Hello! I'm new to this forum, and come hoping for some help with my puffers.
On Wednesday night, after the death of a molly the previous day, I noticed that my puffer had gray blotches all along his sides and under his mouth. Basically at the upper part of what should be his white belly. Thursday, the blotches had lightened in colour, and my other puffer also had a grayish belly. By Friday morning, both puffers had white bellies again with no sign of any gray spots. The puffer that had been concerning me showed fairly dull colours first thing in the morning, but soon went back to being his normal brightly-coloured self. Today his colours are faded-looking, and his tank mate has an almost entirely gray belly. Suggestions? Please? I'm starting to feel desperate here. My fish are reminding me of the lizards I used to keep, being a different colour every time I look at them.
The requested info:
1) pH: about 7.6-7.7
ammonia: 0
nitrite/nitrate: unknown
salinity: 1.006 SG
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants.
25 gallon tank
Two figure 8 puffers, two mollies (there was a third molly up until Tuesday, but he was euthanized after being found gasping for breath at the bottom of the tank, and then gasping for breath upside down at the bottom of the tank)
Green spot algae
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)
The mollies are given a little flake food twice a day. Puffers are fed every 2-3 days. Lately they've been eating mainly scallops and bloodworms. Diet has also included shrimp, mussel, brine shrimp, and snails.
25% water change weekly, occasionally slightly longer. Last change was yesterday.
Using marine salt and AquaSafe in the water.
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.
Removed dying molly as indicated above. Cleaned tank especially thoroughly yesterday (25% water change plus vigorous scrubbing of algae).
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it?
Set up since June 2010. Started it off with dirty fish water from the store and two mollies. Added my two puffers in August 2010.
gray-bellied figure 8 puffer
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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purplecandle
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Re: gray-bellied figure 8 puffer
Ok, there are a few issues here.
1. You had a fish die recently. Gasping for air could signal a problem with the water. You need to get a liquid test kit and find out your numbers ammonia, nitrate and nitrite ASAP. I have a feeling your nitrates may be a little high, so get the test kit to be on the safe side.
2. Dirty water from another tank does not/is not an effective way to cycle a tank. There are few bacteria in the water column. Next time use dirty filter media.
3. I would do more than a 25% water change weekly. Up it to about 50%. %50 weekly is the standard for most average tanks.
4. Puffer's can turn gray when stress, excited, hiding, happy, sad...basically whenever. It can indicate stress and illness, so always keep an eye on it, but changing colors couple times of day is not unusual. You said --> "The puffer that had been concerning me showed fairly dull colours first thing in the morning, but soon went back to being his normal brightly-coloured self." Your puffer was probably sleeping (turning darker mean camouflage) and then when he was fully awake he returned to normal.
Welcome to the forum!!![[welcome]](./images/smilies/welcome.gif "welcome")
1. You had a fish die recently. Gasping for air could signal a problem with the water. You need to get a liquid test kit and find out your numbers ammonia, nitrate and nitrite ASAP. I have a feeling your nitrates may be a little high, so get the test kit to be on the safe side.
2. Dirty water from another tank does not/is not an effective way to cycle a tank. There are few bacteria in the water column. Next time use dirty filter media.
3. I would do more than a 25% water change weekly. Up it to about 50%. %50 weekly is the standard for most average tanks.
4. Puffer's can turn gray when stress, excited, hiding, happy, sad...basically whenever. It can indicate stress and illness, so always keep an eye on it, but changing colors couple times of day is not unusual. You said --> "The puffer that had been concerning me showed fairly dull colours first thing in the morning, but soon went back to being his normal brightly-coloured self." Your puffer was probably sleeping (turning darker mean camouflage) and then when he was fully awake he returned to normal.
Welcome to the forum!!
Re: gray-bellied figure 8 puffer
Thanks for the info, purplecandle.
I've been watching my fish poop closely over the past few days, and to date it's been normal. However, this morning I got up to find it white and stringy, which makes novice me think internal parasites. What would be the best treatment for this?
I've been watching my fish poop closely over the past few days, and to date it's been normal. However, this morning I got up to find it white and stringy, which makes novice me think internal parasites. What would be the best treatment for this?
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Pufferpunk
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Re: gray-bellied figure 8 puffer
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!"