1) Water parameters - pH- 8 Ammonia - 0 , Nitrite - 0.25 ppm , Nitrates- 0 ppm
2) Tank size: 20 gallons
3) Feeding: 1 block of Frozen Mussle by the "San Francisco Bay Co." or 1 block of Forzen Blood Worms by the same Company. I do a 35-45% water change every week (usually on Sundays)
4) The only changes I have made in the last week were food types. One of my Puffers wasn't really into the Muscle so I went out and bought the bloodworms. They both LOVED it. I've been giving it to them since last sunday (May 2)
5) My tank has been cycled since before I got my puffers and i've had my puffers for a good 3-4 months.
Now, I woke up this morning and noticed one of my 2 puffers has black, almost fuzzy looking things growing on his belly. I have no idea what it is and I can't seem to find any useful information online. He's acting normal except for scraping himself across different things in the tank every now and then so i'm assuming it itches. Is it black ich maybe? Please help me Puffer community!
GSP with...erm...something black?
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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CheesePuff
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lesleyanndunn
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also kept: DP's, GSP'S, and BBG's - Location (country): Bangor, UK
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
have you got your water parameters the right way round?
if so, its not cycled?
if so, its not cycled?
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Pufferpunk
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
What test kits are you using, something's not right. Also, are you defrosting & rinsing those frozen blocks of food?
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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CheesePuff
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Pufferpunk wrote:What test kits are you using, something's not right. Also, are you defrosting & rinsing those frozen blocks of food?
I am using the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. I noticed it was freshwater when I bought it and asked the worker who showed me it if it would still give me accurate results for a Brackish tank, he told me it would. Was this false information? And i rinse the puffer-blocks before putting them in the tank. Is there more I need to be doing?
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Pufferpunk
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
They will work for BW, yes. A pic of the puffer's belly would help.
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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CheesePuff
- Puffer Fry
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Pufferpunk wrote:They will work for BW, yes. A pic of the puffer's belly would help.
I'm pulling out my camera now, might take a few minutes to get a good one and upload it though!
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Pufferpunk
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Just tell him to STAY!
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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CheesePuff
- Puffer Fry
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Pufferpunk wrote:Just tell him to STAY!
My goodness he wouldn't told still lol! This was the best picture of him I could get. I hope it's at least a little helpful :/ They're very small but I can see them whem he swims up and down the glass. They almost look like little pieces of black lint. Also he's been stressed all day. His belly is patchy and black unless he's eating.(I put in just a little food then I took the picture in an attempt to get him still)
ug.php/v/User_Galleries/CheesePuff/IMG_ ... ewsIndex=1
If the link doesn't work im sorry! It's right in my gallery
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Pufferpunk
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
He looks fine to me. I am a bit concerned about your parameters though. Could you give us a little history on the tank?
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!"
-
CheesePuff
- Puffer Fry
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- Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:58 pm
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Pufferpunk wrote:He looks fine to me. I am a bit concerned about your parameters though. Could you give us a little history on the tank?
The tank was first used by my mother some years ago then had been sitting for a few years. I took it outside and washed it out for about an hour, made sure it didnt leak, and added water from my mothers man-made freshwater pond.(Cycled right?) She has goldish, a koi, and several other varieties of fw fish in there. No cholorine so I figured it would be puffer-safe.I added Instant Ocean Marine Salt and let it sit with the filter running for about 2 weeks before adding Saltwater Biozyme(it says Living Nitrifying Bacteria and Enzymes) and Puffers shortly after that. I don't know much about Parameters but i'm trying to learn. Does this cover what you wanted to know?
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Pufferpunk
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T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
No, water, by itself, is not "cycled". The bacteria needed to cycle a tank, lives on surfaces, not in the water column:
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
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!"
-
CheesePuff
- Puffer Fry
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Pufferpunk wrote:No, water, by itself, is not "cycled". The bacteria needed to cycle a tank, lives on surfaces, not in the water column:
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
Thank you for this article! I am about to do a BIG water change, and hopefully that will help. Did the Biozyme I added do nothing in the way of bacteria? My local pet store is not a reliable one. Thier puffers have ich and are kept in freshwater, and I have no friends with Brackish tanks. Do you know anywhere else I can get one of the sponges mentioned in the article?
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Pufferpunk
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
Biozyme has no LIVE bacteria in there. How long have the fish been in there?
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!"
-
CheesePuff
- Puffer Fry
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
A couple of months and they seem happy enough. They swim around alot and greet me at the glass whenever i walk in the room. Ill work on getting some LIVE bacteria.Pufferpunk wrote:Biozyme has no LIVE bacteria in there. How long have the fish been in there?
Is there anything else I need to know?-
bigfatfish
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Re: GSP with...erm...something black?
How quickly did the water go from fresh to brackish?