Hey, new to the forum and thought i'd sign up for some help from fellow puffer fans.
i have an 80L tank in which lives my 2 figure 8 puffers, 3 mollys, plenty of river shrimp (that managed to escape becoming a meal) and 4 bumblebee gobies.
have had my tank set up for about a year and a half and they seem to be rule breakers when it comes to feeding, salinity etc.
anyways the problem i've had recently is that one of my puffers passed away (2nd since tank set up) leaving me with only 2 of my little guys left. the reason for this death i know was due to the fact he wasn't eating as his beak had grown much too long. i saw this happening and put snails and live shrimp as well as dried shrimp into the tank to try and ware it down but nothing seemed to work/interest him. looking into my tank this morning one of my guys is starting to look a bit long in the tooth and i want to stop this from happening again. what do i do?????
Beaks
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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labios de pescado
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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Re: Beaks
![[welcome]](./images/smilies/welcome.gif "welcome")
What do you mean by, "rule breakers"?
Here is my dentistry article. I now recommend using Finquel (MS-222) for tranquilizing, instead of clove oil.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebinde ... tistry.htm
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=28692
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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xvCODY
- Green Spotted Puffer
- Posts: 299
- Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 10:09 pm
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- My Puffers: Smudge - 1.5 inch GSP
- Location (country): United States
- Location: Kentucky
Re: Beaks
First off, welcome to TPF!!! =D
Feed them snails every day. I'm assuming they're still small. The way i feed my GSP is by crushing the snails with something hard and dropping them into the tank 1 by 1 until he's finished. That way they get the crunchy part without having to strain to break the snail open. They need a steady diet of snails. Pest snails from a LFS work wonders and are free, usually. Shrimp and other soft foods will not aid in the wearing of the beak. You can also feed them clams on a half shell but pest snails are much, much cheaper and work just as well.
If your puffers beak is visibly long, snails will no longer work, usually. You need to purchase a sedative called MS222 (I believe is the name) and follow the directions with it. This will numb the puffer and you can clip their beak physically. That will be the only option, most likely. DO NOT use clove oil. This product can give your puffer brain damage and they could also never wake up from it. It's VERY scary clipping their beak for the first time, believe me i've done it on a few puffers i rescued from crappy LFS.
Look on youtube for "How To" videos on clipping your puffers beak. This is what i did and they helped so well.
Anyways, sorry for the book but good luck with your puffers and have a great day!
Feed them snails every day. I'm assuming they're still small. The way i feed my GSP is by crushing the snails with something hard and dropping them into the tank 1 by 1 until he's finished. That way they get the crunchy part without having to strain to break the snail open. They need a steady diet of snails. Pest snails from a LFS work wonders and are free, usually. Shrimp and other soft foods will not aid in the wearing of the beak. You can also feed them clams on a half shell but pest snails are much, much cheaper and work just as well.
If your puffers beak is visibly long, snails will no longer work, usually. You need to purchase a sedative called MS222 (I believe is the name) and follow the directions with it. This will numb the puffer and you can clip their beak physically. That will be the only option, most likely. DO NOT use clove oil. This product can give your puffer brain damage and they could also never wake up from it. It's VERY scary clipping their beak for the first time, believe me i've done it on a few puffers i rescued from crappy LFS.
Look on youtube for "How To" videos on clipping your puffers beak. This is what i did and they helped so well.
Anyways, sorry for the book but good luck with your puffers and have a great day!
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Puffer King
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Figure 8
Have kept in past,
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Re: Beaks
finquel (ms 222) , only seems to be available to vets in england , so next best thing is http://www.kusuri.co.uk/shopping.php?class_id=109
'Rare do Tom agree in the rated room with the retard moo ! '
Free Elf Girl Pun 2012
Free Elf Girl Pun 2012
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RTR
- Mentor
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Re: Beaks
Your 80 litre tank is too small for multiple F-8s. I does have room for one F-8 plus the bbgs, but the shrimp would be better off elsewhere.
The specific gravity should be at 1.003 to 1.005 for maximum health and lifespan. Nitrate should be at or below 10ppm. Ammonia and nitrite should be undetectable.
HTH
The specific gravity should be at 1.003 to 1.005 for maximum health and lifespan. Nitrate should be at or below 10ppm. Ammonia and nitrite should be undetectable.
HTH
Where's the fish? - Neptune