Figure 8 puffer dying

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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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KSJ57
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:29 am
Location (country): United States

Figure 8 puffer dying

Post by KSJ57 »

Hello, I currently have a figure 8 puffer that i believe is dying. up until recently i have had no trouble with him. He was eating frequently and playing in the tank. Up until the the other day where i noticed his nitrites were high. Upon seeing this i used my gravel vaccum to dispace 50% of my water and clean the gravel. until today where i noticed he was laying down, folded and almost completely black. upon seeing this i did a water test and my ammonia was high as was my nitrate. i immedeatly got new water and filled the tank but his condidtion improved very slightly. what can i do to help him. besides water changes and ammonia lock. He also has not necassarly recognized ,e unless i am feeding him even though i have had him for 3 months. He is currently in a 10 gallon tank preparing to be moved into a 30 gallon tank. am i doing something wrong.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Figure 8 puffer dying

Post by Pufferpunk »

I have moved your post to our Hospital Forum, so you can answer ALL the questions above, in red.
I'd go ahead & move him into the 30g & add Tetra Safestart to the filter. Use aragonite sand for the substrate in the new tank.
library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/
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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