Why does my smallest GSP stay on the bottom after feeding?

[Froggy416]

My first post. Sorry if I ask a bunch of FAQs.... I'm relatively new at brackish tanks. This is my first one actually. I am using marine salt, not aquarium conditioning salt.

My problem: I suspect I may be over-feeding my smallest GSP. I have 2 x GSP, and 3 x F8 puffer in a 48g tank, with oversized filtration because these fellows poop a lot of waste out. The tank seems stable, well cycled, and has gone up slowly from fresh to brackish (18 ppt/1.01 sg) conditions. FIrst off, do you guys think this is the correct salinity for 3 to 4 month old F8s and GSPs or have I gone too high?

Second, if the smallest GSP sits on the bottom (see pic) like this, for several hours after I feed him (this has happened several times) is this an indication that I've overfed him, or is it possible it's another problem, or just perhaps that he's not an alpha, and is picked on, so this is his way of lying low:

http://tinyurl.com/6jcq65

Here's a pic of one of his F8 tankmates:

http://tinyurl.com/5vh4nq

Thanks.

Warren/Toronto/GTA-Aquarium forum alias:KuhliLoachFan

[Nick]

I believe those are ceylon puffers, not figure 8's. Which is good, because SG is a bit high for F8's, and ceylons are much more compatable with GSP, but bad, because 3 ceylons means 120 gallons of fish tank down the road. The GSP does look sick, if it's a bellyache after eating, might be internal parasites, is he skinny soon after eating, not eat much, or have stringy poo?

[Froggy416]

Oh. They're ceylons then eh? The LFS is not known for naming things right. They're not too agressive right now, but Ceylons will get more aggressive over time right? So if they all survive my incompetence, I'm going to have way more fishie fishie than will fit in 48g... Hey, I've always wanted an excuse to get a 200g.... Ceylons and GSPs both go up to full marine when adult, right?

I figured out something stupid and obvious: The heater was slowly running away, and when I came home today I realize the temperature had gone from 78 (last week when there was a thermometer in the tank) to over 94. I put a thermometer back in, took out 40%, and then used an airline to "drip" cooler water in slowly, and now I've got it down to 84 in just over an hour and a half. I realize that's fast, but I didn't want to go any slower, because the smallest GSP was curled up in the bottom corner of the tank like he was dead. I was scared.

Warren

[Nick]

Yes, both go full marine quite well.

[Froggy416]

Nowadays this puffer seems to have black color (smearing of grease, it looks like) on his underside. He also grays out on me, changing color to look quite unwell.

Then five minutes later, I have looked and his color looks good. It's like he found a little bunch of blackish algae in the tank and has smeared himself in it.

Has anybody seen a sickness like this?

W

[Nick]

Darkening color usually indicates a grumpy mood, sometimes from an infection, or sometimes because the fish is moody. I've found puffers with IPs often display a gray belly, but others that definately have it are white bellied all the time. It's a mood indicator, and while mood can be an indicator of the health of the fish, sometimes it does not. T. Sabahensis seems to get dark belly whenever there is much ambient light, but GSP and Ceylon seem to do the Mood Belly thing.

[Agnate]

My Ceylons used to go completely pale (top-colour inclusive) whenever I would go near the tank. It took them almost 5 months before they'd show their normal colours. Whenever I did a water change, I wouldn't see them for 1-2 days unless it was feeding time.

If he has a consistently black belly, post up some good-quality pictures (if you can), and we'll try to see if we notice anything unusual, but by the sounds of it, he's probably just moody. I found that if I did stuff they didn't like a couple times, they'd hate me for it. If this is the same puff that was turning dark after eating when the temperature was high, he's probably just grumpy at you in general, heh.

What's your temperature at now? If you can, add an air pump or powerhead that shoots out very small bubbles (ie. micro bubbles) to increase the oxygen in the water. It's not necessarily your solution, but it could be a potential problem, especially if the temp is about 80 F.

If they're still pretty young, it could just be that they're getting used to things and are still a bit stressed/scared. What are you water parameters at (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH)? Are your lights really bright? Do they have lots of caves/plants in the tank to keep them entertained and give them places to hide? Is there a background on the tank?

[Froggy416]

He died. I suspect a combination of (a) raising the salinity too little, too late, and (b) the LFS was known to be pretty low quality, (c) I had a log in there that I should have removed before adding any marine salt, I think it might have released some toxins into the tank. He was definitely moody. I'm going to miss the little fella though, because he was the cutest fishie I ever did have.

W

[Pufferpunk]

Sorry for your loss...

It's survival of the fittest with a tank that size containing so many puffers. Even as juvies, I wouldn't give them less than 10g ea & upgrade to 30g ea 9Celons grow larger than GSPs so 40g for them), once they are >2".