sad news

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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.
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nick h
Puffer Fry
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:06 am

sad news

Post by nick h »

hey everyone.
in my last post i had mentioned that i thought "Umlaut" my 3 year old fahaka puffer was ill. well, i dont know what was wrong but he did not make it through the night last night. i found him belly up in his cave this morning. i have tested all my water parameters and everything is the same as it always was. i suspect he contracted "something" from a feeder shrimp from the lfs. the only problem with that theory is that it has been about two weeks since i gave him his feeder treats so i dont know. all i do know is that i tried hard to keep him alive, and im mad right now because today i was going to buy some formalin and preform a medicated treatment. oh well, i guess too little too late.
anyway thanks everyone for all of their help on this forum. i wish i had discovered this place years ago.
nick h
lisalisa

Post by lisalisa »

Perhaps it also had something to do with inadequate space. How long had he been in the 55?
I'm so sorry for your loss, it sucks :(
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xautomaticflowersx
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:14 am
Location: Berkshire, England, UK.
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Post by xautomaticflowersx »

Dear me... lots of puffs seem to be dying this week. Bad luck, it's a shame.
Image
6.2.0 x Ferrets
0.0.1 x Tetraodon cochinchinensis - RIP
0.1.0 x Eublepharis macularius
1.0.0 x Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis
Tihsho
Fahaka Puffer
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Post by Tihsho »

My condolences.
<80 gal> 2 GSPs & a Ceylon!
<75 gal> 3 Figure 8s & 1 Butterlfy Goby
<75 gal> *Empty*
<55 gal> 3 Gymnothorax polyuranodon (FW eel)
<30 long> Pair of Lorteti's & Irrubesco's, 1 DP, Endlers Livebearers, Clown Pleco, Royal Pleco, 2 Bumblebee Cats
<20 long> 4 Flounders
<4 gal> 2 Sparkling Gouramis & 3 ottos heavily planted

Image


~Tihsho~
nick h
Puffer Fry
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:06 am

Post by nick h »

thanks for your support everyone. he was in the 55 for about a year. before that he was in a 40gal. for about 2 years. it sucks because i was gonna get him a new tank in january. do you think that might have hurt his health, he was active and seemed happy. anyway, thanks again for your support, i am very broken up about it all.
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Stunting can result in enlarged organs in a smaller body.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Pamela
Green Spotted Puffer
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Location: Oxford, UK

Post by Pamela »

Sorry about that. Poor Umlaut.
Pami.
nick h
Puffer Fry
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:06 am

Post by nick h »

i had no idea about the stunting issue, thank you pufferpunk. i have definitely learned much about puffers in the last few months from being on this board, and am very sad to learn the hard lessons of puffer keeping. :(
i came home to an empty tank tonight, and there are some ghost shrimp just cruising around in there now. it was such an infuriating sight to see his little tasty treats just swimming about not scared anymore, thinking they own his tank or something.
Pamela
Green Spotted Puffer
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Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 8:50 am
Location: Oxford, UK

Post by Pamela »

Aww, dude, don't torture yourself. We've all learnt the hard way..everyone here has lost a puff somehow through not knowing any better...it happens, mate, but it won't happen next time, yeah?
Pami.
puffniko
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:54 am

Post by puffniko »

Sorry about your loss. It sucks when you dont know the reason why it happened.
nick h
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:06 am

Post by nick h »

yeah this has definitely been the learning experience.knowledge is power and i wont let it happen anymore. i do have one question though, should i completely re-cycle my tank before putting new fish in?. of course do a large water change a few times to get the toxins out, but how should i go about this. i have this empty tank just sitting there.
puffniko
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:54 am

Post by puffniko »

I have the same issue. I did 2 water changes before mine died. I have been checking it every day and everything looks great so im going to get a F8 tomorrow and watch it carefully. Hopefully everything will work out. Im not an expert but im trusting the people in the forum to guide me. Good Luck
nick h
Puffer Fry
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:06 am

Post by nick h »

hey thanks for the info puffniko. i will definitely do two, perhaps even three or four h20 changes. i cant hurt right. the problem is that i don't have anything in there right now. basically it is a dead tank-nothing producing ammonia, etc. I'm kinda afraid to just plop new fish in there because the tank may have uncycled. i will check the levels and if everything is still fine, in a week i will get more fish.
ps. good luck with the f8. I'm thinking of sa puffers, but not looking forward to snail breeding. oh well you take the good and bad with your pets i guess.
nick h
lisalisa

Post by lisalisa »

Nick H, by your readings being 'fine' what do you mean? With nothing producing food (Ammonia) for the bacteria, they will die within 24 hours. You're going to need to re-cycle your tank before starting again.
dorna_b
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:48 am

Post by dorna_b »

That sounds really sad, I'm so sorry. Weird how people get so attached to their puffers. Try not to think about it too much.
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