My smaller dwarf puffer was having issues and I wasn't sure why. I check the tank every morning and night but only saw strange signs 2 days ago. She physically looked normal. No markings/lacerations, enlarged body parts, pop-eyes, not even discoloring or a sunken belly. However, she was originally spinning, like a torpedo, in one place occasionally and eventually was "hanging" in the water head down/tail up (and curled). She would eventually move and swim away but was not interested in any food. The food test (a black worm-her favorite) failed. So I added some Kordon Fish Protector and a little Epsom salt before we ran our errands.
A few hours later I noticed she was laying still on top of one of my sponge filters. She almost looked dead, but still physically fine. So I put my feeding tongs in the tank to check. Luckily she swam away, pretty quickly. She isn't doing the weird swimming anymore.
The next day, she was still alive and not floating anywhere. Just not eating still. I found her at different parts of the tank and swimming, but mainly staying still. Still no other signs. I also did a WC to see if that would help as well.
Then I came home tonight and she was dead on the bottom of the tank...Any ideas on what just happened? It all happened so fast!
DP acting weird...then died
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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AquaMike
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 89
- Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 3:47 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: *1 pea puffer (F)
*1 borneensis red-eye DP (M)
*1 palembang puffer - Location (country): CT, USA
Re: DP acting weird...then died
Whoops, forgot this forum doesn't post that in my info. It's a 10G, heavily planted, pH is slightly above neutral, mild hardness. I keep the temp around 77. Do weekly ~1/3 WCs. The tank has been up and running for a couple of years now. I've had the puffers for about a year. The other one is fine. No fighting, or stress of any sorts that I ever saw. She was eating and normal a few days ago. Nothing in the tank has changed in a long time.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- 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: DP acting weird...then died
Old age? We really have no idea how old they are when we get them, if buying as full-sized adults. I always try to start with juvies.
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!"