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F8 died out of nowhere, questions ?

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 12:24 pm
by sparks42
Hi there I'm not sure if you're supposed to flush puffer fish, or if they need to be burried.

Also while testing my water I realized I don't even know what proper pH should be.

He's been dead probably 24 hours now, I just wanted to wait and be sure as he is not floating, just on his side on the bottom but he is very obviously dead now, just trying to think of what coulda happened here. No recent food change, was just due for a water change.
It's just a little off to me that he's not floating.

Since day 1 he looked skinny so I treated him for IPs 3 times within about 6 months (last time was about 6 months ago) and he did not change shape or size at all, so i sfigured he was just shaped that way. Maybe that's what happened, but I doubt it as he was treated a full 3 times in 6 months.

Do people autopsy their puffers ? - what do you look for ?

I was wondering since he's on the bottom, maybe he swallowed a rock ?

Thank you

Re: F8 died out of nowhere, questions ?

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 12:59 pm
by J-P
AFAIK most recent death tend to stay on the bottom. Only older ones float because the decay build up gases in the tissue.

Just my theory ;)

Re: F8 died out of nowhere, questions ?

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:43 pm
by Blaine
Being on the bottom is normal...like JP said. I would not bother with an autopsy unless you are trained in fish disease and anatomy...and hard to trace cause of death.

More info would help us to diagnose the problem. Answer the questions below and we'll see what's up.


1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate).

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?

Re: F8 died out of nowhere, questions ?

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:41 pm
by FADE2BLACK_1973
Just wanted to add that brackish and SW ph should be around 8.2. Most of your sea salt mixes should help keep that buffered to that range along with most substrate.