38 gallon tank
ammonia 0
nitrate <0
nitrite <0
ph 7.5-7.7 about
8 dwarf puffers and several otos
I bought these puffers about 6 months ago when they were fairly young. All the while living together with no problems. I figure they have a good 3-4 gallons per fish. The tank is heavily planted. Recently though they have been starting to dart around the tank frantically, every now and then some would even bite and attack each other. A few hours ago the nitrates were a little higher than normal so I did a huge water change, about 75%. They don't seem to be acting any better though. I'm thinking it's because they're getting older and more aggressive. I have more than one male in there but the females are acting just as bad. The largest male I have is perched on top of the thermometer, he's hardly the problem. They aren't really eating as much as they did a few days ago. I have he lights off now and they have been for 2 days because that seems to calm things down a bit. Any ideas? Please give me your thoughts.
Dwarf Puffers in Distress
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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JRC3
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 904
- Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:10 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: F8(55g)
F8 (46g)
4-DP(29g) - Location (country): U.S.
- Location: S.W. OH
Re: Dwarf Puffers in Distress
I'm confused...It says your nitrAtes are "0" but you say they are "a little higher than normal". Please clairfy.
What are you feeding and how are you feeding them?
What are you feeding and how are you feeding them?
There are many knowledgeable fish keepers on this forum willing to help and give great advice...The advice is free; What you choose to do with it gives it value.
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eieio
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 1033
- Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:34 am
- My Puffers: *
The Congo Puffer:
"olivia"
and.......
The DP:
"cream puff"
RIP cream puff :-( - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Prescott, Arizona
Re: Dwarf Puffers in Distress
are you using liquid test kits or test strips?
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
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zombeez
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:21 pm
- My Puffers: 8 DPs
2 C. Irrubesco - Location (country): Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Re: Dwarf Puffers in Distress
ok as of now the nitrates are about 0. before I did the water change last night the nitrates were higher.
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zombeez
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:21 pm
- My Puffers: 8 DPs
2 C. Irrubesco - Location (country): Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Re: Dwarf Puffers in Distress
liquid tests
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RTR
- Mentor
- Posts: 6155
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 4:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- Location (country): East Coast, USA
Re: Dwarf Puffers in Distress
Please, as a favor to the data-oriented old timers here, talk to us in numbers where possible. "0" is acceptable, and means in words "not detected by this test". >0" is not meaningful unless follow by more numbers.
Your fish are maturing. Can you tell the difference in male and female? If so, how many of each? I have not had good luck with multiple males in a tank even if outnumbered by the females. males may harass females or each other. You may need to move excess males into other quarters. The harassed fish can be either sex.
Your fish are maturing. Can you tell the difference in male and female? If so, how many of each? I have not had good luck with multiple males in a tank even if outnumbered by the females. males may harass females or each other. You may need to move excess males into other quarters. The harassed fish can be either sex.
Where's the fish? - Neptune