Puffers are faded.

[izatop]

hello fellow puffer fans,

i have had a pair of amazon puffers for about 2-3 months. they are in a 30 gallon tank, i am feeding them bloodworm daily. ammonia levels in the tank are zero.
i left for the weekend to another city, while i was gone, my brother was feeding them so they were not starved. i came back 3 days later (today) and they seem a bit faded. by faded i mean that the black splotches on their backs became kind of grayish and got much closer in shade to the rest of their body (more so for the smaller puffer than the larger one).

they seem just as active and happy as they usually are, but i am worried. is this normal? is this something that normally happens when they mature?

[By_a_coo]

How is your water parameters now? Did you change anything related to lighting?

[Agnate]

My Ceylons would randomly switch from pale to vibrant coloured, and it was a mood thing. It's possible that they're just moody that you left them for a weekend. ^_^

[izatop]

the water parameters that i posted are from 2 hours ago, and they were the same before the weekend. i did not change anything with respect to lighting.

[marksrush]

You only mentioned ammonia. There's also nitrites and nitrates - you need to know the values for those too, because they are toxic as well.

Often when we have someone feed our puffers while we're away, the person who's helping you WAAAY overfeeds. Could this have happened, and caused your water parameters to go lousy? I mean so many problems come down to water quality, plain and simple.

[izatop]

The bloodworm come frozen in small cubes. i cut each cube into 4 pieces, and feed one quarter every day. my brother has seen me do it and has done it himself quite a few times. they generally eat all of it, sometimes they leave a bit.
unfortunately i only have ammonia and pH test kits. i will probably buy the other one soon, but keep in mind that the tank has been cycled for quite some time now, and that before putting the puffers in, i tested the water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates and it was very good (i had fish living there up to a few days before i put the puffers in).

P.S. update: it has been about 10 hours since i first noticed the fading. it seems that Mr. Bubbles is somewhere half way between its original coloration and what i saw earlier today.

[Agnate]

Just as a head's up, Nitrate is a toxin that's less potent than the others, but is still potent at higher amounts. With puffers being sensitive to toxins, they'll often become agitated when the Nitrate starts to rise a bit, which can be seen when their colours are faded or their bellies turn black (they don't do this ONLY from nitrate levels, though). It could be possible that your nitrates are just a little above their comfort zone, and thus causing them to be agitated. Maybe performing a 25% water change to reduce nitrates could help their mood if they're still a bit faded.

[By_a_coo]

Paul, I agree with you. I just forgot the fact that puffers show their mood fading or hueing their color. My F8s don't eat if someone else try to feed them, perhaps izatop's puffers did the same!

[izatop]

thanks for the replies guys. i appreciate it. i have done a water change and Mr. bubbles seems to be getting better.

a slightly off topic question: how long does it take sap's to reach adult size? and is it actually 3 inches, or is it usually closer to 2?