gray belly

[mn_gsp]

i have two gsp in my 55g tank. one of them is doing fine. it is smaller, skinnier, and looks pretty healthy. it comes to meet me when i feed it. on the other hand, i have another puffer who is fatter and longer, but it has one issue. it's afraid to come meet me, and more importantly, it's belly is gray. the green is also getting a little dull, so i'm not really sure what's going on.

does it have an IP? i took a measurement of the sg and salinity and it came out to 1.006sg and 8ppt.

i just added some more salt into the tank. any info will help.

thanks.

[Jase]

can you get the other tank specifications? that's what'll really help find what's wrong.

[Pufferpunk]

I'm moving this to the Hospital Forum (even though he may not actually be sick), so you can answer the above questions in red.

[crazedpuffer]

Was the tank cycled? What are the perams? Also did you read the article I told you about on the dp forum on IP? If your puffers stomache is indented or the poop is white or clearish it has IPs.

[mn_gsp]

Water parameters:
pH = 7.4
nitrite = 1.0 ppm
nitrate = 7.0 ppm
ammonia = 0.50 ppm
SG = 1.006
salinity = 10 ppt

tank size is 55gallons. there is a thomas pleco (i think) , adolfoi cory cat, electric yellow cichlid and the two puffer. i just gave away two gourami (kissing fish ones). i did have the chinese algae eater in there, but i found it dead like a week ago.

i place a few sinking african cichlid pellets, shrimp pellets (for the cory), some tropical flakes, and a few pieces of freeze dried mix of shrimp and krill in the morning (830am). at 500pm, i throw in some cichild pellets, shrimp pellets, and a cube of frozen dried blood worms. every 2 to 3 days, i place in a 2.5 x 2.5 inch piece of seaweed (on a cool nemo clip), and i've also thrown in some ghost shrimps (once).

as for the water change, i haven't don't one yet. i had cycle the tank with the gouramis/chinese algae eater/cory/thomas pleco for 2 days before throwing in the puffers and cichlid.

i use top fin freeze dried medley, HBH cichlid pellet, wardley shrimp pellets, tetramin flakes, sally's seaweed, tetra aqua fresh/salt water conditoner, API aquarium salt(recommended by the petco sales person).

in the last week, i have added a new bubble-making stick thing (i don't know what it's called, but my cousin had one in his tank it makes it look pretty cool) and a background.

i cycled for 2 days as previously stated, and it's been up for like almost a month now. the puffers were in a 10g tank for like a month before i got the 55 gallon (didn't know they needed that size tank).

so yeah, that's it. i have been reading, and this is what i'm going to do. tell me if you guys/girls agree with me or not.
1) buy some stuff to make the pH go up, nitrite go down, nitrate go up, and ammonia down.
2) i'm also going to raise my SG to atleast 1.010

and in an extreme case:
- put the electric cichlid in another tank

lastly, do you guys think the other fishes are stressing out my puffer?

[mn_gsp]

i've never seen the larger puffer #2, but the smaller has (atleast i think it did) and it was brown/black.

[crazedpuffer]

Thats not really cycling the tank. Do a 50% water change ASAP!You'll need to do it daily untill the ammonia and nitrite are zero.
Puffers need food other than that. Please read the feeding article
None of those fish other than the puffer can tolerate salt. You need to use marine salt not aquarium salt. Big difference! Don't mess with the PH fish can adjust to PH fine, they don't tolerate swings well. Also chemicals don't exist to get rid of nitrite and ammonia (and if they do they barely work) You must do water changes to get rid of them!
The other fish could definitely be stressing your puffer. I'd seperate them all ASAP.

[Troender]

Crazedpuffer said almost all there is to say.
1. Separate the other fishes from the puffers. None of the fishes tolerate salt (I'm surprised that the cory still is alive - they tolerate salt really bad), and the tank is also over stacked.
2. Aquarium salt does not make brackish water or salt water, only salted water. That is a big difference. You need a SW mix. The difference is that BW and SW contains a lot more than just salt. You won't find that stuff in aquarium salt, but you will find it in a SW mix. Instand Ocean is an example of a SW mix.
3. Do a 50 % water change ASAP, and continue with that every day until ammonia and nitrite levels are down to zero. After than you need to do at least 50 % WC a week, preferably more. Test your water often in the beginning, to make sure the levels stay at zero. The nitrate level should stay under 20 ppm all the time, but you won't get that one down to zero. Nitrate in the water shows that your filter is working. Plants will also remove some of the nitrate, but you still will have to do WC to remove the rest. Puffers are very sensible to ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the water, so you need to keep the levels as described above.
4. As I understand it, the tank has been running for about a month? Your tank is barely cycled (or according to your water parameters, still not properly cycled), and can be a bit unstable for a few more months. Keep a close eye on the water parameters in the time to come.
5. There are stuff to buy that can remove ammonia and nitrite, but I would stay away from it. It can make your problems bigger, as it can disrupt the cycling of the tank (you remove what the bacteria in the filter is supposed to "eat", which will stop them multiply.
6. Read the feeding articlein the puffer library. Frozen food must be thawed before feeding puffers. Freeze dried food must be soaked.
7. Read the article about GSPsin the puffer library. There you will find what the right SG for your puffers is. It depends on their size.
8. Don't change the PH.
9. Stop listening to your LFS. It seems like they give you bad advice.

[Jase]

mn_gsp, how are your puffers/tank?