Hi all!
It's been a WHILE since I've posted anything but I'm happy to read posts and haven't had anything unusual to report.
I have 1 F8 in a 12gallon Eclipse system. It's been cycled and he's been in it for approaching 18 months.
Ammonia is 0 -- and it's the only test I have on hand. The tank has been fine and cycled and all prams normal for so long I just occasionally check the Ammonia.
Anyway, I noticed the F8 spending more time than usual on the bottom. Wasn't sure what to do. Did my weekly water change but decided to do 75% instead of 50 just in case. Probably more like 80%.
Brackish tank at 1.005 btw.
All of that to say, the day after the water change, he was just floating at the top. Upright with his nose at the waterline. NOT MOVING at all. I've NEVER seen a puffer still with NO fins moving at all. I quickly opened the top and touched him. He moved his fins for a second and then nothing. I was planning his funeral for that evening. I'd never ever seen a puff do this.
I check the ammonia and again 0.
I just left him there and fretted for a while. A couple of hours later, he's swimming around normally. Begging for food and the whole 9 yards.
I now neurotically check on him all the time and since 2 hours after that one lethargic moment, he's been fine.
What do I do now? Hope it was just a momentary coma and go on? What else could it be??
Cooper
Playing dead??
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.
-
Cooper
- Dwarf Puffer
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Playing dead??
1 DP, named Bajaj
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Jase
- Mbu Puffer
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- Location: Montana
Re: Playing dead??
if you take out too much water, you can disturb the bacteria and start a re cycle. I don't think you did, you just have to be careful about that. wait for more input from the pros.
-Jase
edmlfc1 wrote:A house without a puffer is not a home.
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Agnate
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Re: Playing dead??
This only vaguely has to do with your situation, but it's a funny story.
A friend of my mom's has a Doberman (I think), and he's taught it quite the hilarious trick. He'll point at his pup with his finger (his hand in the shape of a gun) and make a semi-loud gunshot noise with his mouth. Upon doing this, his Doberman stumbles around (as though he were shot), and then just flops over!
Don't ask me how he did it, but it's one HILARIOUS trick!
Sorry I was absolutely no help...
A friend of my mom's has a Doberman (I think), and he's taught it quite the hilarious trick. He'll point at his pup with his finger (his hand in the shape of a gun) and make a semi-loud gunshot noise with his mouth. Upon doing this, his Doberman stumbles around (as though he were shot), and then just flops over!
Don't ask me how he did it, but it's one HILARIOUS trick!
Sorry I was absolutely no help...
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- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
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Jase
- Mbu Puffer
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- Location: Montana
Re: Playing dead??
or maybe he was sleep floating. I had goldfish that used to do that... but it usually meant they were dead.
... still not really helping you at all. sorry lol
... still not really helping you at all. sorry lol
-Jase
edmlfc1 wrote:A house without a puffer is not a home.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Playing dead??
Not true. I do at least 75% weekly WC on all my tanks (other than SW) & 90% weekly on my discus tank. If you are already doing 50%, 75-80% won't be that much of a shock. Almost none of the benefitial bacteria needed to keep a tank cyckled is in the water column. It lives on surfaces--glass, substrate, decor & filter media.Jase wrote:if you take out too much water, you can disturb the bacteria and start a re cycle. I don't think you did, you just have to be careful about that. wait for more input from the pros.
What you really should be testing for is nitrate.
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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Jase
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Re: Playing dead??
well then I stand corrected.
-Jase
edmlfc1 wrote:A house without a puffer is not a home.
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yunachin
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Re: Playing dead??
I would recommend getting a master test kit so you can monitor the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites.
E.Ridgeway
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Myaj
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Re: Playing dead??
If you change too much water when you haven't changed any recently, yes you can disturb the bacteria (via pH shock, etc). But if you've been doing regular weekly water changes, throwing a big 75% one in there shouldn't hurt anything.
Did you match temps? Salinity? Use dechlorinator?
He could have been sleeping too.. Frank (figure
tends to just sort of drift around the tank in the current when he's sleeping. The other day he was stuck to the filter intake and I could have sworn he was dead, but no, just snoozing and that's where he ended up. He looked quite annoyed when I woke him up and he found himself sort of stuck (it wasn't that strong of an intake). If you could imagine a puffer swimming away then turning around and glaring at a filter intake.. that's what he did.
Did you match temps? Salinity? Use dechlorinator?
He could have been sleeping too.. Frank (figure
tends to just sort of drift around the tank in the current when he's sleeping. The other day he was stuck to the filter intake and I could have sworn he was dead, but no, just snoozing and that's where he ended up. He looked quite annoyed when I woke him up and he found himself sort of stuck (it wasn't that strong of an intake). If you could imagine a puffer swimming away then turning around and glaring at a filter intake.. that's what he did.
-
CtHM
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Re: Playing dead??
Is it possible he puffed some air, and was just stuck up there? And then maybe got it out on his own? =/
"Little fishies go 'pook pook pook' "
~Lenore
~Lenore