(tear) but there were two still swimming. One looks pretty health actually. and one is pretty skinny and has a dark belly all the time. Besides being under fed (probably just got flake) what does the dark belly mean?GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
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.
GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
I have spent the past month or so setting up a BW tank so I could recuse the GSP's fro Wal-mart. Well my tank was finally ready and I waled into Wally world to see if the puffers have survived this long or if I was too late... Well there were seven dead puffers in the tank... lost all color and they were white. (tear) but there were two still swimming. One looks pretty health actually. and one is pretty skinny and has a dark belly all the time. Besides being under fed (probably just got flake) what does the dark belly mean?
(tear) but there were two still swimming. One looks pretty health actually. and one is pretty skinny and has a dark belly all the time. Besides being under fed (probably just got flake) what does the dark belly mean?Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
HEre are the best pics I could get of this guy...
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imafry
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:26 am
- My Puffers: Daisy - Green Spotted Puffer
- Location: New Hampshire, USA
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Could be stress related, if he is eating well, give him some time. I know when I bought my puffer her belly was kind of grayish black and after being in my nice tank with yummy food for a month her belly is pure white. Check the pufferpedia too - they might have answers there.
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Neither one is eating anything yet.. I have about 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 snails in their and they aren't touching them.... but they have only been here about 24 hours so I am not worried about that. and I know, that might not be enough snails for these two. 
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SpockthePuffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 334
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:24 pm
- My Puffers: A wee GSP named Milton
- Location: Connecticut
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Is your tank cycled? Do you know your tank parameters? And what size is it?
Also, they probably both have internal parasites, there is an article on the library on how to kill the parasites. He looks pretty bad so you're going to need to take care of the parasites immediately.
They are also going to need brackish water. I would suggest getting the snails out of that tank and breeding them in a separate tank since they will die in the brackish water and you want to keep up with the supply of them so you can feed to take care of the puffers teeth.
Also, they probably both have internal parasites, there is an article on the library on how to kill the parasites. He looks pretty bad so you're going to need to take care of the parasites immediately.
They are also going to need brackish water. I would suggest getting the snails out of that tank and breeding them in a separate tank since they will die in the brackish water and you want to keep up with the supply of them so you can feed to take care of the puffers teeth.
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Yes it's cycled and has good parameters.... Why would I put puffers in an uncycled tank with poor water quality?
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SpockthePuffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 334
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:24 pm
- My Puffers: A wee GSP named Milton
- Location: Connecticut
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
I just asked to make sure that it was cycled, we get many newer posters not knowing about cycling a tank. 
Dark belly and not eating could be a sign of bad water quality. But since you got them from WalMart they most likely have internal parasites which they should be treated for immediately.
Dark belly and not eating could be a sign of bad water quality. But since you got them from WalMart they most likely have internal parasites which they should be treated for immediately."How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
yea I read that post just now and it sounded kind mean.. sorry not meant that way.... If it does have parasites and the other doesn't (hypothetically) can I treat the tank and not harm the other fish? Or if is just stress and lack of food could I treat the tank as a precaution and not harm them?
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SpockthePuffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 334
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:24 pm
- My Puffers: A wee GSP named Milton
- Location: Connecticut
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
If one has it then they both have it so just treat both of them. Also, the meds aren't put into the tank directly, you soak them in food so just feed both puffers the food.
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Ok thats better I guess I feel better soaking their food than treating the tank... Since this is my fish GSP tank. I have another question you could answer.... I have the tank set up like I set my DP tank but I think these guys have different requirements. What would a GSP tank need to look like?
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SpockthePuffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 334
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:24 pm
- My Puffers: A wee GSP named Milton
- Location: Connecticut
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
They just need a lot of decorations, pretty much the same as dps.
Here is a picture of my GSP, Milton's 30 gallon tank (he is in there by himself)
Here is a picture of my GSP, Milton's 30 gallon tank (he is in there by himself)
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
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GSP
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:55 pm
- My Puffers: 1- GSP and staying that way! (For now *Evil grin*)
-55 gallon tank
*Judo = 1 inch
-Planter box
*George Saint Pierre = RIP buddy
*Biggie Smalls = Walmart must be stopped!
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Spock, I got my GSP from walmart as well, and he has been acting odd latley. I thought it was just a fungal infection but maybe he has internal parasites as well.
Is it a problem to feed them the parasite meds if he doesnt have them? Should I wait to find out? I read the parasite article and the only thing he does alot of is eat a ton. He can eat alot (Almost a whole krill) but he will turn his nose up to other foods.
The reason I ask is because my guy is pretty thin. He has a big fhead and body and then V's sharply into his tail, he doesnt look like many of the other fat puffer pictures on here. I thought it must be because Walmart just underfed him and he picked on pretty badly (He had approx. half of his tail fin and his rear dorsal was nibbled on as well.).
SO what would you say? IS it just a good precausion?
Is it a problem to feed them the parasite meds if he doesnt have them? Should I wait to find out? I read the parasite article and the only thing he does alot of is eat a ton. He can eat alot (Almost a whole krill) but he will turn his nose up to other foods.
The reason I ask is because my guy is pretty thin. He has a big fhead and body and then V's sharply into his tail, he doesnt look like many of the other fat puffer pictures on here. I thought it must be because Walmart just underfed him and he picked on pretty badly (He had approx. half of his tail fin and his rear dorsal was nibbled on as well.).
SO what would you say? IS it just a good precausion?
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SpockthePuffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 334
- Joined: Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:24 pm
- My Puffers: A wee GSP named Milton
- Location: Connecticut
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
I would say yes treat him. Its a good precaution and most GSPs will have IPs when bought, especially from Wal Mart. Since they are caught from the wild its something all GSPs should be treated for.
You can also tell if your puffer has them if he poos out stringy white stuff, those are the worms but thats not always a sign so it isn't the greatest method of telling if they have parasites.
After you treat the puffers they will poo out all the parasites and you'll probably see them on the gravel. Which is why you should vacuum the gravel very well after treating them.
Also, if you're worried about using meds when he doesn't really have them you could have a try at the pumpkin seed method, I've heard it works but its kind of pain to make the pumpkin extract.
You can also tell if your puffer has them if he poos out stringy white stuff, those are the worms but thats not always a sign so it isn't the greatest method of telling if they have parasites.
After you treat the puffers they will poo out all the parasites and you'll probably see them on the gravel. Which is why you should vacuum the gravel very well after treating them.
Also, if you're worried about using meds when he doesn't really have them you could have a try at the pumpkin seed method, I've heard it works but its kind of pain to make the pumpkin extract.
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
~Shannon~
10g betta & snail tank, 30g GSP named Milton, 55g sw fowlr
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Is that a little dent i see on the second pic? Thats how one of my puffers came in, when i first got them, i didn't know much about them at the time, i used them to cycle a 2.5gallon tank. They eventually got healthy after regular feedings and by keeping the water parameters stable (not an easy task for a 2.5gal tank). Give it time, you'r puffers will get healthy.
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seacowz
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:27 am
- My Puffers: Puffy, my little baby GSP! <3
Re: GSP has dark belly and is pretty skinny
Spock, i just have to say your tank puts my tank to shame.
You must have one happy little puffer.
You must have one happy little puffer.