please can anyone suggest any reasons for a bloated GSP puffer?
i moved him to a hospital tank 2 weeks ago, after i did a minor food break for 3 days and noticed his tummy did not go down (like my other 2 puffers as i have 3 in total). my main tank is 90 litres, and the hospitol tank is 35 litres.
He is eating fine and his personality seems chirpy like usual. He is not showing any signs to make me suspect he has trapped air.
i have treated for internal parasites as a precaution, as i read these can be quick killer if it was them (used interpret no 9 anti-internal bacteria). that was over 10 days ago and his tummy has not gone down
Current hospitol tank water parameters,
ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20, pH 7.2, salinity 1.01, temp 27 oC.
i feed frozen blocks of: bloodworm, shrimp, krill, beef heart, red plakton, cockles, mussels which are throughly defrosted in a small sample of tank water.
for their teeth i give them frozen cockles in their shell (again defrosted in small sample of tank water), and snails which i breed for them, although they only get this once or twice a week as i cant keep the stock up more.
A couple of weeks ago i also gave the some live food from my lfs (i forget the foods proper name but its looked to me to be the same as what i had when i was little called sea monkeys)
i am having trouble attaching pics so heres a link to a public photo share site i have uplaoded them on
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71454572@N00/
any suggestions appreciated
thanks
katy
p.s this was posted on the temp forum, but i have added foods & pics to try help figure out whats wrong with smokey
bloated GSP
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.
-
Pufferpunk
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
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As long as they go back to a standard size, expanding like that is the norm.
Well, the norm of overfeeding, which should be avoided. But its when they do not return to a slimmer profile that you have to worry.
It sounds like you used live brine shrimp Katy, which -might- be the cause of the constipation.
Well, the norm of overfeeding, which should be avoided. But its when they do not return to a slimmer profile that you have to worry.
It sounds like you used live brine shrimp Katy, which -might- be the cause of the constipation.
thanks everyone, i really appreciate your help.
i dont think i am overfeeding, he is only getting about 10 little bloodworms a day, he looks different from normal, his stomach is bloated towards his tail end, not his tummy like when i am overly generous (i know its naughty but sometimes they are so cute, but i am getting better i promise
)
maybe i am just being over paranoid.
i have got some andrews salt as i cant find epsom salts in any of my local chemists. it has citric acid & bicarb as well as mag sulphate. i think the bicarb will be fine as it will fizz off...but does anyone know if the citric will be ok (19.5% w/w). the mag sulphate is only 17.4% w/w...is epsom 100% - if so is it true to say i have to multiply up the dose accordingly?
cheers
Katy
i dont think i am overfeeding, he is only getting about 10 little bloodworms a day, he looks different from normal, his stomach is bloated towards his tail end, not his tummy like when i am overly generous (i know its naughty but sometimes they are so cute, but i am getting better i promise
)maybe i am just being over paranoid.
i have got some andrews salt as i cant find epsom salts in any of my local chemists. it has citric acid & bicarb as well as mag sulphate. i think the bicarb will be fine as it will fizz off...but does anyone know if the citric will be ok (19.5% w/w). the mag sulphate is only 17.4% w/w...is epsom 100% - if so is it true to say i have to multiply up the dose accordingly?
cheers
Katy
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
I'm hitchhiking this thread...my ceylon puffer's stomach didn't go down for 4 days already.
He's still happily swimming around and eating happily. The stomach ain't as bloated as katy's puffer but it just does not go flat like his other two tankmates (ceylons too).
I am wondering if I should treat him. And if I should, do I place him in water with dissolved epsom salt directly or do I dissolve the epsom salt in his tank water which is brackish?
He's still happily swimming around and eating happily. The stomach ain't as bloated as katy's puffer but it just does not go flat like his other two tankmates (ceylons too).
I am wondering if I should treat him. And if I should, do I place him in water with dissolved epsom salt directly or do I dissolve the epsom salt in his tank water which is brackish?
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
NO3 should be <20. Start doing 50% water changes daily (while cleaning the gravel), until it is. Are you rinsing your filter material?
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!"