Thanks for all of your help, I think I am going to try and adjust the light cycle to more of what I am experiencing to see if he is just tired from not enough night time. I am also going to cut back on his feedings and see what happens when I introduce some live foods in 3 or four days. I am hoping one or the combination of things will help him get out of his slump!
Any thoughts on doing these changes all at once? I don't think skipping a meal will hurt him but changing the light cycle and maybe the tank set up, anyone think that it will be too much? I don't want to stress him out.
As far as his size I knew that he would get to be about 18 inches at some point honestly he is about the same size as the day I got him.
Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
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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pufferpuggirl
- Mbu Puffer
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- Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:04 pm
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1 x T Schoutedeni
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Rainbow crab
crayfish - Location (country): Yorkshire, GB
- Location: South Yorkshire, UK
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
I always enjoy reading what Neale Monks has to say -- it always makes sense, and makes me analyse my own situation.
You're a darn sensible guy Mr Monks!!!
In regards to your question kingFUGU, maybe your puffer needs a jolt, and therefore making all these changes at the same time could be just what might do that for him. I really do hope you sort the situation and your Fahaka gets back to being the puffer you initially had.
All the best!
You're a darn sensible guy Mr Monks!!!
In regards to your question kingFUGU, maybe your puffer needs a jolt, and therefore making all these changes at the same time could be just what might do that for him. I really do hope you sort the situation and your Fahaka gets back to being the puffer you initially had.
All the best!
"Puffer .... man's best friend?"
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nmonks
- Mentor
- Posts: 364
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- My Puffers: Carinotetraodon irrubesco
Colomesus asellus - Contact:
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Kind of you to say so!
Cheers, Neale
Cheers, Neale
pufferpuggirl wrote:I always enjoy reading what Neale Monks has to say -- it always makes sense, and makes me analyse my own situation.
You're a darn sensible guy Mr Monks!!!
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kingFUGU
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:36 pm
- My Puffers: 1 Green Spotted Puffer
1 Fahaka Puffer - Location (country): Lancaster Pa USA
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Thanks again for all of the help great advise across the board, looks like I have a lot of work to do tonight. I will keep you posted with progress and hopefully Chongo will be back to his old personality soon.nmonks wrote:Kind of you to say so!
Cheers, Neale
pufferpuggirl wrote:I always enjoy reading what Neale Monks has to say -- it always makes sense, and makes me analyse my own situation.
You're a darn sensible guy Mr Monks!!!
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Good luck!kingFUGU wrote: Thanks again for all of the help great advise across the board, looks like I have a lot of work to do tonight. I will keep you posted with progress and hopefully Chongo will be back to his old personality soon.
It is absurd to talk of one animal being higher than another. We consider those, when the cerebral structure/intellectual faculties most developed, as highest. A bee doubtless would when the instincts were.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
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LilGreenPuffer
- Former Staff Member
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- 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: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Three cheers for Neale!
"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!
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kingFUGU
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:36 pm
- My Puffers: 1 Green Spotted Puffer
1 Fahaka Puffer - Location (country): Lancaster Pa USA
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Update,
Did some visual test he responds and moves his eyes around. Doesn't seem like he is blind. I also did some more research maybe I wasn't being clear. Chongo was about 6 inches when I got him so they told me about 2 years old then. I have havd him for about two years. So all in all he is around 4 now. From what I have found out the puffers tend to get very lazy in older aged and tend to be no as aggressive as when they were young. More of a lay and wait type hunter in the later years. Can any one verify ths with their own experience?
Did some visual test he responds and moves his eyes around. Doesn't seem like he is blind. I also did some more research maybe I wasn't being clear. Chongo was about 6 inches when I got him so they told me about 2 years old then. I have havd him for about two years. So all in all he is around 4 now. From what I have found out the puffers tend to get very lazy in older aged and tend to be no as aggressive as when they were young. More of a lay and wait type hunter in the later years. Can any one verify ths with their own experience?
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busybones
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 738
- Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:46 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: ******
(1)T. lineatus-Fahaka~Pookie 125 gal
(1)M. turgidus- Brown Puffer~Rowdy 30 gal
(1)T.nigroviridis-GSP~ 55 gal - Location (country): USA
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Hummm....I honestly think it has everthing to do with feeding amounts and his diet. I'd think if they did get lazy when they were older it would be more than 4 years...fahaka's live for 15 years so he's still pretty young
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Dadof4
- Tech Team
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- My Puffers: 1 GSP (Microfiche) RIP, 1 Monotrete Turgidus (Leon) in a 30gal. 1 Monotrete suvattii in a 40 gal FW. 120 gallon BW with 3 juvenile Dragon Gobies (so cool). 55 gal with a 2" GSP named Hank. 180 gallon being set up for a Fahaka in the next few months!
- Location (country): United States
- Location: North Wisconsin
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
I honestly think this is a diet and feeding timing issues. When I mentioned live foods I should have said to not use feeder fish for the reasons Neale stated. I do use them but, I use Mollies that I have had for years and breed on their own. I only use the fry that are fed a very nutritious diet and feed them once every few months for my truly piscivorous species (Suvatti) to give them natural stimulation.
I would start with holding out the food for a while and see if that makes a difference, only one change at a time.
I would start with holding out the food for a while and see if that makes a difference, only one change at a time.
"Darwin swings...annnnnnd a miss. Boy Jim, Chuck's suffered at the plate tonight. He's 0 for 3 and I'm not sure he's recovered from that shoulder pull a few weeks ago. I'll bet the front office is re-thinking that contract."
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nmonks
- Mentor
- Posts: 364
- Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 8:33 am
- My Puffers: Carinotetraodon irrubesco
Colomesus asellus - Contact:
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
While I don't like to use live feeder fish myself, whenever I've written on the topic, I've always tried to separate the ethical from the practical arguments. If you are happy with the ethics of feeding live fish, then using them as you describe here is precisely how it should be done. Livebearers apparently don't contain thiaminase or much fat, and they're easily gut-loaded with plant-based foods (this latter critical to supplying vitamins that come from plant rather than animal foods). There are unquestionably situations where live feeder fish are essential. The problem is that mostly they're not, and the aquarists using goldfish to feed oscars, lionfish, gar and so on are simply creating problems for themselves in the long term.
When it comes to stimulation, I personally prefer to train my predators to be hand fed. Using forceps you can usually feed even skittish things like pike characins that won't take food from your fingertips. Once you have them feeding this way, it's easy to move the food about, "tease" them with it, get them to snap at it a few times, and generally make them work for their dinner.
It's an illusion to assume they'll ever get anything like the exercise they'd get in the wild, but I'm more interested in getting fish reacting to me than anything else. There's a practical reason for this. If your fish "beg" for food, or come to me when they see me outside the tank, it's easy to check on their health. It also encourages them to view me as the focal point of their lives rather than each other, and that, I think, reduces things like aggression.
Cheers, Neale
When it comes to stimulation, I personally prefer to train my predators to be hand fed. Using forceps you can usually feed even skittish things like pike characins that won't take food from your fingertips. Once you have them feeding this way, it's easy to move the food about, "tease" them with it, get them to snap at it a few times, and generally make them work for their dinner.
It's an illusion to assume they'll ever get anything like the exercise they'd get in the wild, but I'm more interested in getting fish reacting to me than anything else. There's a practical reason for this. If your fish "beg" for food, or come to me when they see me outside the tank, it's easy to check on their health. It also encourages them to view me as the focal point of their lives rather than each other, and that, I think, reduces things like aggression.
Cheers, Neale
Dadof4 wrote:When I mentioned live foods I should have said to not use feeder fish for the reasons Neale stated. I do use them but, I use Mollies that I have had for years and breed on their own. I only use the fry that are fed a very nutritious diet and feed them once every few months for my truly piscivorous species (Suvatti) to give them natural stimulation.
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pufferpuggirl
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 3979
- Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:04 pm
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1 x T Schoutedeni
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1 x T Miurus
Rainbow crab
crayfish - Location (country): Yorkshire, GB
- Location: South Yorkshire, UK
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
See --- the man ALWAYS makes sense!!! I keep trying to find something that I don't agree with or something that's not quite right, and I just can't find it! Darn Neale, when are you going to write a book on puffers? Or at least puffer health? I think it would be very well received, and we need more books with pictures of puffers, can't get enough pictures!!
"Puffer .... man's best friend?"
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busybones
- Fahaka Puffer
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- My Puffers: ******
(1)T. lineatus-Fahaka~Pookie 125 gal
(1)M. turgidus- Brown Puffer~Rowdy 30 gal
(1)T.nigroviridis-GSP~ 55 gal - Location (country): USA
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
KingFugu hasn't givin us an update today...hope everything is going well....
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nmonks
- Mentor
- Posts: 364
- Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 8:33 am
- My Puffers: Carinotetraodon irrubesco
Colomesus asellus - Contact:
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
How kind!
Actually, I do have a whole chapter of pufferfish in my Brackish Water Fishes book. There are at least two pufferfish books already on the market. One is by Klaus Ebert and published by Aqualog, and the other by Chris Ralph and published by Practical Fishkeeping. The Aqualog book is very good in terms of pictures and species identification, but quite pricey. The PFK one is a fun read, but it does have some errors.
Cheers, Neale
Actually, I do have a whole chapter of pufferfish in my Brackish Water Fishes book. There are at least two pufferfish books already on the market. One is by Klaus Ebert and published by Aqualog, and the other by Chris Ralph and published by Practical Fishkeeping. The Aqualog book is very good in terms of pictures and species identification, but quite pricey. The PFK one is a fun read, but it does have some errors.
Cheers, Neale
pufferpuggirl wrote:See --- the man ALWAYS makes sense!!! I keep trying to find something that I don't agree with or something that's not quite right, and I just can't find it! Darn Neale, when are you going to write a book on puffers? Or at least puffer health? I think it would be very well received, and we need more books with pictures of puffers, can't get enough pictures!!
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pufferpuggirl
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 3979
- Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:04 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffs & Stuff:
1 x M Abei
1 x M Turgidus
1 x T Palembangensis
1 x M Baileyii
1 x T Schoutedeni
1 x T Leiurus
1 x T Miurus
Rainbow crab
crayfish - Location (country): Yorkshire, GB
- Location: South Yorkshire, UK
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Actually Neale, I have your book, the Aqualog book, and the PFK one too. Thing is, no offense, but yours is only about the brackish species, the Aqualog doesn't really address illnesses and internal parasites, etc., and like you said, the PFK one might be cute, but it's not really a "reference" book.
I just thought with your knowledge of puffer biology, and the way you've been able to explain things on here, it might be a good idea for a book. There's really nothing in print that tells us about feeding puffers, or about the thiaminase problem, or any really good information on internal parasites. It would be nice to have something to refer to when there's problems. Sort of a "trouble-shooting" guide for puffer keepers, if you will.
I just thought with your knowledge of puffer biology, and the way you've been able to explain things on here, it might be a good idea for a book. There's really nothing in print that tells us about feeding puffers, or about the thiaminase problem, or any really good information on internal parasites. It would be nice to have something to refer to when there's problems. Sort of a "trouble-shooting" guide for puffer keepers, if you will.
"Puffer .... man's best friend?"
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kingFUGU
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:36 pm
- My Puffers: 1 Green Spotted Puffer
1 Fahaka Puffer - Location (country): Lancaster Pa USA
Re: Fahaka Puffer Blind?!
Antoehr update:
Day 2 no food has been fed. I changed the tank around and he has started to swim and investigate the new surrounding. Also with not feeding him he is starting to eye up the Danios that have been in there for a few months now. I am starting to feel that it was me over feeding and allowing him to be lazy. I will continue to give updates as I see change. Sunday will be the true test I have a fiddler crab with his name on it.
Day 2 no food has been fed. I changed the tank around and he has started to swim and investigate the new surrounding. Also with not feeding him he is starting to eye up the Danios that have been in there for a few months now. I am starting to feel that it was me over feeding and allowing him to be lazy. I will continue to give updates as I see change. Sunday will be the true test I have a fiddler crab with his name on it.