Hi
I have a GSP that I purchased last week. He is in a 30 gal brackish tank (salinity o.oo8, nitrate 5ppm, ammonia 0, PH 8, temp 80). No tank mates. He is eating, but not much. Sometimes he will only take a few bites then ignore it. I have been giving him a combination of small snails, frozen bloodworms (thawed with water drained), and occasionally a dried krill or 2. When I got him, I noticed some small white patches, and used a API cure-all parasite treatment. I have followed the instructions to a T, and have noticed the spots going away, but his belly is still dark grey.
What do I do? Help!
New GSP and black belly
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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Pufferpunk
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Re: New GSP and black belly
How was this tank cycled? What are you using to test the water?
Try live worms.
Try live worms.
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!"
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ShinyLady
- Puffer Fry
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Re: New GSP and black belly
The tank was home to a cluster of mollies for about 6 months, so while I did clean the gravel before putting Flippy in, I did not change the filter to preserve the bacteria.
I have been using the drop/texture forms of the individual API tests for PH, Ammonia and Nitrate.
Which kind of live worm? I'm also suspicious his teeth are overgrown. I'm terrified of the idea of doing any dentistry as he is already not well...
I have been using the drop/texture forms of the individual API tests for PH, Ammonia and Nitrate.
Which kind of live worm? I'm also suspicious his teeth are overgrown. I'm terrified of the idea of doing any dentistry as he is already not well...
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32776
- 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: New GSP and black belly
Try blackworms or earthworms.
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!"
-
JRC3
- Fahaka Puffer
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4-DP(29g) - Location (country): U.S.
- Location: S.W. OH
Re: New GSP and black belly
What color is the substrate? The dark belly could be a result of dark substrate.
There are many knowledgeable fish keepers on this forum willing to help and give great advice...The advice is free; What you choose to do with it gives it value.
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bertie 83
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Re: New GSP and black belly
Black bellies are often a stress indicator, it can take a while for them to settle in. Hunger strikes are common in new puffers and can last a couple of weeks. Does he have places to hide in the tank? If not it's worth adding a couple of giddy holes
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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ShinyLady
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Re: New GSP and black belly
So it's been awhile, Flippy is eating, water is healthy (ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10-20, PH 8, temp 80, salinity 1.005), but he is still very grey in the belly. He does swim around at times, he loves the bubbler, but is often at the bottom of the tank. The substrate is crushed coral (rinsing that was a huuuuuuge pain), so that doesn't explain his color. There have been no recent changes and we've had him for around 2 weeks now.
Any thoughts?
Oh, and his diet us a mix of snails, thawed bloodworms, and the occasional raw in-shell shrimp.
Any thoughts?
Oh, and his diet us a mix of snails, thawed bloodworms, and the occasional raw in-shell shrimp.