smal lumps on my GSPs back

puffernuke · Post by **puffernuke** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 11:55 am

i did a 50% water change last night and checked my nitrates and they were around 40. they are going down at least. im not sure if it is the nitrates because before i got them down for the first time they spiked from less than 20 up to 160 in a couple of weeks

( i know this is horrible, but i got them down) and the lumps weren't there.

Pamela · Post by **Pamela** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 5:08 pm

Oh god...no-one's having a go about the nitrates...you know what to do about them...but obviously they're not ideal and could have been impacting on him.
Pami.

YBeNormal · Post by **YBeNormal** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:51 pm

Those nitrate readings and the fact that they jumped so high in such a short period of time should be read as a warning sign. The tank is overstocked, perhaps overfed, and you may want to reevaluate your filtration methods and maintenance. Moving some of those fish to other tanks should be a priority, with frequent water changes in the meantime. I'm sure you knew all of this already though...

puffernuke · Post by **puffernuke** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:22 pm

it's not really overstocked, i just didn't have enough bottom feeders to help clean up after my puffers between vacuuming. stupid bottom feeders i also will admit that i tend to overfeed ( i like my puffers a little chubby) but i have been cutting back a little since it had the spike. i just got two more bottom feeders though and my most recent nitrate test shows it to be a little lighter than 10

. improvements are nice

Post by **Pufferpunk** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:50 am

The "bottom feeders" will have to go if you are going to keep your puffer in BW. Get used to doing your own maid service & feeding less.

puffernuke · Post by **puffernuke** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 2:13 pm

i was just looking to see if i could find a BW bottom feeder , but had no luck. i am moving my FW out of the tank and putting more salt in asap (finally). i guess i will just live with cleaning up myself

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 3:16 pm

Self cleaning is just a fact of life in BW, and practice feeding the right amounts simply comes with time.

No matter how hungry your puffs look, if they're over an inch and a half or so, I'd feed them every other day.

Eric

puffernuke · Post by **puffernuke** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:57 am

yeah...but they are so cute when they beg, i just give in. i did manage to not give in yesterday though, so there's a chance for me yet

puffernuke · Post by **puffernuke** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 12:00 am

Ok, so here's an update. I moved everyone out of the 55 but the two GSP's. Ralphie's lumps have moved together and moved to right behind his left eye. The nitrates have leveled out between 0 and 5. I have started raising the S.G. it is at 1.002 right now.

demented_lullaby · Post by **demented_lullaby** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:58 pm

puffernuke wrote:yeah...but they are so cute when they beg, i just give in. i did manage to not give in yesterday though, so there's a chance for me yet

you really have to ignore their begging. Puffers will eat and eat and eat until they explode. Less with puffers is definaetly better then more.

you are dealing with some type of parasite. read this

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA091

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smal lumps on my GSPs back