I currently have 2 GSP fish in a 65 gallon brackish water tank (no other fish). Salinity: 1.005, Nitrite:0, Nitrate:10ppm, Amnionia:0, PH: need to still check. I have had these two guys for quite a while now (almost a year). All was well until a couple of days ago. The passive of the two GSPs decided he would beat the hell out of the more aggressive little guy which completely took me by surprise. He took a couple of chunks out of his fins and is now terrified of the other fish. Other than that he seems fine, just scared and wounded.
This is what I am doing to put a end to this:
I have a 40 gallon spare tank that I set up last night with the same Salinity. I added water from the cycled brackish tank along with the treated water I had prepared. Also, I was lucky enough that I had been using 2 cycled filters on the 60g and moved one of them over to the 40g. Currently, I am waiting just a little longer the water to get to the right temp and I will transfer the frightened / wounded GSP over to the new setup.
Before I do this though, my question is this. Does anyone see a issue with my plan or have any other advice for me to be succesful with saving this little guy? Also, has anyone seen this happen before in a larger aquarium.
I'm shocked that this happened over night. They seemed so happy.
GSP was attacked by tank mate
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.
Re: GSP was attacked by tank mate
I think you are on the right track with setting up the other tank. Yes unfortunately this does happen, sometimes years after being together. Puffers tend to get more aggressive as they mature.
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sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
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- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: GSP was attacked by tank mate
Happy you guys are supporting my plan. I just transferred him to the new setup and he seems a lot more relaxed and is no longer hiding. Just cruising around and investgating his new home. Now I just have to watch for fin rot. Last question, Do you think I should treat the tank with Melafix? My only worry about doing so is I would have to take the activated carbon filters out of filter which would then remove the a lot of the beneficial bacteria. Do you have any advice on this?
Thanks for your input guys. I really have learned a lot from this forum. I really should participate more and I will.
Thanks for your input guys. I really have learned a lot from this forum. I really should participate more and I will.
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sevenyearnight
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 1894
- Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:41 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: T. nigroviridis
Balki Bartokomous - Location (country): USA
- Location: South Carolina
Re: GSP was attacked by tank mate
Well, for now, just monitor. Things like that usually heal if not too serious, if the water is A-OK.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
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Re: GSP was attacked by tank mate
Melafix works wonders for this kind of thing.
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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Srkoe
- Fahaka Puffer
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Re: GSP was attacked by tank mate
Cut the filters open with a razor blade and scrape out the carbon.
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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:
Re: GSP was attacked by tank mate
I'd upgrade to an Aquaclear filter. The ones with the cartridge inserts are crap.
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!"