I purchase my puffers at 2 separate stores about 2 days apart. This was about 3 weeks ago.
I was told that they can be kept in freshwater while they are still young. They are presently kept in a freshwater, 20 gallon tank with 4 plants, a rainbow shark, 2 black kuhli loaches, a butterfly pleco and a bulldog pleco. PH level is 7.2 and the tank is set at 80 F. I feed the puffers tiny snails, ghost shrimp, slices of clam and brine shrimp: they eat well and show great appetite.
Unfortunately over the past week, I've detected Ick spots on the smallest of the 2 and am currently treating the tank with Ick medication. I went through 3 first treatments at half dosage (since the puffers are scaleless) over 24 hours each and did a water change and am starting the process again because there are a few spots left on the two puffers now.
I'm worried because they have been displaying abnormal behaviour. A few times throughout the day, they would lose their color and spots and go greyish. And I've seen both of them, on different occasion, curl up their tail into their bodies and try to swim in a ball. This happens rarely, but i find this alarming. One of them also started swimming up and down the side glass panel frantically for hours on end...
Is this a result of medicated treatment? Or is it time i place them in a larger brackish water tank?
Or is this just a result of stress?
Please help my fish
thank you
Lanny
abnormal behaviour
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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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Read the artiicle in this forum about treating puffers w/ick & give us your water parameters & type of puffers you have please.
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!"
They are spotted puffers.
Last measurements:
Ammonia level NH3 = 0.10
Nitrate NO3 = 20
Nitrite NO2 = 0.10
My husband and I are new to the whole aquarium thing...
We ran the tank for a couple of weeks prior to getting the fish with a biological filter. But we had to remove it due to the ick treatments, leaving just the sponge in the filter.
Last measurements:
Ammonia level NH3 = 0.10
Nitrate NO3 = 20
Nitrite NO2 = 0.10
My husband and I are new to the whole aquarium thing...
We ran the tank for a couple of weeks prior to getting the fish with a biological filter. But we had to remove it due to the ick treatments, leaving just the sponge in the filter.
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crazyforpuffs
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2005 6:46 pm
- Location: The Big Smoke, Ontario
Puffers, especially, will have difficulty if put into a tank that is not cycled. That is your present problem.
Your future problems will involve the puffers eating all the tank mates. If your puffers survive, and you enjoy your other fish, you should move them right away.
20 gallons is not at all large enough for the 2 puffers, let alone the other inhabitants you have in there.
Minimally, you need 60 gallons for your puffers...and GSP's, as they age, need more and more salt in their water - adults can be put in SW tanks.
Puffers are not good beginner fishes. Perhaps you can return them...till you are better prepared to accomodate them.
Your future problems will involve the puffers eating all the tank mates. If your puffers survive, and you enjoy your other fish, you should move them right away.
20 gallons is not at all large enough for the 2 puffers, let alone the other inhabitants you have in there.
Minimally, you need 60 gallons for your puffers...and GSP's, as they age, need more and more salt in their water - adults can be put in SW tanks.
Puffers are not good beginner fishes. Perhaps you can return them...till you are better prepared to accomodate them.
The one thing that I found very interesting is that the two GSP are getting along perfectly fine w/ each other and their tank mates.
They are like cute-looking, curious little puppies.
However, they are being pick on by the shark.
The shark chased them off everytime they try to swim low into the shark's domain.
This is definitely stressful for our puffers right?
They are like cute-looking, curious little puppies.
However, they are being pick on by the shark.
The shark chased them off everytime they try to swim low into the shark's domain.
This is definitely stressful for our puffers right?
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Yes, puffers can stress easily & stop eating. Please if you can, set up a seperate 30g tank for them (for now)--a 55+ gallpn should be your goal. Read the info about them in our Library.
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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ChesapeakeSwellfish
- Mentor
- Posts: 283
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 9:54 pm
- Location: southern Maryland
Tank cycling
Lisa, what is Bio Spira?
and how can you tell just by looking at the water levels that our tank is not cycled?
when we first started, our levels were much higher and now they've lowered... that's not part of a cycle?
and how can you tell just by looking at the water levels that our tank is not cycled?
when we first started, our levels were much higher and now they've lowered... that's not part of a cycle?
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Bio-Spira is a live nitrifying bacteria, used to cycle/start an aquarium. It can instantly cycle a tank, or fix a tank that's biological bed has crashed. A cycled tank will show no ammonia or nitrites at all.
See: http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
See: http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
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!"