water parameters -
pH 7.1
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - 30ppm
i have a 12 year old Nile puffer and he has stopped eating ( 4 days) and isn't acting himself ....he has taken to swimming at the top of the tank nose to the top of the water....i thought that this could be due to a water parameter problem but nothing has changed as far as water quality goes ......we have moved things around outside his tank and yes that does annoy him but i think he has hit his nose on the glass at speed and damaged his beak maybe ?....his nose is swollen a little and if u look inside his mouth he has a tiny bit of blood between his upper teeth.... i guess what i want to know is, is a beak injury fatal?....should i leave him to heal before offering food as i think it stresses him out .. should i post pics or a video or something any ideas welcome ....
oh he lives on his own in a 5 x 2 x 2 tank, we have done a 30% water change the other day after we noticed his weird behaviour.
fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
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.
-
carlov2004
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:48 pm
- Location (country): south east, UK
fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Last edited by carlov2004 on Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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carlov2004
- Puffer Fry
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bertie 83
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- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
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Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: fahaka puffer not eating
I cannot view the posted image for some reason. Any aerosols being used in the same room as the tank? More water changes certainly won't hurt, try to get nitrates below 20 ppm. Melafix will help heal cuts so might be worth a go.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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RTR
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Re: fahaka puffer not eating
Tank size?
Tap water (or other source used for tank water changes) pH after 24 hours at room temperature?
Tap water (or other source used for tank water changes) pH after 24 hours at room temperature?
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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carlov2004
- Puffer Fry
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Re: fahaka puffer not eating
The tank size as stated before is 5ft x 2 ft x 2 ft which is about 150 US gallons or 566 litres. The water parameters after 24 hours are the same, we are very careful with water changes but i will do more water changes if you think it will help, i didn't want to stress him out....i'm certain he has damaged his beak, will it heal? .....we don't use sprays in the house as we have other animals and a marine tank.
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bertie 83
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- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: fahaka puffer not eating
If the beak is not too badly damaged it will certainly heal. Keep the water as clean as possible to aid healing, melafix will also help heal wounds
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Pufferpunk
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Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Try feeding softer foods, like earthworms. What was his diet previously?
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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carlov2004
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Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
we were feeding him on king prawns ,cockles, mussels, squid rings , i even tried him on salmon and fish lumps but it turns out he doesnt like to eat fish lol just crustaceans ......never tried him on earth worms but i will give anything a shot ....how long should i give him to heal before offering food again as offering food at the moment seems to be stressing him out.
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Pufferpunk
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T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
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DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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- Contact:
Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Only you can know when it's OK to feed him. How log since he's eaten? Does he look to be getting thin?
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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carlov2004
- Puffer Fry
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- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:48 pm
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Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
now im worried its something like a broken jaw or lock jaw ....as he doest seem to be able to move the top part of his mouth and his teeth are down low where before u couldn't see much of them and he still has a large lump just above his beak .....i think he must have smashed into the side of the tank .....will this fix itself and if not what can i do ....he has never had a problem like this before and ive had him for 12 years ......should i try calling round the big aquariums for help or will it heal in time .
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carlov2004
- Puffer Fry
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- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:48 pm
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Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Donnie (the puffer) still looks fairly good not thin and hasn't eaten for about a week.
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RTR
- Mentor
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Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Do you mean that you tap/source water is high in nitrate? Private water supplies may be that high, but it is rare for public water supplies in this country.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32975
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
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- 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: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Add Melafix.
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!"
-
carlov2004
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 40
- Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:48 pm
- Location (country): south east, UK
Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Our source water in kent uk is at 20 - 25 ppm from the tap and even with our RO unit for our marines we can only get it to 8ppm . when we lived in Canterbury we got even worse levels of nitrate.
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bertie 83
- Moderator
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- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:28 pm
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Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: fahaka puffer damaged teeth ...now not feeding
Yup water is pretty cack in certain regions of the uk
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly