Hey guys,
I have a 7 inch Porcupine puffer and a small damsel in a 55 gal aquarium. A member of my household didnt like the algae growth on the aquarium so she decided to do a 80% water change and clean out the whole darn thing (while i was out of town). Now my puffer has been suffering for the past week or so from the high ammonia toxicity. It read 2.0 ppm at some point (no not 0.2...yes 2.0 ppm!!!)...but to make a story short...I was able to recover about 10 gals from my old aquarium (which btw has been setup and ran for 3 years straight without any problems until this radical water change). I did one 25% water change so far and I am using AmQuel+ like a mad man...a Bio-Filter Bacteria Booster and AmmoLock. The numbers went haywire for the past week but my last water test gave me:
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrites: 0.50
Nitrates: 50
pH: 7.9
Salinity: 1.021
I just wanted to get with you guys to see if you had any advice for me as far as how I can rectify this situation, my biological filter isnt 100% effective yet. Is there anything I can do to keep the Ammonia levels down? My puffer is basically swimming with his head down into the gravel bed, hasnt eaten for days and responds very sluggishly to my actions. Any tips you have you'd like to share? What I am interested in is getting the water bacteria up to par with the water I had before the 80% water change was done. Any idea? Thanks!
Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
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.
Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
Water changes , water changes, water changes. Also and not to sound mean but that Porcupine should be in a 120 gl tank. Good luck.
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Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
[welcome}
Get some Bio-Spira ASAP & this should take care of the present problem. Do an 80% WC bevore adding it to your tank. Do you have a sump?
Part 2 of your problem is mentioned in trekenk 's post.
What are you feeding him?
Get some Bio-Spira ASAP & this should take care of the present problem. Do an 80% WC bevore adding it to your tank. Do you have a sump?
Part 2 of your problem is mentioned in trekenk 's post.
What are you feeding him?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
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edmlfc1
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Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
I agree get bio-spira asap. 
Need to know what kind of puffer you have? Click on Puffer ID.....Puffer ID: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
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What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
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Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
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Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
Hi,
where do I get bio-spira??
Oh and the puffer was only 2 inches when I got him....3 years later.....bam! He grew lol i will get a bigger tank when money allows for it, this should only be a temporary fix.
I have heard somewhere that there is a denitrifyer that uses vodka? Anybody heard of that?
where do I get bio-spira??
Oh and the puffer was only 2 inches when I got him....3 years later.....bam! He grew lol i will get a bigger tank when money allows for it, this should only be a temporary fix.
I have heard somewhere that there is a denitrifyer that uses vodka? Anybody heard of that?
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blondenblue
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Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
i have used vodka, it is a very slow process, deffinately not a quick fix sorry
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edmlfc1
- Mbu Puffer
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- Location: Texas
Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
You can get Dr. Tims for saltwater or you can get Instant ocean bio-spira. They are the same thing. I think you can have it overnighted if your lfs don't carry it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=18986
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/5425/product.web
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=18986
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/5425/product.web
Need to know what kind of puffer you have? Click on Puffer ID.....Puffer ID: ug.php/v/PufferPedia/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
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Agnate
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Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
While you're waiting for Biospira/Dr. Tim's, get a bottle of Prime water conditioner and start dosing! Prime detoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite temporarily, which will give you some room to breathe until the Biospira shows up.
Also, my next word of advice would be making your housemate do the water changes and pay for the Biospira/Prime. It may sound harsh, but she needs to learn that you ALWAYS converse with the owner of a pet before you start fiddling with their life. She could just have easily killed your puffer, which she would have felt way more horrible about.
It always gets me when people have good intentions, but fail to use their brain and think about what they're doing before doing it.
Also, my next word of advice would be making your housemate do the water changes and pay for the Biospira/Prime. It may sound harsh, but she needs to learn that you ALWAYS converse with the owner of a pet before you start fiddling with their life. She could just have easily killed your puffer, which she would have felt way more horrible about.
It always gets me when people have good intentions, but fail to use their brain and think about what they're doing before doing it.
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Re: Porcupine dying! Need some advice!
Agnate wrote:While you're waiting for Biospira/Dr. Tim's, get a bottle of Prime water conditioner and start dosing! Prime detoxifies Ammonia and Nitrite temporarily, which will give you some room to breathe until the Biospira shows up.
Also, my next word of advice would be making your housemate do the water changes and pay for the Biospira/Prime. It may sound harsh, but she needs to learn that you ALWAYS converse with the owner of a pet before you start fiddling with their life. She could just have easily killed your puffer, which she would have felt way more horrible about.
It always gets me when people have good intentions, but fail to use their brain and think about what they're doing before doing it.
Ooh dont worry, she got a piece of my brain alright lol, she want be so quick to touch my aquarium in the future. I never heard of prime but will stop by my lps to see if they carry it. I am using amQuel+ for now...puffer seems to be doing better but is still on the bottom...not swimming about yet. I did another 25% water change and the numbers are somewhat safe ...except for some ammonia still and nitrites.