Hello,
My husband and I were raised as aquarium enthusiast. Since getting together, we have only really focused on African Clawed Frogs. My husband fell in love with a little spotted green puffer at Walmart (I know, mistake #1) and so we decided to purchase a new tank set up.It is a 3 gallon tank. We ended up taking home 2 small puffers and a little pleco that night. The tank setup came with one synthetic plant (with a base that looks like a rock) and we also purchased a bright yellow "puffer lady" for the tank. When I set up the tank, I used some water from my frog tanks, the water that the puffers came with and I used Start Right with Allantoin for the rest of the water. I let the puffers float for about 30 minutes to let the water temps even out.I did notice that one of the puffers had dark grayish spots on his back and I couldn't tell if it was scarring or signs of disease. We fed the fish some freeze dried krill before our bedtime and they went crazy for it. The next morning, the tank had a very strong rancid onion smell to it. My husband tried feeding them again around noon and they had zero interest in the food. We went to a local pet store to pick up some minnows for our frogs to eat and we got a couple extra along with a snail for the puffers. The minnows and snail went into what I call the holding cell. The frogs enjoyed the snack but when we put one in with the puffers, nothing. The had no interest in the krill at night time either. The onion small got bad enough to convince me to do a partial (approx. %30) water change. The next morning, both puffers were dead. Besides those couple of spots, and the lack of appetite (that I just assumed was from stuffing themselves the night before) they seemed just fine. I put them back into the Walmart fish bag with some tank water. With in hours, the pleco died as well (absolutely no symptoms from it) and the tank got a ring of froth around the top of it. The smell kept intensifying. My husband was just sure the minnows did it and they must have made the other ones sick so he dumped them all into the 3 gallon tank, much to my horror. About 2 died each day. Yesterday, with 3 minnows left, I put them back into the holding tank. One seemed a little disoriented and I was sure that it was the next to go. I did a full tank cleaning. Everything except the gravel and filter got sprayed down with vinegar water and rinsed in scalding water. The gravel and filter only got a rinse down. I reassembled everything, treated the water with the Start Right and aquarium salt, and put the 3 minnows back in. All 3 are active and constantly begging to be fed and seem to be just fine now. The nasty onion smell will not go away though. This was my first experience with puffers and I feel horrible that it ended so badly. I don't think the minnows are to blame. None of the frogs became ill, the snail (now named Mr. Crunchy who lives with the male frogs) is doing fine, and the 3 remaining minnows are great. I have no test kits for the aquariums (mistake #2) so I don't know if it was a water balance problem or if the one puffer had a disease. I want to make sure this doesn't happen again. This is my first big failure with fish. Where did I go wrong with these poor little guys?
Sticking to frogs (and I guess minnows) for now,
Nonnie
Puffer devistation! I feel terrible =(
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.
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edmlfc1
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2011
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:03 pm
- My Puffers: Elvis (Stars & Stripes) R.I.P. 9/11/11
125G:Fahaka (Annabelle) - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Texas
Re: Puffer devistation! I feel terrible =(
Things to remember:
Never ever put a puffer in a tank that is not cycled. Green spotted puffer's need 30 gallons per fish.
I believe your fish died from amm. posioning. The tank was only 3 gallons, for two puffers you would need 60 gallons. Also the tank was not cycled. Combined with them using the potty and the food you fed them the night before it killed them quickly.
This is a mistake that most people make. Walmart and the local fish stores don't know diddly about these puffers. We hear this on a daily basis. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just dust it off to experience, get yourself a larger tank, search pufferpedia to see which puffer is best for you, get your tank cycled and start over. 
There is a great article about green spotted puffers in the library.
Just remember: Puffer's are very addicting and lead to mts (multiple tank syndrome).
Never ever put a puffer in a tank that is not cycled. Green spotted puffer's need 30 gallons per fish.
I believe your fish died from amm. posioning. The tank was only 3 gallons, for two puffers you would need 60 gallons. Also the tank was not cycled. Combined with them using the potty and the food you fed them the night before it killed them quickly.
This is a mistake that most people make. Walmart and the local fish stores don't know diddly about these puffers. We hear this on a daily basis. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just dust it off to experience, get yourself a larger tank, search pufferpedia to see which puffer is best for you, get your tank cycled and start over. There is a great article about green spotted puffers in the library.
Just remember: Puffer's are very addicting and lead to mts (multiple tank syndrome).
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.....
GSP Article: library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
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Christemo
- Suspended
- Posts: 401
- Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:33 pm
- My Puffers: 1 GSP (RIP Puffy... we tried everything we could. :( )
2 Figure 8s (Cupcake and Sprinkles) - Location: Marlton, NJ//Emmitsburg, MD
- Contact:
Re: Puffer devistation! I feel terrible =(
3 gallons for two puffers and a pleco, plus it being uncycled, plus the food is what killed them.
Two F8's, two tiny fantails and a pleco call me mommy.