GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
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.
GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
Well one of my gsps, has lived happily for the past 6 months, in good housing; pmms are good, hiding spots, enough space and food. Over the past few days her belly has been more sunken than usual (it is normally a little round), I dewormed her about a week ago. So now I have put the dewormer in again and also soaked her food in it, I fed her last night and twice this morning as when I woke up after a few hours her belly was dangerously slim. No other signs of illness though, she's happy and buzzing about as normal, being more ferocious than ever with her food.
-
Nuclear_Glitter
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 971
- Joined: Sun May 29, 2011 1:03 am
- Gender: Female
- Location (country): North Carolina, USA
- Location: North Carolina, USA
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
Keep treating for IPs. Use Jungle Clear fizz tabs. Soak the food, as you have been.
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
-
LilGreenPuffer
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 5301
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:26 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Dwarf puffer - Thumbelina (only mine in my heart now; she lives in CT with my friend)
RIP Inigo Montoya, Fezzik, and Vizinni.
RIP James Bond. - Location (country): United States
- Location: Kentucky
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
What are you feeding her?
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him or her. Will she gain anything by it? Will it restore her to a control over her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi
Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
Sick puffers make me 
-
bertie 83
- Moderator
- Posts: 5298
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
Also if co-housed with another puffer is this one getting a sufficient amount of food to begin with?
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
Thanks guys, last night she was gasping at the surface, sticking her top lip out of the water, her chin had gone black and the other gsp's breathing had increased too. I got them out into new water while I done a full pwc even though my pmms were good, now they're perfect. It's happened again tonight, the really rapid breathing. She was fine all day. I feed them; ramshorns once a month for their teeth, I know it should be around once a week but I feed them shelled clams which also helps with that every 3-4 days, they also get mussels, trout, whole fish (all of which are frozen). I feed them with a training/feeding stick during feeding times or give them two seperate bits, her belly gets huge and then it just goes back down again.. I have treated her for IPs three times since I got her, once on getting her, twice when the whole sunken belly thing started and now I'm doing it again.
-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
What are your parameters? There should be no good to perfect, it should only be ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate <20.
You should not be removing the fish during water changes.
If your parameters are not holding and you have any ammonia or nitrite, that is likely causing the gasping.
You should not be removing the fish during water changes.
If your parameters are not holding and you have any ammonia or nitrite, that is likely causing the gasping.
-
Arny
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 1081
- Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2010 4:33 pm
- Location (country): uk
- Location: London
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
If they're gasping at the surface maybe add more oxygen
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
I removed them because they were clearly unhappy, gasping, one lying down and not getting up, so I got them into new clean water and they calmed down. Thanks but the ppm's are fine, hence why I used to words good and perfect 
Tried adding an aerator but that didn't help.
Tried adding an aerator but that didn't help.-
sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
I'm not talking about ppm's. I'm taking about your tank maybe not being cycled. Your tank water should be "clean", as in safe for fish, already cycled 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate <20.
I think you may need to read up on aquarium microbes and the nitrogen cycle.
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Aquarium_Mic ... rification
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article58.html
I think you may need to read up on aquarium microbes and the nitrogen cycle.
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Aquarium_Mic ... rification
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article58.html
-
borgey
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 216
- Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 4:08 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 1 Tetraodon biocellatus, 3 Colomesus asellus, 4 Carinotetraodon travancoricus
- Location (country): U.S.A
- Location: Providence, RI/Boston, Ma
Re: GSP with sunken belly, all the time..
Yeah it sounds to be as if your tank is not cycled. Can you post your water parameters please? Give us a reading on ammonia,nitrite and nitrate. I'm willing to bet you're showing levels of ammonia and/or nitrite. How often do you do water changes? Sevenyearnight is absolutely right, you should NEVER be taking them out their tank to do a water change. You're putting new water into the tank so I don't see what you've gained by doing that besides stressing the poor fellas out even more.
Also, what size tank are they in? How often do you do water changes?
Also, what size tank are they in? How often do you do water changes?