Just checkin'

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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.
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billysgirl4e
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:34 pm
My Puffers: 75g FOWLR My GSP, "Ryuu"
55g Nothing yet.
10g Fresh. 1 Betta, Elvis. 1 Platy, Mickey.
5g BBGs
QT: Yellow Tang.
Location: FLoRidA!!!

Just checkin'

Post by billysgirl4e »

Hey, all! While I've learned a lot about puffers, I don't consider myself an expert... so thought I'd double check here. My hubby brought me home a new GSP today (yay!...I guess that means I get to keep all THREE tanks!). 3" long. from Walmart <gag>. In Freshwater, of course. I have been slowly bringing my brackish tank down...1.004 (natural salinity of my water..) Anywho, nitrates are a little high right now (10-15ppm) because my vacuum broke, but I got a new one the other day, and have been doing frequent (daily to every other day) 20-25% water changes for a couple of days to make up for it. Nitrites are still at 0 :-) Tanks been cycling for months. :-)Ammonia is 0, too. Temp is currently set slightly high ~85-86, in case there's any ick I can't see. Raised the salinity .002 once he became acclimated and settled. All things considered he seems to be in pretty good condition (for a walmart fish) from what I can tell. Minimal fin rot. Round Belly. Good coloring. Active. Only things I've noticed so far is a bit of hyperactivity (perhaps external parasite or fungus...w/out signs?) Occasionally rubbing against things...(all may be just due to new surroundings too...dunno). Also, some brown to grey coloring on his tail. Is it just part of his natural coloring or something to watch out for? Never seen such a thing. Also, he changes belly color more often than I change haircolor! (that's a feat!) I haven't been worried about it, because it always goes back to nice and white, with a good flourescent patch on his head. Any concern though? It's like he's bipolar or stresses out over EVERYTHING. He's not a big people fan if you're closer than a foot or so. LOL...although he doesn't mind ya if you're feeding him snails! :-) Right now I feed him once a day, diet of brine shrimp, blood worms, and snails once a week. I also added a dose of melafix. I'll post pics below for your expert advice. Thanks! PS Also posting a bulletin regarding a name for him in the brackish puffer section - tried to stick to one topic per post this time.

Thanks a bunch!

J Bishop

PS Just had a coughing fit. Is that normal?

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Agnate
Former Staff Member
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(Captain Abe)
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Re: Just checkin'

Post by Agnate »

He looks to be in pretty good shape, considering his age, size, and that he was kept in freshwater for so long. He might be moody still because he's not in the brackish condition he likely prefers (usually at 3 inches, they are in high-end brackish or full marine).

Also, if he was stuck at a Walmart for that long, he's probably really skittish and nervous around people. Just give him some time, and hopefully he'll warm up to you. :)

It's impossible to see in your pictures, but in reference to the brown/grayish fins, I don't think it's a major problem if it just looks like a colour tint (the fin is still transparent and such). Both of my Ceylons have brown/grey colouring throughout their rear fin.
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40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
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pufferfreak
Mbu Puffer
Posts: 1012
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:26 pm
Gender: Male
Location (country): U.S.A.
Location: San Siego, CA
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Re: Just checkin'

Post by pufferfreak »

He looks fine. But i really cant tell as Agnate said.
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Myaj
Tech Team
Posts: 4587
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:27 pm
Gender: Female
My Puffers: Bubba, turgidus
Paris, lined burrfish
Location: SE Wisconsin
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Re: Just checkin'

Post by Myaj »

Keep in mind, since GSP's are not bred in captivity (yet!) this guy is wild caught.

The younger ones adapt pretty easily, but at 3", that's getting pretty big/old and being caught, transported, sorted, transported, poked and stared at at Walmart, transported and put into a new tank at your home is a heck of a lot of stress to a fish that spent probably the previous 2 years happily swimming around in the wild.

So yes, he's bound to be a bit "nervous", which explains the darting around and color changing. Most likely he'll settle down. I know it sounds silly, but try to avoid wearing bright colors or placing bright colored things near him for now, some puffers really seem to be scared of the color red, etc, when they are first in captivity.

He looks okay from the pictures, maybe a little skinny but give him some time. You might have to deworm him if he starts to look skinny or have a sunken belly, but for now just try to keep the water clean and keep things as quiet and mellow around the tank as possible.
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billysgirl4e
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:34 pm
My Puffers: 75g FOWLR My GSP, "Ryuu"
55g Nothing yet.
10g Fresh. 1 Betta, Elvis. 1 Platy, Mickey.
5g BBGs
QT: Yellow Tang.
Location: FLoRidA!!!

Re: Just checkin'

Post by billysgirl4e »

Thanks Myaj!
Wow, I didn't realize the life he probably had before I got him. He's warmed up a lot more now...he comes to the glass and such, and his color is very good!
Still don't know what to name him though :( This usually isn't an issue for me, but I'm having this rediculous mental block. Any ideas?
-Jess
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crazedpuffer
Former Staff Member
Posts: 1755
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 11:57 pm
My Puffers: 1x Porcupine Puffer
1xValentini
Location: Long Island, NY

Re: Just checkin'

Post by crazedpuffer »

Skipper?
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billysgirl4e
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:34 pm
My Puffers: 75g FOWLR My GSP, "Ryuu"
55g Nothing yet.
10g Fresh. 1 Betta, Elvis. 1 Platy, Mickey.
5g BBGs
QT: Yellow Tang.
Location: FLoRidA!!!

Re: Just checkin'

Post by billysgirl4e »

That'll be my next one! Thanks C.P.!
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