GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
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.
-
freddyfish
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 6:09 am
- My Puffers: Freddy (GSP)
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
I just got a bubble wall, and he is swimming around a lot more but still putting his mouth to the surface. Should I leave the bubble wall running all the time? The package said I needed some kind of indicator to measure something, but I didn't realize until I left the store.
-
PufferGrrl
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:02 am
- My Puffers: F8 Puffer - Nibbler
GSP Puffer - Bubbles - Location: Milwaukee, WI
- Contact:
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
Is he still in the 10 gal or back in the 30?
-
freddyfish
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 6:09 am
- My Puffers: Freddy (GSP)
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
He is still in the 10 gal.
-
Happy_Puffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:55 pm
- My Puffers: Green Spotted Puffers
The new owner of a Canthigaster jactator
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
I leave my bubble wall on all the time and I don't have anything on it just a bubble wall. Hopefully he will realize that he has more oxygen and stop going to the top. I'm not sure why he is doing that but I am glad that he is swimming better. Next time maybe get some prime and see if that helps, other then that I'm not really sure what to do. Is he eating yet? Maybe he is stressed by being in a 10 gallon, what did you have him in before? He needs a bigger tank, maybe thats why he is upset.
*Katie*
The new owner of a salt water tank
The new owner of a salt water tank
-
PufferGrrl
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:02 am
- My Puffers: F8 Puffer - Nibbler
GSP Puffer - Bubbles - Location: Milwaukee, WI
- Contact:
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
Be careful for him inhaling air while he's up there. I had mine do that once, and he ended up upsidedown because he had air in his belly and he wasn't letting it out. Just something to watch for... He was doing the same type of thing though...hanging out up at the top, trying to get air up there.
-
freddyfish
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 6:09 am
- My Puffers: Freddy (GSP)
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
He was actually a lot more stressed out in the 30 gal. when this behavior began, and he did a lot of lying down. I wanted to put him in a clean aquarium in case something had contaminated that one.
I'm having a really hard time figuring out what's wrong because his symptoms are constantly changing... his coloring has been consistently poor (black tummy), but for a while he would lie on the bottom being unhappy, and today he is constantly at the surface of the water. His appetite has been nonexistent except for four bites of food this morning. He has been eating a few bites a day. Right now he is ignoring the freeze dried blood worms, I don't know why.
If he is inhaling air at the top, what can I do to have him stop? Any idea why he is refusing food?
I'm having a really hard time figuring out what's wrong because his symptoms are constantly changing... his coloring has been consistently poor (black tummy), but for a while he would lie on the bottom being unhappy, and today he is constantly at the surface of the water. His appetite has been nonexistent except for four bites of food this morning. He has been eating a few bites a day. Right now he is ignoring the freeze dried blood worms, I don't know why.
If he is inhaling air at the top, what can I do to have him stop? Any idea why he is refusing food?
-
PufferGrrl
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:02 am
- My Puffers: F8 Puffer - Nibbler
GSP Puffer - Bubbles - Location: Milwaukee, WI
- Contact:
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
How are you water parameters doing? I had the same problem and couldn't figure out what was going on with mine either.
-
Happy_Puffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:55 pm
- My Puffers: Green Spotted Puffers
The new owner of a Canthigaster jactator
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
What is your sg at? He might be getting burned if you didn't mix the salt well enough. I would do a water change and see if that helps him. If the salt level is too high (meaning that you raised it too fast) he might be freaking out. When I put mine in the salt water tank after an hour or so acclimating him, his belly was black and he wouldn't eat and he died a few days later. Are he teeth over grown and he can't eat? Did you try moving the food, maybe he likes to chase it. Did you change the filter media in the last few days, maybe its going through another cycle, is the tank cloudy? I am just fishing for answers, I have had a few puffers that have acted like this and I am just thinking of the problems I had. Did you treat for ips? (sorry if I have asked these questions before)
*Katie*
The new owner of a salt water tank
The new owner of a salt water tank
-
freddyfish
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 6:09 am
- My Puffers: Freddy (GSP)
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
Freddy passed away in his sleep Tuesday night/Wednesday morning 
We buried him in a nice garden. Thank you all for your help and I hope everyone who has a sick fish sees him or her recover.
We buried him in a nice garden. Thank you all for your help and I hope everyone who has a sick fish sees him or her recover.-
PufferGrrl
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:02 am
- My Puffers: F8 Puffer - Nibbler
GSP Puffer - Bubbles - Location: Milwaukee, WI
- Contact:
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
I'm sorry for your loss 
You did everything you could have for him..
You did everything you could have for him..-
freddyfish
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 6:09 am
- My Puffers: Freddy (GSP)
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
Thanks, I tried really hard. After looking up another disease I came across Gill Disease, which is what it sounds like he had.
-
Happy_Puffer
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:55 pm
- My Puffers: Green Spotted Puffers
The new owner of a Canthigaster jactator
Re: GSP hiding, too skinny, white wisps in tank... please help!
Aww I'm so sorry I was really hoping that you could save him!!
*Katie*
The new owner of a salt water tank
The new owner of a salt water tank