My puffer isnt eating and doesnt know how to swim.

[An2n]

As what the title said.

1. I run out of testkit
2. 30 gal. My puffer lives by himself.
3.I made a 50% water change last Friday. Normally, I feed him live crickets, small snails, and blood worms. the past week he stopped eating live crickets, so I give him blood worms and snails now.

I used Prime as decholrinator and Stability for the bacteria. When I did my water change last Friday, I put half a cap of on both products on a 9 liter bucket. It took me 4 buckets of dosed water to fill up the half-full tank.

I put a teaspoon of API Aquarium Salt on my tank last night . Maybe this is where I screwed up. Also, I poured about 2 tablespoon of Tetra Aqua's Aqua Safe last night since I have used this product together with Stability in the past and I had no problems with it.

4. I placed new 2 new fake plants. I also washed the Aragonite in it in addition to the water change. However, I had an old aquarium that had black gravel stones which I placed on top the Aragonite before I did the water change, so when I did the water change I ended up mixing the black gravel stone and the Aragonite together.( This is another reason I suspect that screwed it up.) After the water change I placed an piece of cloth around the filter to make the water less cloudy, it was a piece of clean cloth.

5. The tank has been set up for about a month now. I do water changes once or twice a week. I cycle with Stability by Seachem. I used to have tests kit but it was the strip type.

as of right now, He doesn't have balance, he bounce hits the wall, decorations, and gravel when he swims. He also gets pushed up and down by the water bubbles from the Air pump and the filter. Basically, he seems like he doesn't have a sense of his surroundings.

One more thing I noticed is that his back, about 1/4 from tail is crooked. I don't know if this has something to do with it though,

[CarmenH]

Any time you have an issue, do an immediate large water change. Make sure the water is dechlorinated and at the same temperature as your tank water. Prime is a great product, keep using it.
Stability will NOT cycle your tank, so if this is all you did, your tank is NOT cycled. Especially with an uncycled tank you NEED test kits, and get liquid, they are more reliable... And the numbers you get with them will help the gurus on this site help you...
What kind of puffer is he? Knowing that will also help, as different types have different issues and requirements...

[busybones]

It sounds to me as if your tank was never fully cycled. You really need to get someone to test your water for you if you do not have any test kits. I'd recommend doing another large Water Change and read this article about emergency cycling..library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

[Pufferpunk]

We really can't help much more than what's been said without knowing what your parameters are & what kind of puffer you have. We can't remember from member to member.

[pufferpuggirl]

I'm concerned because you are saying you add Stability each time you do a water change, if the tank is cycled, you should not have to keep adding that, and as pointed out, it doesn't cycle your tank. I'm also wondering why you're using Prime, but then also putting in Tetra's Aqua Safe? And why are you using API aquarium salt too? I think you are adding too much stuff to the tank and as your tank probably isn't cycled, you are just wasting it and it's not going to help your tank cycle.
As mentioned, you need to do big water changes, and you need to get a good test kit that's not the strip kind, they do not give correct readings. Without a test kit, you won't have any idea if you've got issues with your tank. The tank can be crystal clear and still have serious problems that will, in the long run, hurt your puffer. Puffer's need excellent water in order to survive, and if your little guy is being poisoned by nitrites and ammonia, then you need to do something quick before it goes too far and you can't rescue him.
We are here to help, but you need to listen to the advice that's being given.
We need for you to answer the questions listed above in red, it would also help to know what kind of puffer you have.

[An2n]

I'm sorry. Its a GSP puffer.

I moved him to a huge plastic container (39 liters in size). Its half full. I used prime for it and Stability for this is the only one I have right now.

I'm working on getting a liquid test kit before the end of the day.

[Pufferpunk]

Why don't you have a tank for him? Was this a purchase you were unprepared for? Please read the emergency cycling article & get some test kits today.

[rocket]

HI AN2N,

Not sure how you are going so far but you cant go wrong doing a 50% change each day for a week and pop down your local aquatic shop and ask if you can have some cycled filter out of their tank and pop it in with yours, try to drop the use of shelf bactiria as it wont help the situation.

Good luck and i hope he makess it through it all

[An2n]

My girlfriend called me at work and told me my fish died. fml. lesson learned.

[pufferpuggirl]

I am truly sorry for the loss of your puffer, losing a puffer isn't easy and I always find it difficult to deal with. We all learn by our mistakes, and hopefully this will better prepare you if you choose to get another puffer. Again, we are here to help, so you don't have to go it alone.

[DarkStorm]

sorry for your loss, its always a horrible thing to watch these friends of ours in distress with no idea how to help them.

[An2n]

Yeah I know. My room is so quiet not because I don't hear the air pump nor filter. I would probably do more research. as of now , I'm browsing the web to find a fish that is easy to keep. anything but goldfish. I like the colorful ones. any suggestions??

[Flutter]

Puffers are great fish. Have you thought about researching a puffer species and knowing ahead of time everything that needs to be done so you'll be successful?

[An2n]

not right now though. They started selling F8s at Walmart.

[J-P]

SAPs! if you want FW but that is my goal also. F8 is not FW they are the same as GSP