Hello,
First time posted but I have been reading the forum since I got Fahaka puffs this year.
This morning I went to check on my guy to feed him and get a cleaning done and he was extremely lethargic and hardly moving, I took him out of the tank and into a small bowl of clean & tank water mix, did a full scrubbing and 50% water change, I didn't take the water parameters before hand like I should have but in the heat of the moment I just wanted to get the tank back up as soon as possibly.
I now put him back in the tank and he is still not looking very good at all, I feel horrible for him, I have turn off the pump to limit the amount of water movement but have left the air pump on.
This is where my tank is right now after the change :
Size :48G
PH 7.5
Amonnia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
KH 90ppm
GH100ppm
Temp: 25.5 C
It is a sand bottom no plants just a cave and a coconut and he is the only guy in the tank now, I originally got 3, one passed away the day after I got them and one a few days after so I just more so thought it was just from them being so small or new, now I am thinking it has been my fault or the tank this entire time.
The tank has been cycled for about 6 months before I got them and this guy has been here for probably just over two months now.
Any help would be grateful at this time. I feel like the worst person ever for letting it get this bad to begin with.
FAHAKA HELP NEEDED ASAP
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.
-
jnsparkles
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:20 am
- Location (country): Canada
-
Bleedingheartmommy
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 185
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:39 pm
- My Puffers: Honey (SIP Cantaloupe): C. Travancoricus
Mad Max: P. Cochinchinensis
Apollo: T. Miurus
(SIP Bonnie) Clyde: C. Irrubesco
SIP Orchid - Location (country): USA-Seattle, WA
Re: FAHAKA HELP NEEDED ASAP
First off, welcome- I'm sorry your first post was in hospital, but you're in the right place for help!
Take a deep breath and quit being so damn hard on yourself. You're not a bad fish parent or person bc your puff isn't feeling well. It doesn't matter why, only that you care enough to help the fish and correct any issues that may cause a reoccurrence! Can you explain his state any further? Has his body or belly darkened (often called "stress coloration"), or gotten extremely light colored? How about breathing, is he breathing hard? With a thorough inspection of his body with a small pen light, do you see anything out of the usual (cuts, bumps, lumps, possible external parasites/bugs)? Also check his eyes with the pen light, to make sure they are clear without any cloudyness or bulging. His belly should not be sunken in or very far distended.
Without seeing your little puffer or knowing anything further, my first word of advice is treat for internal parasites. If you haven't already i would start treating for IPs now, bc if he stops eating then it's very hard to get the medicine inside their bodies, and IPs are the only immediate thought that came to me with the info given.
Take a deep breath and quit being so damn hard on yourself. You're not a bad fish parent or person bc your puff isn't feeling well. It doesn't matter why, only that you care enough to help the fish and correct any issues that may cause a reoccurrence! Can you explain his state any further? Has his body or belly darkened (often called "stress coloration"), or gotten extremely light colored? How about breathing, is he breathing hard? With a thorough inspection of his body with a small pen light, do you see anything out of the usual (cuts, bumps, lumps, possible external parasites/bugs)? Also check his eyes with the pen light, to make sure they are clear without any cloudyness or bulging. His belly should not be sunken in or very far distended.
Without seeing your little puffer or knowing anything further, my first word of advice is treat for internal parasites. If you haven't already i would start treating for IPs now, bc if he stops eating then it's very hard to get the medicine inside their bodies, and IPs are the only immediate thought that came to me with the info given.
"Genetics loads the gun, and environment pulls the trigger."-Brené Brown
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jnsparkles
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:20 am
- Location (country): Canada
Re: FAHAKA HELP NEEDED ASAP
Sadly my poor guy passed away the next day, he was having issues breathing but was eating up until the day I posted, I tested my water again afterwards and it was still the same, sadly I think he was to far along by the time I noticed something was wrong. His belly never darked or changed colour, and he seems quite active up to that day, the previous time I fed him he did not go after the blood worms as much as usual, but I figured it was more so to do with him wanted snails more then worms. I should have taken the drop in interested in food as a bad sign, but I took it as him being picky 
I did look him over and didn't see any bumps or scratched, his belly was sunken by the end of the day when he passed.
I really am not sure where I went wrong. I really loved him and love puffer fish, but I seem to be doing something wrong and don't feel like I should get anymore until I figure it out, not very fair for the poor little guys.
So if anyone has any more help that would still be great.
I did look him over and didn't see any bumps or scratched, his belly was sunken by the end of the day when he passed.
I really am not sure where I went wrong. I really loved him and love puffer fish, but I seem to be doing something wrong and don't feel like I should get anymore until I figure it out, not very fair for the poor little guys.
So if anyone has any more help that would still be great.