maybe im paranoid?
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.
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
maybe im paranoid?
so the last two days ive noticed that my two gsp puffers are flashing. it seems to be toward the head area and not the body. both puffers have had small puffs of cottony looking stuff (i am assuming fungus) on their pectoral fins. on both, the cottony areas were small and had persisted for several days despite water changes. they are not showing any signs of any other problem on their bodies; no white patches, no fuzz. they are eating well and are not gasping. parameters in the tank are ammonia: 0ppm, nitrite: 0ppm, nitrate: 20ppm. i need to grab a KH test kit. my SG is at 1.003 (my tap water shows 1.002). we started adding melafix tuesday to try to combat the fungus since we noticed that they would hold one fin or the other still against their bodies. could the flashing be due to the melafix going to work? should i continue the treatment? should i up the SG? or should i sit back, take a breather and relax? im really at a loss here
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
Re: maybe im paranoid?
crap, heres the rest of the info:
2) the two puffers are currently in a 29 gallon. i have a 60 that i am cleaning up to set up for them to move into. there are no other inhabitants in the tank
3) i feed once a day. they did not get fed last night (this is their skipped meal since they are around 2"). i have been changing out 8 gallons of water every 3 days since the tank is pretty small for the two of them. i have been using prime to condition the water (2 drops per gallon) and petco brand marine salt
4) see the above answer for these. primarily the melafix and the salt are the new additions to the tank
5) the tank had been cycled for months. we had fish in them and moved them all to the 55. unfortunately, i didnt realize that i had to cycle the thing again since it went several weeks without any inhabitants. we had a mini cycle when we added the puffers. we used old filter media from the 55 to seed the puffers filters. it has tested clean (no ammonia, no nitrates) since the 14th. we started adding salt on monday.
2) the two puffers are currently in a 29 gallon. i have a 60 that i am cleaning up to set up for them to move into. there are no other inhabitants in the tank
3) i feed once a day. they did not get fed last night (this is their skipped meal since they are around 2"). i have been changing out 8 gallons of water every 3 days since the tank is pretty small for the two of them. i have been using prime to condition the water (2 drops per gallon) and petco brand marine salt
4) see the above answer for these. primarily the melafix and the salt are the new additions to the tank
5) the tank had been cycled for months. we had fish in them and moved them all to the 55. unfortunately, i didnt realize that i had to cycle the thing again since it went several weeks without any inhabitants. we had a mini cycle when we added the puffers. we used old filter media from the 55 to seed the puffers filters. it has tested clean (no ammonia, no nitrates) since the 14th. we started adding salt on monday.
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Nick
- Former Staff Member
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Re: maybe im paranoid?
Gradually increasing the SG should help eliminate the problem. I have most commonly seen this in GSP that have spent more than a month or so in fresh water, you just started adding the salt, so hopefully over the next week or so it will help.
No matter how magnificent your successes or devastating your failures, the worlds' approximately 5 billion impoverished people could not possibly care less.
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
Re: maybe im paranoid?
thank you so much. ive been wondering if i was doing something wrong
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
Re: maybe im paranoid?
i increased the SG to 1.004 on sunday. initially, both gsp looked wonderful and were white bellied and happy. especially when i added the crushed coral substrate (no aragonite around here). the tanks pH has risen from 7.8 to 8.2 over the last couple of days, but seems to be holding fast at 8.2. ive been monitoring parameters and got a small nitrite spike for a day which has subsided. i noticed this morning that nitrates have gone up to 40ppm, so i did a 50% water change. temp is at 78ºF. one puffer (spot) has been fine. sleepy during the day like usual and active in the evenings starting around dinner time. his color is wonderful.
dot on the other hand has been shwoing stress coloration for the last 24-36 hours or so. her underbelly is still white, but she has really dark grey bars down her sides. she also hasnt been eating much. she is eating, getting really excited at first, but stopping after a couple of bites, then going up to the top of the tank to sit under where the filters spill water back in. there is a bubbler. today she is greyed out and very lethargic. she is swimming, but she seems to be doing everything in slow motion. and her eye appear sunken. is this just a reaction to the water? is there anything else i can do?
dot on the other hand has been shwoing stress coloration for the last 24-36 hours or so. her underbelly is still white, but she has really dark grey bars down her sides. she also hasnt been eating much. she is eating, getting really excited at first, but stopping after a couple of bites, then going up to the top of the tank to sit under where the filters spill water back in. there is a bubbler. today she is greyed out and very lethargic. she is swimming, but she seems to be doing everything in slow motion. and her eye appear sunken. is this just a reaction to the water? is there anything else i can do?
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
Re: maybe im paranoid?
a crap. she just started doing the erratic swimming/crashing around thing and is sitting up at the top looking stiff.
CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP
CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
Re: maybe im paranoid?
she just went belly up. i am euthanizing with clove oil 
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Pufferpunk
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Re: maybe im paranoid?
I think you could have jumped the gun with euthanizing... Is she gone now? What are the parameters?
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!"
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inkyjenn
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:13 pm
- My Puffers: 2 Green Spotted Puffers
"Dot" and "Spot" - Location: so cal
Re: maybe im paranoid?
she went belly up and was barely breathing when i pulled her out of the tank. parameters were: ammonia: 0ppm, nitrite: 0ppm, nitrate: 20ppm, pH: 8.2. when i went to get her, there was no response. if she had even wiggled a little to try to get away, i would have let her go and waited it out. she was just bobbing.