. Also the problem with the puffer is that he won't eat and don't you think rosy red minnows could have caused a parasite in him? I realized that was a possibility after I fed it to him as I didn't know before.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Puffer possibly infected, not eating, stress line starti
What other symptoms is he showing?
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... treatment/
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... treatment/
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: Puffer possibly infected, not eating, stress line starti
When I fed him clams his fecal waste was white but I think it is probably because I fed him half shell clams. The fecal waste was round. Technically the only symptoms he showed was darkening of belly by a slight bit, definitely darkening on the sides of his mouth, and most obvious is loss of appetite even when trying to feed him a variety of foods. Evidence from probable internal parasites are feeding him rosy red minnows coming from a crowded petco tank.
Re: Puffer possibly infected, not eating, stress line starti
So technically he is showing symptoms such as mainly loss of appetite, darkening of belly by a slight bit, and darkening a lot on the sides of his mouth.