GSP lethargic

[Norse_Disc]

Lately my GSP has become very lethargic. He is usually very active, but lately has just been hanging out at the bottom of his tank not really doing anything. The only thing that has changed in his tank lately is I removed a decoration that had started accumulating algae quickly. The other day he was having some problems swimming too, his equilibrium seemed a little off. Should I be concerned and what should I do?

[LilGreenPuffer]

A mod or admin will probably move this to the Hospital section. Can you answer these questions?

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.

[marksrush]

As LilGreenPuffer says above, with any problem, we need to have the information requested in the pink area at the top of the page.

Beyond that, from my own experience and that of others who have posted in this forum and elsewhere, it's not at all uncommon for GSPs and other types of puffers to spend most of their time hidden away in their favorite spot. My GSP comes out when I bring food, and she often swims around the tank in the evening shortly before lights out, but otherwise she stays hidden behind a cave and the plants that surround it. When they're new to the tank, yes, they pace a lot and are quite active - but over time, they tend to settle down and spend less time cruising around.

If your GSP is indeed swimming poorly or is having equilibrium problems, this needs to be looked into further. Is it eating? When you removed the decoration, did you stir up the substrate a lot? If so, you could have released toxins into the water. On the other hand, sometimes puffers do NOT like us messing in their tanks and kind of pout for a few days after doing various in-tank maintenance chores.

We'll be watching for your answers to the questions in pink.

[Norse_Disc]

1) pH 7.8
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
Alkalinity 180
Salinity 1.004 (I started raising it a couple weeks ago)
2) 10 gallon tank, my GSP is the only inhabitant. (he's getting a 30 gallon tank soon now that he has gotten bigger)
3)I feed him every day, and do a water change every other week. The only products I have used are prime to dechlorinate tap water and instant ocean to raise salinity.
4)I took out a decoration that had been accumulating algae quickly and slightly rearranged the other decorations.
5) It has been set up since the end of last November with fishless cycling.



Sorry for the delay in the response but life as college student got a big crazy with classes and work, and my GSP regained his equilibrium and has started act much more normally since my last post. I talked to the owner of a local fish store and she said when they eat something quickly, their air bladder can shift, or something like that. Could that have been why he was swimming kind of on one side? He is still spending a lot of time at the bottom of his tank which isn't that normal for him, but he still comes out when he sees I am going to feed him.

[LilGreenPuffer]

Well, he probably doesn't have a lot of space for moving around. The bigger tank will help a lot.

Water changes should be weekly. 20 is the max.

Fish don't have air bladders. He must have meant the swim bladder. He may have been a tad constipated. That can push on the bladder and lead to swim bladder disorder. The LFS person was right - it was probably a mild case of this.

I'm glad to hear he's feeling better!