New GSP's belly turning black

[Aria13]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and pretty new to keeping puffers in general. I have tried in the past to keep one but it did not last very long due to having too small of a tank and freshwater (seems like these are common mistakes pet stores fail to inform puffer buyers about). This time, however, I'm more informed and want to make every effort possible to let my little guy (Jesse) live a long and happy life. I purchased him two weeks ago and I'm keeping him in a ten gallon tank, which cycled for three or four days before he was introduced into it. He has no other tank mates but plenty of fake plants and a rock cave that I built to keep him occupied. He's barely over an inch long, but I do plan to move him up to a 20 gallon tank as soon as possible. Up until two days ago his belly was always the normal pure whitish color, but I've noticed that it now switches between a little black on the edges to almost all black, which I've read is usually a sign of stress. The pet store had him in freshwater, so I have been slowly increasing the salinity of the tank and it's currently at a specific gravity of 1.011. I have a heater that keeps the tank at 80 degrees and my nitrite level is 0 ppm. I feed him a mix of freeze dried bloodworms, some of those frozen blocks that contain various shrimp, krill, plankton, and sea greens, and I've fed him a live cricket on two occasions (I'm going to be getting some snails soon for food as well). As far as Ph, I've read that GSPs like a high ph, but the test I have only reads up to 7.6 and on the box says it can't indicate if the ph is actually higher than that. When I test the water the color always reads at the highest end (7.6) but I have no way of knowing if it is actually much higher than this and out of the acceptable range. I have a few ideas of what could be stressing Jesse which are:
1. The ammonia level is reading at 4 ppm and I tried adding a solution called Ammo Lock which is supposed to work instantly to detoxify ammonia, but had no change on the level when I took another reading an hour later. This is probably because it's an old bottle and may have lost it's effect, but shouldn't my filter be removing ammonia anyway?

2. My second thought was that perhaps one of the crickets I fed him was sick and transferred an internal parasite to him (because I heard that can also cause blackening of their bellies)?

3. My third thought is that 5 days ago I switched his Tetra power filter 10 out for a new Tetra power filter 20 (I needed the smaller filter for my 5 gallon tank). The new filter says it works for 10-20 gallon tanks so I turned it to the low setting because he seemed a bit disturbed by the current when I had it on full power. I did rinse all the parts of the filter before putting it in the tank, but could the new filter be what's stressing him?

Hopefully all that made sense, I know I put a lot of info in there, and hopefully someone can help me figure out how to approach this situation. I am not extremely worried because aside from the belly he seems perfectly fine; eating fine, swimming around and acting inquisitive, and the water looks perfectly clear. Also, the fact that his stomach changes colors and isn't consistently black seems like a good sign. In fact, when I was testing the water earlier his belly actually got almost completely white as if he knew I was trying to help him lol. Anyway, I hope to get Jesse back to normal soon and also look forward to posting more often in this forum as I'm quickly falling in love with these awesome fish. Thanks in advance!

[Tim]

That aquarium does not sound cycled imo, 3-4 days is too short. At least if you start fresh, this might be different if you use existing filter media and gravel from another tank, but I have no experience with that. The last time I cycled a tank it took 6 weeks.

It is my understanding that when using stuff like Ammo Lock, if it works at all, that it only neutralises(might be the wrong word) the ammonia, it does not remove it from the water and thus it will show up on tests.

On a side note, 20 gallon aquarium is also too small for a GSP. I would say at least a 55 gallon aquarium.

[bertie 83]

Your tank is cycling. Ammo lock will just lengthen the cycle, you need prime and lots of water changes, 2 x 50-80% daily and double dose on prime. If you do this he will pick up fast. I would drop slowly down to f/w over the next couple of days or you will spend a fortune in salt. Your only other option is to up the salinity through large water changes to appr 1.020 and add some ESTABLISHED live rock. Welcome to the forum.

[purplecandle]

GSPs belly turning black could mean that the puffer is sleeping, trying to blend in or hide, because it is stressed or because it wants to. But in this case it is stressed because of water chemistry.

Stop adding salt, you are killing your bacteria (the opposite of cycling). Plus your puffer is a juvi and is fine in freshwater for now. Don't add salt untill you are cycled (a month or more) , and when you do add salt do it slowly over a period of weeks or months.

I think your heart is in the right place and I know your trying, but puffer keeping is difficult and is a science more than it is a hobby. Keep reading and keep asking questions so that you will know what to do.

I have been in your shoes and you are in for a rough ride.

[bertie 83]

Yep we've all been there once

[purplecandle]

Yep we've all been there once

LOL.. I did the same thing as the OP. I misunderstood and thought that salt had to be added right away. I think most gsp newbies think the same.

[bertie 83]

Yes the other common one is using aquarium salt, in a bowl, in the corner. Where do these Lfs get their info lol

[Aria13]

Ok, sounds like I should have done even more research, but at least this isn't a hopeless case yet? Could you explain what you mean by "double dose on prime"? So I should start doing water changes every day until the tank levels out and Jesse stops looking stressed? It's good to hear that the salinity doesn't have to be so high at this point since I did feel like I was already going through salt pretty quickly. Also, I do plan to eventually have him in a tank larger than a 20 gallon because I know that won't be large enough in the long run. Thanks for all of your replies!

[sgtmyers88]

Note that switching out an old filter with a new one prolongs the cycle. Most of the benefical bacteria you had growing in the little filter was lost when you removed it from the tank. Now the process has to be restarted in the larger one.

[purplecandle]

viewtopic.php?f=67&t=28467

Have you read the above article about cycling? I think you just need a better understanding of cycling.

I never think a puffer is a hopeless case, he can make it, I do believe you are trying hard.

[bertie 83]

You can use upto 5x the dose of prime safely, but large water changes and twice as much prime as the bottle says should get your little fella back to health

[Aria13]

I will be sure to read that article so I can actually understand the process of cycling. Since he is already in the tank and it is too late to do the proper cycling, I'll keep doing the large water changes. After I did one last night I noticed his belly immediately become less black, not sure if this was just a coincidence or if he really could tell the difference. As far as the dosage of prime, are you talking about water conditioner? What I have been using is called "NovAqua Plus Water Conditioner".

[Pufferpunk]

You can also add Tetra's Safestart to the filter, after doing an 80% WC. Be sure not to let the shop sell you anything else but this product!

[Aria13]

Hey guys, sorry to bring up an old topic but my question relates directly to the link posted above about fishless cycling. Jesse is still in his 10 gallon tank, but I've started the process of cycling a 30 gallon tank according to the directions in that article. The only thing I'm not sure about is when to introduce salt into the water. Can I do the whole cycling with just fresh water and then add salt when I do the large water change at the end of the cycling, or does the salt need to be there from the start? I'm hoping I can hold off on the salt until after cycling is complete since it seems like a waste of salt if I'm going to be doing a large water change before adding the fish anyway, but I just wanted to check with you guys to make sure I was doing it correct from the start this time.

[sgtmyers88]

Yes that should be perfectly fine.