puffer is acting weird II
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.
-
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:
well i dont know what to do here but something is up, my second GSP was dead this evening when i got home but was not acting unusual this morning. i am begining to wonder if there was something wrong with them from the begining because everyone else is doin fine.
the only prob i am still having is my nitrate levels. they will not go below 40. nitrite is at 0, PH is around 7.8, kh is around 180, and salinity is hanging in around 1.004
i have tried changing the water, cleaned the gravel bed in the process, and changed outthe filter but nitrate will not drop, i still have some nitrate balancer which i mentioned in the 1st part of my thread but i dont know if its safe to use on the puffers and scats but i use it all the time in my FW tanks!
any ideas, this guy didnt even give me any warnings just 1 extreme to the next cause he was even eating this morning and color was normal after he woke up to feed!
i thought about getting an ammonia tester but if it was ammonia wouldnt my nitrite levels be testing higher?
the only prob i am still having is my nitrate levels. they will not go below 40. nitrite is at 0, PH is around 7.8, kh is around 180, and salinity is hanging in around 1.004
i have tried changing the water, cleaned the gravel bed in the process, and changed outthe filter but nitrate will not drop, i still have some nitrate balancer which i mentioned in the 1st part of my thread but i dont know if its safe to use on the puffers and scats but i use it all the time in my FW tanks!
any ideas, this guy didnt even give me any warnings just 1 extreme to the next cause he was even eating this morning and color was normal after he woke up to feed!
i thought about getting an ammonia tester but if it was ammonia wouldnt my nitrite levels be testing higher?
currently....
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
well i may have found a possible clue to my problem all along or at least i am hoping so.
i got up to tinkle and on my way back to bed i sat down to smoke and watch some of the early morning activities under the moon lights and there to my surprise under the soft blue glow where tiny lil white spots dotting here and there on the 2 modestus puffers.
now i am assuming that even though they haven't showed up on the F8 and scats yet that they soon will since they all started in the same tank!
my question now is what do you guys recommend for treatment? :27: i done a quick read through on the post "treating puffers with ick" (nice job BTW puffer_archer) but nothing is really said on what to use to treat it except Melafix is helpful to treat any damage done to the puffer's skin.
i have always used Ick Guard in the past on all of my FW tanks whenever the problem come up but is says on the bottle "safe for FW fish and plants" as well as "do not use on scaleless, weak, sensitive, or small fish" but instead to use Ick Guard II. is this a safe alternative to use with the F8 and the scats or do you guys have other stuff that is better?
this also raises another question that i have ask myself a few times since i got into this "middle weight" class of aquatics. do i use stuff labeled for FW or SW since there seems to be nothing out there labeled for us in between people with brackish tanks. 1!)
i may be wrong but is there a point where FW stuff works when they are at FW stage, and SW stuff works after you raise the levels in the tank to a higher salinity? maybe I'm just not cut out for this brackish thing but for as long as i have had successful FW tanks i am not giving up that easy and will probably give some people in here migraine's or at least a good laugh until i get the hang of it! clubself
i got up to tinkle and on my way back to bed i sat down to smoke and watch some of the early morning activities under the moon lights and there to my surprise under the soft blue glow where tiny lil white spots dotting here and there on the 2 modestus puffers.
now i am assuming that even though they haven't showed up on the F8 and scats yet that they soon will since they all started in the same tank!
my question now is what do you guys recommend for treatment? :27: i done a quick read through on the post "treating puffers with ick" (nice job BTW puffer_archer) but nothing is really said on what to use to treat it except Melafix is helpful to treat any damage done to the puffer's skin.
i have always used Ick Guard in the past on all of my FW tanks whenever the problem come up but is says on the bottle "safe for FW fish and plants" as well as "do not use on scaleless, weak, sensitive, or small fish" but instead to use Ick Guard II. is this a safe alternative to use with the F8 and the scats or do you guys have other stuff that is better?
this also raises another question that i have ask myself a few times since i got into this "middle weight" class of aquatics. do i use stuff labeled for FW or SW since there seems to be nothing out there labeled for us in between people with brackish tanks. 1!)
i may be wrong but is there a point where FW stuff works when they are at FW stage, and SW stuff works after you raise the levels in the tank to a higher salinity? maybe I'm just not cut out for this brackish thing but for as long as i have had successful FW tanks i am not giving up that easy and will probably give some people in here migraine's or at least a good laugh until i get the hang of it! clubself
currently....
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
-
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:
not quite sure which one you are talkin about...could i get a link?
currently....
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
-
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:
so you are talkin about the PimaFix and MelaFix post?
currently....
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
ok, so so if i understand it right adding the salt and upping the temp with the water changes as described will fix the ick?
currently....
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
90g w/ (1 albino, 1 red, 1 black) tiger oscars, 1 blue dolphin chichlid, and a tiretrack eel
75g w/ 1 figure 8, 2 avacodo, and 2 leopard puffers, 1 green and 1 silver scat
45g w/ 1 gold fancy tailed golfish, 1 calico fancy tail, and a bunch of yummy oscar treats (aka-feeder goldfish)
catch me anytime on messenger
AIM.....andrewboyd2675
MSN....aapaintballsupply@hotmail.com
-
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: