Am I doing this all wrong?!?

[thegolden]

Hello everybody!

I'm one of those newbies who are new to caring for puffers and need help and advice.
And would really appreciate any sort of feedback or anything Puffer related cause I feel stressed and paranoid about raising my new Dwarf Puffers.

It's been a week since I've set up my DP tank and I started off with 6 in a 30 gal tank.
And my gullible boyfriend...at my local fish store 2 days after purchasing the 6 DPs decided to get 6 more cause the guy said it was okay.
And even though I'm new at this, I had a weird feeling that 12 in a tank was a bit too much because DPs can become territorial.
Anywhoooo.... it was pretty much survival of the fittest in the tank.
Some died from being nipped too much and bullied. One got greedy and ate all the bloodworms and over stuffed itself. And the rest, died without a cause. Although the ones that died all seemed very skinny.

So here I am...down to 5 DPs
4 of my DPs look healthy and swim around a lot and eat when given.
The 5th one seems pretty lifeless and motionless. It's belly seems a bit sunken in and it's darker than the rest of the DPs. (I researched the possible reasons and parasites might be the issue?)

Should I be separating the 5th DP from the others and whats the best solution to getting my DP back to life?

I also have a master test kit and did all the testings.
AMMONIUM = 0.25ppm
High Range pH = 8.0 ( I live in Calgary, Alberta and I've been told our water pH is 8.0 )
NITRITE = 0ppm
NITRATE = 0ppm

When I first got the DPs, I fed them snails. Then I changed it to thawed out bloodworms.
Since they seemed very skinny, the first few days, I fed them twice a day. Now I only feed them once in the morning.

I also have a Pleco in the tank but he seems to be just fine with them.

I'm not sure what else to say but I'm super stressed that my fish keep dying and I'm worried that the last remaining 4 are gonna die as well!!!!

I think I've done everything right but I don't know!

Can any of you help me!


Thanks

[Iliveinazoo]

You shouldn't be showing any ammonia so I suspect that your tank isn't cycled. Carry out massive water changes daily (say 80%-90%) to reduce the amount of pollution in the tank until you can get to a shop and get an instant cycle product like Tetra Safestart which should instantly cycle the tank, follow all the instructions on the bottle, carry out tests daily for a week or so after adding just to make sure that the ammonia and nitrite stay at zero.

Good luck!

[Pufferpunk]

Find a new home for that pleco. It grows to 18"! Get Tetra's Safestart & add it to the filter, after a 90% water change. Can you tell the sex of the puffers? How heavily decorated is the tank? Can you post a pic of the entire tank?

library/puffers-in-focus/dwarfpuffercare/
library/puffers-in-focus/sexing-carinot ... rf-puffer/
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

[thegolden]

Thank you for the insightful feedback. I will get started on the water change ASAP! And start an immediate cycle using the products suggested.

As for my Pleco, I forgot the exact name of it but it's one of those that only grows to about 4in.

Had it for about over a year now and it's only about 3 in.

And I will post a picture soon.

Thanks once again guys!!!

[thegolden]

You shouldn't be showing any ammonia so I suspect that your tank isn't cycled. Carry out massive water changes daily (say 80%-90%) to reduce the amount of pollution in the tank until you can get to a shop and get an instant cycle product like Tetra Safestart which should instantly cycle the tank, follow all the instructions on the bottle, carry out tests daily for a week or so after adding just to make sure that the ammonia and nitrite stay at zero.

Good luck!

When doing the water change, should I keep the current puffers in the tank or separate the puffers into another tank and then do the water change and cycle?

[Pufferpunk]

You should be able to do WEEKLY 50% water changes without removing the fish. Be sure to stir the substrate thoroughly.

[bertie 83]

When doing large water changes leave the fish in the tank, just be sure the ph of the new water closely matches the tank, it should do as it comes from the same source but the shock could be fatal if the tanks ph is out of whack

[thegolden]

Find a new home for that pleco. It grows to 18"! Get Tetra's Safestart & add it to the filter, after a 90% water change. Can you tell the sex of the puffers? How heavily decorated is the tank? Can you post a pic of the entire tank?

library/puffers-in-focus/dwarfpuffercare/
library/puffers-in-focus/sexing-carinot ... rf-puffer/
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/

Here is my 30 gal tank with my DPs and pleco!
Is it decorated enough?
There's a mixture of real and fake plants

[RTR]

No, IMHO & IME, it is not planted nearly heavily enough for DPs. When they have clear views of their tankmates from wherever they are, they will (when sexually mature) fight male versus male (for dominance) as well as male versus female (for breeding). But you first priority must be to get you tank properly cycled without adding any more fish of any sort. Then you want to select one or maybe two males to 3-4 or maybe 5 females. Use ate least two feeding sites, and preferably feed like California blackworms if they are available to you.

If you want to have breeding in the tank, there should be no, repeat no, suckermouth catfish of any variety in the tank at all. Any or all of them can or will devour DP eggs during the dark cycle. Very densely planted and understocked tanks may or may not escape this if the male breeder DP stays on guard 24/7, but not all stay awake enough to do this.

Some areas should have highly branched live stem plants, repeatedly pinched back to promote bushiness all the way to the water surface. The upper areas of such plant thickets are the male's favored spawning sites. They entice the female in to deposit eggs which adhere to the plant leaves and are then fertilized by and later guarded by the male.

My water is softer than yours, but I am not aware of DPs being particularly pH sensitive. Perhaps some other hard-water folks can add more comments.


HTH