Black belly GSP

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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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LindyHopLottie
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:16 am
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Black belly GSP

Post by LindyHopLottie »

Hello!
New puffer friend here! I got my GSP a little over a week ago. He is small about 1 inch. The LFS had them in fresh water. I know he needs to be in brackish water but I wasn’t sure when to start doing this because I know juvenile GSPs live in freshwater. I have all the supplies to begin slowly raising the salinity. Anyway, he is the only fish in a 20 gallon tank. I am aware he will need something larger later.

Tested this evening with API master freshwater test kit
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 6.5 (a little low)
temp: 79

Diet: small freeze dried shrimp, small freshwater snails (I am aware I need more variety suggestions welcome

He has been eating well each day but yesterday I noticed a little black on his belly. He started swimming around and the black was gone. Today there is even more black and he is swimming around less. Although, I did catch him sleeping with his eyes closed and then he popped one open to look at me and swam around a bit. The only change is I added some API pH up to raise the pH to better levels. I have added less than the normal dose yesterday and today. However, the first black belly signs started before adding the pH up.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Black belly GSP

Post by Pufferpunk »

[welcome]
You didn't mention how this tank was cycled? You should be showing some nitrate if done correctly. What's your water change schedule like?
I agree about the pH, it's actually VERY low. What's the pH of your tap water? What substrate are you using? Try changing it over to aragonite sand, to buffer the pH & keep it stable, around 8.
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
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!"
LindyHopLottie
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Re: Black belly GSP

Post by LindyHopLottie »

I did a fishless cycle where everything seemed normal. Should I add some bacteria? My substrate is gravel. I know weekly water changes are a thing. He has only been in the tank a week so I was planning on doing one today but unsure if I should begin to add saltwater due to his unwellness. He did eat well this morning.
LindyHopLottie
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Re: Black belly GSP

Post by LindyHopLottie »

Im sorry I forgot to mention about the pH of my tap water! Very very odd. I actually did this yesterday because I was curious! My tap water seems to run about 8.4 which is very odd because that’s very high. All my tanks have pH around 6.5 which is odd. I’m unsure what is bringing it down.
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Pufferpunk
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Posts: 32764
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: Black belly GSP

Post by Pufferpunk »

That IS odd! What is your WC schedule like? If doing at least 50% weekly, it should be closer to your tap levels.
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!"
LindyHopLottie
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:16 am
Location (country): United States

Re: Black belly GSP

Post by LindyHopLottie »

I did a 30%-40% before I put him in a week ago. Yesterday I went out and bought some aragonite sand and an air stone. I added the aragonite sand on top of the gravel and installed the air stone. I left it for a few hours then checked the pH (he already started to look better) it was 7.1 so that’s a big improvement! I changed 25% of the water because I didn’t want to shock him too much with a huge water change. I started the brackish change. The water I added was .004 SG. Last night when I went to bed he was mostly white with a few small traces of grey on his belly.
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Pufferpunk
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Posts: 32764
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: Black belly GSP

Post by Pufferpunk »

That's great news! When you set up his new tank though, just use the aragonite sand. I hope you rinsed it well!
Here's a chart to help you make your BW: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19348
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!"
LindyHopLottie
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:16 am
Location (country): United States

Re: Black belly GSP

Post by LindyHopLottie »

I did! It made the tank a little cloudy but it settled soon! This morning he was more black when I went to feed him but then he changed to almost white and has stayed that way. I did wake him up I notice when he is sleeping he is blacker probably for camouflage. Do you have any tips for what to feed? He doesn’t really seem to be interested in snails.
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Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32764
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: Black belly GSP

Post by Pufferpunk »

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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