Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
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.
- Troender
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1843
- Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:04 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 1x GSP (Bolla), 1x m. something. Bought as a leiurus, maybe a turgidus (Tiger), 1x c. irrubesco (Tott(a) aka Houdini) 1x c. salivator (Jack the Ripper), 1x m. cochinchinensis (Hufflepuff - R.I.P.), 2x c. lorteti (Tommy and Tigern = Calvin and Hubbes), 1x m. suvatti (Koseklumpen), 1x m. palembangensis (Dragonfly), 2x t. biocellatus (Koken and Fiken).
- Location: Askim, Norway
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray!
I've never trusted digital thermometers. I've heard not so nice things about them. I've also read about a test of thermometers, and the digital ones were inaccurate.
Inger Anne
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Just think how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! -George Carlin

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Just think how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! -George Carlin

- Myaj
- Tech Team
- Posts: 4587
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:27 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Bubba, turgidus
Paris, lined burrfish - Location: SE Wisconsin
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray!
I generally have a digital and a stick on on every tank, both are cheap, and hey, at least you know one of them is probably close to right. I can honestly say I've never had a problem with either, they usually agree on the temp within a few degrees.
For heater brands, the old Jagers were great, the new ones.. not so much so. I mainly have Stealths now and have had good luck with those, but I've still heard of them failing here and there.
For heater brands, the old Jagers were great, the new ones.. not so much so. I mainly have Stealths now and have had good luck with those, but I've still heard of them failing here and there.
- Bogwoodbruce
- On Probation
- Posts: 284
- Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:57 am
- My Puffers: 1x T. Mbu (Dwaine)
- Location: Rotherham, UK
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray!
Hope hes gonna be ok
sure he will be 
- Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
- My Puffers: -
1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray!
Yeah, my digital is readying 67F and the glass thermometer is reading 79F.
Tested the water parameters today and things are good (Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 5-10 ppm). I started adding Vitamin C yesterday to both keep the Nitrate as low as possible and also to aid with healing.
His breathing is considerably less laboured now, but I think some serious damage was done to his eye. His eye looks white (what little can actually be seen, as it's still swollen over), and now there's a little bit of white stringy stuff coming out of it (I'm guessing it's excess slime coat from the eye trying to heal).
Anything I should add for it? Melafix and/or Pimafix? I hate adding things, but if it means he'll get his eye back, then I'll do whatever I can.
Tested the water parameters today and things are good (Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 5-10 ppm). I started adding Vitamin C yesterday to both keep the Nitrate as low as possible and also to aid with healing.
His breathing is considerably less laboured now, but I think some serious damage was done to his eye. His eye looks white (what little can actually be seen, as it's still swollen over), and now there's a little bit of white stringy stuff coming out of it (I'm guessing it's excess slime coat from the eye trying to heal).
Anything I should add for it? Melafix and/or Pimafix? I hate adding things, but if it means he'll get his eye back, then I'll do whatever I can.
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- 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: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
You could try beta glucan (vitamins). It's an immune booster. Puffer Queen told me to use it once on my saltwater fish. I've used it on Annabelle and Elvis before.
I even take it myself when I'm starting to feel Ill. I have to say it does work.
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/
- Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
- My Puffers: -
1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
Yeah, I'm going to start using more vitamins for him, for sure.
Well, the swelling on his eye is going down, which is good. His eye is still VERY cloudy white, and I think he might be blind in it, but his other eye is fine, at least. He was looking pretty poor today (black belly and lying on the bottom). I turned on the light and was sitting on the couch, and then he started swimming around and pacing the glass, so I got him some food (a piece of krill, since he likes them the most, and they're the least messy of his foods, heh). He gobbled down about 3/4 of a krill (it was broken into pieces), which is good (as he hasn't eaten since this whole thing started, maybe about 5-7 days ago). So hopefully he's on his way to a speedy recovery.
I also bought a second glass thermometer just to be double-sure what the temp was, so things look a lot better in the tank.
Well, the swelling on his eye is going down, which is good. His eye is still VERY cloudy white, and I think he might be blind in it, but his other eye is fine, at least. He was looking pretty poor today (black belly and lying on the bottom). I turned on the light and was sitting on the couch, and then he started swimming around and pacing the glass, so I got him some food (a piece of krill, since he likes them the most, and they're the least messy of his foods, heh). He gobbled down about 3/4 of a krill (it was broken into pieces), which is good (as he hasn't eaten since this whole thing started, maybe about 5-7 days ago). So hopefully he's on his way to a speedy recovery.
I also bought a second glass thermometer just to be double-sure what the temp was, so things look a lot better in the tank.
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- LilGreenPuffer
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 5301
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:26 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Dwarf puffer - Thumbelina (only mine in my heart now; she lives in CT with my friend)
RIP Inigo Montoya, Fezzik, and Vizinni.
RIP James Bond. - Location (country): United States
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
Yay!
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him or her. Will she gain anything by it? Will it restore her to a control over her own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to freedom for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi

Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
Found among the papers of Mohatma Gandhi

Come and visit http://www.thetriopsforum.com!
I AM A DUDETTE!
NEED NITRIFYING BACTERIA FOR YOUR NEW TANK? PM ME!
- Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
- My Puffers: -
1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
I've been dosing with Vitamin C now for the last 4-5 days, so I'm hoping that's helping things out! ^_^
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Troender
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1843
- Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:04 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 1x GSP (Bolla), 1x m. something. Bought as a leiurus, maybe a turgidus (Tiger), 1x c. irrubesco (Tott(a) aka Houdini) 1x c. salivator (Jack the Ripper), 1x m. cochinchinensis (Hufflepuff - R.I.P.), 2x c. lorteti (Tommy and Tigern = Calvin and Hubbes), 1x m. suvatti (Koseklumpen), 1x m. palembangensis (Dragonfly), 2x t. biocellatus (Koken and Fiken).
- Location: Askim, Norway
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
Now it's happened to me too! Both a fawlty heater and a thermometer.
Luckily I lost only one fish, as most fishes in this tank prefer hot water (but not that hot
). The temperature reached 35,5 Celcius before I spottet the problem. And it was the dead catfish that was the reason why I found out about it. No more cheap heaters for me. From now on I will only go for Jäger heaters.
BTW, how is Abe doing?
BTW, how is Abe doing?
Inger Anne
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Just think how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! -George Carlin

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Just think how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are even stupider! -George Carlin

- Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
- My Puffers: -
1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
Sorry to hear that it's happened to you, too!
It's bothersome to see such faulty equipment when dealing with pets. Hopefully the better heaters work out well. I haven't picked one up yet, heh.
Abe's doing well. His eye healed up nicely and he can still see out of it (yay!).
It seems that since the summer months are here, it's easier to maintain his water temp without a heater, so he's just been making due without one.
Abe's doing well. His eye healed up nicely and he can still see out of it (yay!).
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Jase
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 1579
- Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:13 am
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: RIP Hootey :(
- Location (country): USA
- Location: Montana
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
I'm very glad to hear he is well 
-Jase
edmlfc1 wrote:A house without a puffer is not a home.![]()
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
Wow, the heater you used was Hydor? I just bought a Hydor to treat my Abei with the heat and salt method.. It seems to work properly right now.. i set it at 86F it was at 87F is pretty constant. I hope I didnt get a faulty one. The lady at the store recommended me the Jager but i went for the Hydor instead and i really hope i didnt make a huge mistake.
- Agnate
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm
- My Puffers: -
1 Abei Puffer [Monotrete Abei]
(Captain Abe) - Location: Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Poor Abe! Everyone Pray! *Update*
Just keep 2 thermometers and check it now and then. 
Did our staff successfully help you? The Puffer Forum is an incredible resource and is run completely on the donations of its viewers. Proceeds from the Puffer Forum store go towards future contests and keeping the site running. Donations may also be made via PayPal.
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
- Paul
40 gallon - Future home of Abei Puffer
28 gallon - 1 Abei Puffer (Captain Abe)
5 gallon - 1 Betta (Frederico)
