Okay...let me start from the beginning and I promise I will try not to make this too long.
Last Saturday I purchased a gsp (Hootie). Prior to purchasing Hootie I cycled my tank for 7 days with a cycling agent and 4 zebra tetras. I also used aquarium salt to create a brackish water condition (2 tbsp per 5 gal.) During my cycling faze I had my water checked by my lps on a regular basis.
On the day that I purchased Hootie my water checked out fine. I took him home and added him to his new tank (which I had also stocked with a nylon breeder full of snails in order to meet his need for snails). Later that evening I noticed that Hootie's eye was lined on the bottom with some blood and that his eye appeared to be getting cloudy.
On Monday I noticed that there was now a cottony substance growing on his eye so I did my own research and decided to do a 20% water change with a vacuum and added Melafix (5ml for the first dose and then half of that thereafter) with an additional tbsp of aquarium salt.
By Friday night I had not seen any improvement so I tried dissolving some aquarium salt in water with a tad of the melafix and gently rubbed this over his eye with a cotton swab.
Today, Saturday and 7 days later I made another decision. I did a 50% water change with a vacuum, removed the carbon filter and started him on maracyn.
Hootie has consistently maintained his color elsewhere and has continued to eat just fine (frozen blood worms and snails). He also continues to swim around the tank very well.
Is what I am doing okay?? Is there anymore that I can do for him?
Please help!
HELP! Greenspotted Puffer with cottony fungus on eye!
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.
I'm not 100% sure about the difference but I know that it's not suitable for a GSP. I think it's something along the lines of that the aquarium salt will make it salted FW and the marine salt will make it marine. Your GSP will need 30 gallons as an adult. I don't have a GSP, my avatar is a figure 8.
Whats the point of a signature?!
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lisalisa
Read here: http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/ ... togsp.html
After reading that, post back with any questions.
Also, read through the library articles on salt, and fishless cycling.
I would stop medicating. Puffers are VERY sensitive to medication, and his eye problem is likely an environmental/water quality problem, that will improve, when proper conditions are reached.
After reading that, post back with any questions.
Also, read through the library articles on salt, and fishless cycling.
I would stop medicating. Puffers are VERY sensitive to medication, and his eye problem is likely an environmental/water quality problem, that will improve, when proper conditions are reached.
Okay...since I have been using aquarium salt how do I safely switch to marine? Do I just add the appropriate amounts of the marine salt instead of the aquarium salt on my future water changes?
Also, I noticed that it is suggested that you use 1 cup of marine salt per 5 gal. of water. This is a lot more than I am using now of the aquarium salt and my gsp is only about 1". Would this still be considered brackish water and is this safe for my little Hootie?
Also, I noticed that it is suggested that you use 1 cup of marine salt per 5 gal. of water. This is a lot more than I am using now of the aquarium salt and my gsp is only about 1". Would this still be considered brackish water and is this safe for my little Hootie?
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Pufferpunk
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1 cup water/5g, is only a rough estimate of how much to use the raise the SG .005. You can only raise your SG as much as.002/weekly water change, so you have to do some math.
There is an article in The Library on the differences in salts.
There is an article in The Library on the differences in salts.
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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thebuddy229
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Thank you all for your responses, I desperately need them. 
Raphael - to answer your question, no I do not have a hydrometer. I figured I could just maintain a consist ant amount of salt with each water change. But after reading Pufferpunk's response I am not sure how I am going to go about slowly raising the salinity as of right now. I think that she is right, I am going to have to use this brain of mine and do some math.
Thebuddy229 - How are your dps doing? Out of curiosity, what do you feed them and do you feed them snails? I ask because I have been asked before on how to feed a dp snails. I would assume that you would have to smash them.
Raphael - to answer your question, no I do not have a hydrometer. I figured I could just maintain a consist ant amount of salt with each water change. But after reading Pufferpunk's response I am not sure how I am going to go about slowly raising the salinity as of right now. I think that she is right, I am going to have to use this brain of mine and do some math.
Thebuddy229 - How are your dps doing? Out of curiosity, what do you feed them and do you feed them snails? I ask because I have been asked before on how to feed a dp snails. I would assume that you would have to smash them.
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lisalisa
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puffernuke
- Figure 8 Puffer
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You really need a 30 gallon for him. Marine salt has the trace elements that are in the ocean, while aquarium salt does not. be very careful with medicine, just use melafix. Give him time to adjust, and for the melafix to work. Really dont trust dry amounts, I just accidently raised mine too much at once because of it, so i really have to watch my params.
"P.S. - this is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R were eliminated."
- Mitch Hedberg R.I.P.
- Mitch Hedberg R.I.P.
I will have to look into getting a hydrometer.
I was treating with Melafix but saw no change what so ever. I started using Maracyn yesterday and already I can see part of his eye so I think that he his getting better. My only concern is that the tank is now getting cloudy due to not having the carbon filter in while treating.
So....new question. Should I continue to leave The carbon filter out while using Maracyn?
I was treating with Melafix but saw no change what so ever. I started using Maracyn yesterday and already I can see part of his eye so I think that he his getting better. My only concern is that the tank is now getting cloudy due to not having the carbon filter in while treating.
So....new question. Should I continue to leave The carbon filter out while using Maracyn?
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
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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:
I never use carbon in my BW/FW tanks. Carbon will remove the med. Your tank is getting cloudy because it wasn't cycled properly & now any good bacteria that was in there, is getting killed off. That's why you need to continue w/50% daily water changes & have Bio-Spira ready to add to your filter, when the treatments are done. Glad you have found something that is working.
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!"