GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

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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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Ti_CLaD
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GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Ti_CLaD »

1- PH 8
ammonia 0
nitrate 5
nitrite .1
salinity 1.002 (started this week)

2-26gallons with 2 1½" GSP and one 1½" crayfish (that for some reason they lay next to and don't bother...

3- Feed morning and evenings, snails, bloodworms, shrimps, tropical fish pellets... Change 50% water every mondays... Using marine salt, Nutrafin Aqua Plus, Nutrafin Cycle, and Nutrafin Waste Control

4-That same puffer had ichs, so I started doing a ich treatment (API ich cure) half dose since scaleless fishes... Treatment started 48hres ago... added a air rock pump (or whatever you want to call it, make a wall of bubbles...

5- Had the tank for almost a month now... Cycled it for a week with nothing in it, using Nutrafin Aqua plus and Nutrafin Cycle for 3 days then let it go... tested the water before putting puffers (also had 4 danios but they ate them...)

Now I know that for 2 puffers you'll tell me I need a bigger tank, You don't have to say it I know it now... The petstore people told me I could go up to 5 in a 26 gallon tank, I still decided for 2 but seems it still too small, but for now it's ok, they seemed happy...

So I got one healthy GSP, the other one had ich... started the treatment 48hres ago... also added the bubble decoy to add oxygen... At first of treatment they seemed both to become healthier, but one became really dark looking yesterday and actually stayed stuck in the filter sucker tube 3 times had to unplug it for it to go away... This morning he looks almost black, Didn't see him eat for 36hres at least and he was floating around in the currents, not strong enough to fight them off, so he was cartwheeling around only the side fins seem working, rarely the tail goes...

Decided to pop some holes in a plstic bag and isolate him in it with some food so at least he doesn't waste power trying to fight currents... But after doing so I saw that his dark green almost black back has a big white spot now, like if Catching it remove some of the color... Caught it with a net and didn't touch it with fingers... Also there is a pink 1/8" long "wire" sticking out of his right gill...

Now it's actually face down in the little bag barely moving a fin... I really think I'm losing him... :(
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Ti_CLaD
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Ti_CLaD »

Image You can see the white spot on it... can't get a nice pic of the gill problem...
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Ti_CLaD
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Ti_CLaD »

Too little too late... :( he passed away just now... What did I do wrong??? Did I detect the ich too late??? They are suppose to live 10+ years, he lasted 1 month...

I will finished the ich treatment anyways for the other one... now I guess alone in the 26gallon tank will be good size for a him... Is there something else I should put in the aquarium so that de death of one does not deteriorate the health of the other one???
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by bertie 83 »

Newly acquired puffers can have a high mortality rate, it's just the way it is. You are showing a little nitrite which needs to be cured with water changes, this wont have helped if I am honest. Treat the ich with rtrs salt and heat method. Don't mess with your tanks salinity until your tank is stable, you will be opening a whole can of worms for yourself to deal with. Good luck with the other one.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Ti_CLaD »

Thank you for your answer... I will change 50% of the water... Now that the product for ich is in it I won't do RTR's method not to over stress the fish either... 2 treatments at the same time...

what so you mean not to mess with the salinity until the tank is stable??? what does stable mean to you??? It didn't seem to hard to put salt in it... or is it for the ich treatment to be over??? cause the other puffer did not have ichs... I just have the treatment continue in case the ich is still in the aquarium or started on it... Please explain... :)
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by G S P Freak »

stable implies a fully cycled tank, 0 ammo, 0 Nitrite, and less then 20 nitrate. The former two 0's are very import to tell if the tank is fully cycled. Drop the API ich cure and use the salt+head method ONLY. It's much more gentle on the fish, but still kills the parasites. And keep up with water changes =P.
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Pufferpunk »

The products you used by Nutrifin do NOTHING at all to cycle a tank. Keep a very close eye on the parameters & if you start seeing ammonia or nitrite at all. get Tetra's Safestart, do a 90% WC & add it to your filter. Throw all that other crap away. Use Prime to condition during WC.
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!"
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Pufferpunk »

The products you used by Nutrifin do NOTHING at all to cycle a tank. Keep a very close eye on the parameters & if you start seeing ammonia or nitrite at all. get Tetra's Safestart, do a 90% WC & add it to your filter. Throw all that other crap away. Use Prime to condition during WC.
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!"
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Pufferpunk »

The products you used by Nutrifin do NOTHING at all to cycle a tank. Keep a very close eye on the parameters & if you start seeing ammonia or nitrite at all. get Tetra's Safestart, do a 90% WC & add it to your filter. Throw all that other crap away. Use Prime to condition during WC.
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!"
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Pufferpunk
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DPs
suvattii
burrfish
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Location: Greenville, SC
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Pufferpunk »

The products you used by Nutrifin do NOTHING at all to cycle a tank. Keep a very close eye on the parameters & if you start seeing ammonia or nitrite at all. get Tetra's Safestart, do a 90% WC & add it to your filter. Throw all that other crap away. Use Prime to condition during WC.
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!"
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Re: GSP looks weird and acts like it's dying

Post by Ti_CLaD »

Thank you... will check into that :)
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