1) PH- 7.6, Ammonia- .25, Nitrite- 0, Nitrate- 40, Salinty 1.004 (SG) via hydrometer.
2) 35 Ga, 1- Rhino Pleco, 1- Figure 8 Puffer, 1- GSP puffer, driftwood, anubia, java fern, crushed coral substrate
3) Feed puffers daily with 3-6 Ghost Shrimp. Pleco weekly with Algae Wafer. 50% Water changes every other week. Seachem Prime 3/4 capfull, Aquarium Salt- 1 teaspoon per 2 gallons, Maracyn-two powder.
4) I had the pleco and f8 for about 6 months now, I added another F8 and small GSP about a month ago. I noticed the new F8's dorsal fin was half gone and what looked like a bite on his tail, after a couple weeks we noticed the "bite" had grown larger and appeared to have a worm inside, so in fear of parasite we euthanized him. Last week i noticed a small white spot on the GSP and lowered the water level, raised temperature slowly to 86. The spot has grown a little but has not spread to any other part or inhabitant. The original F8's belly blew up and stayed that way for two days without eating. I started using Maracyn two five days ago and his belly has gone down some, but still noticeable. However, my GSP is now showing stress, and has not eaten in two days! looks like he is only breathing though one set of gills. His tail is clamped as well, with a black hue on his underside.
5) The aquarium has been set up about 9 months, I sunk the driftwood for about a month and half and had the tank running a few months with no fish just plants.
GSP's declining health
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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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- 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: GSP's declining health
![[welcome]](./images/smilies/welcome.gif "welcome")
I'm going to do my best to tell you what's going on here, I hope you heed my advice.
Your tank is overstocked. Start by reading these articles:
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/
Your tank is only large enough for either the 2 F8s or a single GSP. Also, that Rhino pleco grows >2'. He is NOT a BW fish & will NOT appreciate any salt of any kind AT ALL. Until these things are remedied, expect stressed fish, with compromised immune systems, illness & death.
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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BigChieFL
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2015 7:14 pm
- My Puffers: F8, GSP
- Location (country): United States
Re: GSP's declining health
There's only one F8, we had to euthanize the other a couple weeks ago. Will the GSP and one F8 Suffice? The GSP is about 1.5 inches and the F8 is about 2. I am looking to relocate the pleco into a friends reflection pond. However I love the GSP, and the F8 has been with us since the beginning. Is it possible to for them to love together, or at least until i can get another tank? I measured my tank and its a 40 gallon tall... 30x12x22.
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hadla
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 1626
- Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:33 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: 2 gsps and a big Stars and stripes
- Location (country): California
- Location: Sacramento, CA
- Contact:
Re: GSP's declining health
What pp said above and ghost shrimp really have no nutrition... Can you get worms from the fishing section in Walmart? Or frozen bloodworms from petsmart/petco? 
Never trust big puffers. The fingers you save may be your own. -RTR
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32987
- 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: GSP's declining health
They may be OK together for a short time but if you read those article, they require significantly different water. In addition, the GSP will grow 3x the F8 & it's life may be at risk.
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!"