What am I doing wrong?

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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.
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ucxk033
Puffer Fry
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:57 pm
Location (country): USA

What am I doing wrong?

Post by ucxk033 »

I received a brand new F8 puffer on Wednesday. I had him quarantined and was monitoring water parameters morning and night as I did not want to put him in my big tank until I knew he was healthy and also I needed to get him introduced to the brackish water as he was shipped in fresh water. He was not eating and I was just trying to offer different foods. When I came home on Sunday he had already passed.

I was optimistic because we got another F8 puffer from them and he has been doing great.

I just do not know what went wrong. I noticed his colors were a little pale when I received him. He did not have a lumpy belly and it was white.

I had tried mysis shrimp, shrimp, scallops and krill.

Did he go to long without food?

I had worked his salinity up to 1.002.

Is there anything else I could have done? Did I miss something?

His water parameters were fine.

Should I not order puffers from online?
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
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: What am I doing wrong?

Post by Pufferpunk »

Sorry, I just saw this. Seems you are a great fishkeeper! Considering how far the poor fish has come to you, there is a certain percentage of death. I hope you try again.
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!"
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astrid37
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 117
Joined: Sun May 14, 2017 2:37 pm
My Puffers: Seven T. schoutedeni
Location (country): US

Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by astrid37 »

There are some reputable online sellers. I've had good experiences with several online sellers, including but not limited to, The Wet Spot Tropical Fish, ExoticFish Shop on Ebay, Dave's Fish, Select Aquatics, Aquatic Arts, and Wes, of course.
ucxk033
Puffer Fry
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:57 pm
Location (country): USA

Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by ucxk033 »

Thanks Pufferpunk and astrid37! I am giving it one more go. The one healthy F8 went with my daughter to school. So last night I picked up a GSP from a LFS. This one is about 1.5" and partially bright. Made me slightly worried but the others were cream colored. I had read that they change color, so I am hoping I did not select wrong. This one seemed very friendly and was a voracious eater with white belly. They were feeding them black worms, so I bought a supply and just feeding that for now. He slurps them up like spaghetti, it is pretty amusing. I am hoping to do some mysis shrimp this weekend. I did buy some ramshorns and placed them in a 5 gallon tank. Fingers crossed they will start to breed and I can keep a supply as it is extremely hard for me to find them.
ucxk033
Puffer Fry
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2019 11:57 pm
Location (country): USA

Re: What am I doing wrong?

Post by ucxk033 »

Thanks for all the help. My GSP is still doing great. Still does not have full body color but he is eating great and loves all food. Which is a relief for me. He explores and seems to be enjoying his environment. I have not witnessed any stress so I think he is happy. Still has a nice white belly.
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
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: What am I doing wrong?

Post by Pufferpunk »

Glad to hear this news!
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!"
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