1) Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, Ammonia 0
2) 22 gal
3) feeding frozen blood worm, water change once a week
4) put plants in, water spite?
5), been cycled almost 1 year,
Hi I have notice some weird movement for my congo puffer, I have him for 7 months now going for 8. he's been doing well until recently I introduced 2 plants in the tank, I think it's call water sprite? even since I put the plants in, he's been biting the plants quite often, and couple days ago I notice some white spot on his back so I assumed it was ich. I took out the carbon and dosed melafix and pimafix in the tank for 2 days. he seems to recover from it the day before yesterday so i put the carbon in last night. today when i came home, he was lying on the branch of plant and doesn't seem welling to move at all, even when he swims seems like he is swimming with all his power. he also does this move by going crazy swimming from right to left and left to right with mouth open trying to bite something, he was hitting the glass as well...I just took out the carbon again and put in some more melafix and pimafix now. i just fed him frozen blood worm and he ate them all but he wasn't swimming as smoothly as usual and sometimes lost picking on the worm...(normally he will pick the blood worm in one shot) so i'm just wondering what should i do? or if anyone has some advice, thanks.
Congo Puffer with weird movement
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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busybones
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
Are you only feeding him Bloodworms? They aren't very nutritous..Check out this article on feeding he may not be getting enough healthy foods.
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
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beapeman
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
Oh sorry I forgot to mention, I buy ghost shrimp once in 2 weeks for him so he has ghost shrimp for couple day then back to blood worm routine. also i feed him once in 2 days.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
Try other foods.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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beapeman
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
I also have snails in the tank but he doesn't seem to have interest on them at all...should i crash the snail and give it a shot?
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Pufferpunk
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T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
My Congo never ate a single snail. I even kept a large apple snail with him for maid service.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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pufferpuggirl
- Mbu Puffer
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
The snails are taking over in my little Congo's tank .... and I've never seen any of my lurker's eat snails.
The "going crazy swimming right to left" is something I've seen both my adult, and my smaller Congo doing before. I don't know why they do this, but I've talked to other Congo owners who have seen the same behaviour in theirs. I don't think it's anything to worry about though.
You might want to try offering your Congo mussels, pieces of shrimp (prawn), and maybe some earthworms, just to get some nutritious foods into him.
The plants that you've introduced, are they safe for your puffer? If he's biting them, you might want to make sure they can't hurt him. That's just something to check out, as I'm not really sure what's up with your Congo, best to check out all options.
The "going crazy swimming right to left" is something I've seen both my adult, and my smaller Congo doing before. I don't know why they do this, but I've talked to other Congo owners who have seen the same behaviour in theirs. I don't think it's anything to worry about though.
You might want to try offering your Congo mussels, pieces of shrimp (prawn), and maybe some earthworms, just to get some nutritious foods into him.
The plants that you've introduced, are they safe for your puffer? If he's biting them, you might want to make sure they can't hurt him. That's just something to check out, as I'm not really sure what's up with your Congo, best to check out all options.
"Puffer .... man's best friend?"
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beapeman
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
Ok! Thanks I will try other food and see thanks.
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eieio
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
pufferpuggirl wrote:The "going crazy swimming right to left" is something I've seen both my adult, and my smaller Congo doing before. I don't know why they do this, but I've talked to other Congo owners who have seen the same behaviour in theirs. I don't think it's anything to worry about though.
"ollie" does it too! "I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
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beapeman
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
I do notice he does the "swing crazy left to right" move but these days he was acting strange. Normally when I go to the tank, he will greet me right away but these days he would just bury in the sand and not welling to move. also normally when I put in the food, he will go grab them right away but these days he will just burn in the sand, ignoring the food...that's why I was worried. Now I have dosed melafix and pimafix and I guess I will try to dose everyday for 7 days and see what's going on...Thanks for the help everyone!
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pufferpuggirl
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
Are you using the Melafix and Pimafix because of the white marks on his body? Or because he's swimming in the crazy way? I would not use it for more than 7 days in total, so if you've already used it for 2 days, I would just continue for 5 days more. You also might want to add an airstone to the water to increase oxygen, as some people have had bad results when using Melafix and Pimafix without extra oxygen going into the tank.
Congos can be odd, so I would just wait a bit and see if he goes back to being his "normal" self. Going a few days without food isn't a big deal, they do have their "off days".
Congos can be odd, so I would just wait a bit and see if he goes back to being his "normal" self. Going a few days without food isn't a big deal, they do have their "off days".
"Puffer .... man's best friend?"
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beapeman
- Puffer Fry
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Re: Congo Puffer with weird movement
OK. Thanks I will stop on the 5th day then. I do have airstone in my tank so I think should be alright. He is eating today and he greets me when I come close to the tank which is a good sign. I'm going to dose for 2 more days and will put the carbon back in. Thanks for the help.pufferpuggirl wrote:Are you using the Melafix and Pimafix because of the white marks on his body? Or because he's swimming in the crazy way? I would not use it for more than 7 days in total, so if you've already used it for 2 days, I would just continue for 5 days more. You also might want to add an airstone to the water to increase oxygen, as some people have had bad results when using Melafix and Pimafix without extra oxygen going into the tank.
Congos can be odd, so I would just wait a bit and see if he goes back to being his "normal" self. Going a few days without food isn't a big deal, they do have their "off days".