Is my puffer gasping for breath?
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.
Is my puffer gasping for breath?
Last week i noticed my gsp going up and down the side of the tank and sticking his beak up above the water. My tank has been fully cycled for a long time so I didn't think much of it but after a while i did a water test, and the nitrates were a bit high. I did a water change to get all the parameters to zero and my puffer is still going up towards the top of the tank sticking it's beak area up above the water. I've had other freshwater fish before and i've seen them go up for a breath when the water was bad but my puffer only seems to be sticking his beak out and not really opening his mouth like my freshwater fish used to do. Is this normal behaviour?
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Nick
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Re: Is my puffer gasping for breath?
That is very strange... Part of Shakespeare's "rounds" of his tank do include occasional breaches of the surface in his two favorite corners, but not as a continual behavior. Could he be bored with this tank?
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Re: Is my puffer gasping for breath?
Hey hey, reminds me of Buffy when I first got her....
she used to beg for food doing that
she used to beg for food doing that
Re: Is my puffer gasping for breath?
Yeah, i forgot to add, he would only do this when he was up against the glass or in one of the corners...Nick wrote:That is very strange... Part of Shakespeare's "rounds" of his tank do include occasional breaches of the surface in his two favorite corners, but not as a continual behavior. Could he be bored with this tank?
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Nick
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 3231
- Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:47 pm
- My Puffers: Mine:
GSPs - Shakespeare and Jillybean
F8 - Velvet
My fiance:
DP - Emma Goldman
Narrow Lined Puffer - Ulrike - Location (country): Northeastern USA
- Location: Middletown, CT
- Contact:
Re: Is my puffer gasping for breath?
Shakespeare definately does that - I think he is trying to get "over" the reflections into the rest of the room. More so than any other puffer in the tank, he makes a go every now and then of trying to explore the regions beyond the glass wall.
No matter how magnificent your successes or devastating your failures, the worlds' approximately 5 billion impoverished people could not possibly care less.
Re: Is my puffer gasping for breath?
Nick wrote:Shakespeare definately does that - I think he is trying to get "over" the reflections into the rest of the room. More so than any other puffer in the tank, he makes a go every now and then of trying to explore the regions beyond the glass wall.
Yeah, mine tries to jump up in the air as well. I've noticed this behavior to be more frequent lately, at first i thought it was the temperature of the water that was the cause of it.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Is my puffer gasping for breath?
Be sure your tank is covered well.
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!"