Sick or Shy?

[Puffpuff3]

My GSP seems to be hiding under a log a lot lately. Is this normal, or is he sick? He still eats regularly, and all is well with his water quality.

[edmlfc1]

Mine do that from time to time. Sometimes they just don't want to be looked at.
If he's still eating and gets excited about food, then he just has an attitude. If he wasn't eating I would be worried.

[Puffpuff3]

I'm not quite worried yet, just concerned. He's got black on him (which I hear can be bad), is hiding a lot, and only comes out to eat. Since his water is good I just fear he is unhappy. Silly a question as this may seem, is there something I can do to make him happier?

[yunachin]

I have one with a complex that stays hidden unless it is dinner time. He comes out and his belly is a little dark but then it clears up rather quickly.
Yours could be bored, is there lots of decor to keep him busy in there? Are the lights too bright?

[Puffpuff3]

There's a fair amount of decor - fake logs and stumps for him to explore, plants to weave in and out of, and the crushed coral substrate for him to pick through. Should I add more for him? The lights seem ok as well, though I'll try and adjust them some. Would he possibly like a friend? I hear they fight when they grow, so is that a bad idea?

[riggers]

Get some pictures of the whole tank up so we can see what it looks like.

[Puffpuff3]

Here is a picture of his tank. If you look closely you can see him swimming near the bottom on the right on one of his rare apperances.

[riggers]

I'd say you can cram a whole lot more plants and hiding places in there for him. Just makes sure there is loads of stuff he can explore in there. Lighting looks to be OK. So yeah just get some more stuff in there and see how he goes. How big is he now?

[Puffpuff3]

I'll definately find some more things to put in for him. He is only about an inch, an inch and a half at most. Baby puff!

[marksrush]

What salinity do you have him at, and what's the temperature? What do you feed him, and how often? When you say water quality is fine, does that mean you've tested for toxins like nitrites, ammonia, etc. and everything's at 0? Do you have good water movement throughout the tank? Do you ever give him anything to hunt, like a few ghost shrimp or snails? And the others are right, you can use some more stuff in your tank, GSPs love to have to swim through all sorts of twists and turns and tight spots.

Aside from all that, lots of puffers seem to like to find a comfy, secure little nook and just hang out there for long periods, so don't worry about it too much. My larger one does that most of the day, and she's healthy as a fish can be. If you see other symptoms being added on to this behavior, that would be the time to worry.

[Puffpuff3]

It's good to hear that is normal for them to hide, but now I am worried - I was looking more closely at my little puffer when I was feeding him, and noticed tiny white specks all over his body. I thought there was no way it could possibly be ick, but then I notcied too that he was scratching himself against his plants. Is this certinaly ick? Fortuanetly I picked up some ick treatment at the store in case the need ever arose. It's called Ick Out Sensitive for more delicate fish. His water is good (amonia at zero, and nitrates and nitrites at zero as well; temp 78, PH 8.0) so should my only course of action for the time being be to use the Ick treatment? My poor puffer! Perhaps he really is sick!

[Pufferpunk]

Are you sure it isn't just his tiny spines? If it's on his fins too, it's probally ich. Easy med-free treatment in our Library.

[Puffpuff3]

There are spots on his fins, too. The articles had some good advice, but one of them mentioned something I didn't understand. It said to lower salinity to 1.009 in order to kill the parasites. But then how does ick survive in freshwater without any salinity at all? My salinity is only about 1.006 (I've only recently begun raising it), so technically shouldn't the ick be dead?

[StormySkiez]

You need to do the FW Ich treatment I believe. Sorry he is ill..........

[Puffpuff3]

I started treatment yesterday, and today my little puff was out exploring all day! Perhaps he is beginning to feel better.