Stumbled onto a Congo...

[Myaj]

That is the one thing I've always found breathtaking in congos, those eyes.

I don't think you'd be able to breed the livebearers in the tank, the parents-to-be would probably be eaten the first night or two. And puffers are stronger than you'd think, a divider or breeding net wouldn't do a ton of good.

As far as gestation, pretty dang fast IME. They can get out of control pretty quick. One bit of advice, if you find a very nice style that local stores will pay decent $$ for, your extra fry can bring you in a bit of extra cash...

[Smashtoad]

Yeah...you're probably right...silly idea. And there would be no divider or net...I'm gonna make a nice display tank for this guy, and that kind of stuff is unsightly. Maybe I'll set up a 10, do lots of water changes, and try to breed guppies.

First I'm gonna check a few LFS around here and see who has feeder guppies. Being as though they are probably pond bred in FLA...wouldn't they have some of the same potential issues as rosies?

I have to admit though, I have not historically been real wary about feeding sick animals, as they are the first to go in the wild, and stress free, healthy animals seem to have pretty strong immune systems. But Lord knows as soon as I say that, this Congo will get some jungle funkgoidus and croak on me.

[Smashtoad]

This guy is gonna die. He has been super lethargic and "off kilter" for two days...I pulled him off the intake tube twice yesterday. Now he is swimming in circles, and when he does rest on the bottom, he is almost upside down. Whatever is killing him has been happening slowly. It can't be nitrites or ammonia. It looks parasitic to me...life just keeps on givin...

Central Indiana water is very hard and alkaline. Being from an African river, I am assuming these guys don't come from that naturally. Nothing like paying $40 for a fish and having it croak five days later.

[Pufferpunk]

So sorry to hear that... It hasn't eaten at all?

[Smashtoad]

Yeah, he ate fine for a couple of days...Rosie Reds. I just can't imagine anything transferred from the rosies killing him this fast. He has been acting a little strange since shorty after I got him, but he was eating, so I discounted it.

It may have just been plain old stress. I bought him Tuesday and put him into a freshly cycled tank. The Julidochromis may have been stressors, but he ate. Then on Saturday I put him in a cooler and switched the gravel for pool filter sand...I suppose this could have changed water parameters somewhat...although 80% of the water was retained. I did, however, do a 30% water change on Thursday because his breathing seemed very fast. I also used some Tetra Flora Pride on Saturday...but surely that is fish safe, right?

It reminds me of the parasitic stress deaths I have seen in reptiles and amphibians to some degree...I just don't know. Sure is a bummer, though. He was fine in a LFS for a week, and I kill him in five days...just sucks.

[Jase]

What kind of filter have you had on the tank, and have you kept up with the water quality since the substrate change?

[Smashtoad]

What kind of filter have you had on the tank, and have you kept up with the water quality since the substrate change?

An Aquaclear 70...and the substrate was just changed Saturday (two days ago). The tank was cycled with 9 small julidochromis and a bushy nosed pleco...all of which are fine. I moved the Julies out Saturday, but the pleco is still in the tank, looks like a million bucks.

The LFS will give me half my bread back. I'm gonna see if they can get me another one. I'll test nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia just to be sure and go again. IF they can get another one...supply on these things can't be real consistent, hopefully I'm in some kind of supply window when the shooting in the Congo has stopped

[Agnate]

Sorry to hear about that.

One thing you could do for breeding is just to plumb a tank underneath the current one (or just hide it in a cabinet). They wouldn't need a lot of attention, just the feedings and occasional cleaning.

[Smashtoad]

Sorry to hear about that.

One thing you could do for breeding is just to plumb a tank underneath the current one (or just hide it in a cabinet). They wouldn't need a lot of attention, just the feedings and occasional cleaning.

Thanks...I am going to get some giant danios, plant my tank...and let it cycle for a couple months before I try another puffer. I have had fish for over twenty years, and have NEVER had the trouble with fish that I have had with these puffers. In the past five years, I have killed this congo and two arrowheads...all (I believe) due to mini cycles due to adding the puffer and feeders. When you guys say in the Pufferpedia that these guys are sensitive to ammonia and nitrite...you ain't kiddin.

This is the hypothetical scenario that I believe took place...I hope it can help someone avoid the same thing.

1. 38 gallon tank cycled with 9 small Julidochromis and a bushy nose pleco for 1.5 months (should have cycled at least another month...my opinion).
2. Puffer purchased and added to tank (Tuesday).
3. Added six small rosie red feeders. Puffer ate two (Wednesday).
4. 25% water change performed due to labored breathing in puffer. Puffer ate another rosy same day (Thursday).
5. Puffer is active, but still, at times, seems to be breathing fast (Friday). I believe if I would have stopped here, and let the tank roll for a few weeks I would have been fine...but...I was concerned that he wanted to bury himself and couldn't in the large gravel.
6. Switched gravel out for sand, essentially removing a huge portion of my bacteria bed, along with another 15 - 20% water changge...causing another mini-spike that has stressed him over the edge, possibly inflaming parasitic or bacterial infection.

Comments and opinions will be appreciated.
6.

[side19]

sounds like a plausible scenario to me. how much else did you have for the bacteria to grow on besides the gravel? if you mad mostly plants and not alot of other decor you mostly likely were only left with a little BB left over after the switch. that's what i think anyway, i though BB couldn't grow on plants themselves, but correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not totally sure if that's true or not.

[ghost_shrimp]

Its possible that your tank wasn't able to handle the bioload of your puffer, even though you had cycled it with other fish. When I got my turgidus, I set it up in a new tank using filter media from my other well established tank. I had done this before with other tanks without any problems and thought it shouldn't be any different with a puffer by itself in a 20g. It turned out I had problems with nitrites for the first week or so. I ended up doing daily multiple water changes and adding Bio-Spira to try and get the nitrites under control. In your case, changing out the substrate might have been too drastic a change for your tank to handle. Those puffers put out a lot of waste!