Please help! He's been sick for 3 days!
Salinity : .008
Ph: 7.8
Temp: 80° f.
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm (was 20 before 50% water change yesterday)
Unable to measure hardness
Tank has been cycling 3 1/2 months, ive had Phil the GSP as the only inhabitant in there for a little over 2 1/2 months. Phil is always super aware and energetic, swimming all around and up and down his 29 gal. Biocube. Loves snails, oysters, ghost shrimp i breed or isolated, and oddly enough occasionally a bit of short green algae he farms at the highest point on the tank. The only additive in the tank is tetra aquasafe to de-chlorinate. He has been very lethargic and not eating well the past few days, slightly darkened around his stomach and eyes.
He he ate fine the first night he was a bit off when i came home, then went back to his normal self. Yesterday i came home and he would either be laying on the bottom or towards the top corner of the tank. He wouldnt eat or even really look my way. Today i changed a bit more water, and it got him up and moving because of the change in environment so i took advantage of that and dropped in a whole raw shrimp that i just thawed. I know it would get his attention and he ate on it for a while. I was so excited! But now hes back in the top corner and dark. Hardly moving.
WHAT DO I DO HELP!
!HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
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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Puffmasterflex
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:37 pm
- Location (country): Boulder, CO, USA
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32776
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
What's your normal water change schedule? Any aerosols, air freshener or paints being used in that room?
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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Puffmasterflex
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:37 pm
- Location (country): Boulder, CO, USA
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
I change %50 every other week. 2 weeks ago i did about a %70 change for good measure and cleaned the filter in tank water. Ammonia hasnt spiked to my knowledge. Checked last week and yesterday. And my girlfriend may have used a mist near the tank about 2 weeks ago (air freshener) wouldnt that have affected him sooner? I try to keep detergents and fragrances off my hands before putting them in the tank. Didnt even think about the meyers mist...
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Puffmasterflex
- Puffer Fry
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- Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:37 pm
- Location (country): Boulder, CO, USA
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
my tank is over filtered. It runs all bioballs in the back of the tank and a fluval suitable for a 30 gallon can filter underneath.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32776
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
I'm just trying to think outside the box. You do seem to take good care of your fish, although 50% weekly WC are recommended, no matter what filtration you run. Unless it's a fully marine system. Have you checked nitrite/nitrate/pH?
I highly suggest Prime to dechlorinate & condition the water.
I highly suggest Prime to dechlorinate & condition the water.
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!"
-
Puffmasterflex
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:37 pm
- Location (country): Boulder, CO, USA
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
Im going to grab some prime, hes back up and operating since last night! Going to switch to every weekend water change. I really appreciate the compliment because this is my first real go at aquarium keeping in adult hood. I bought one of these little guys form a Walmart when i was young had hime in a 2 gallon aquarium for about 3 months before he died. Always wanted another one and also wondered whey he died. Glad i figured out how to do a little research! I think a little bit of nitrate got built up and it became toxic. Hard to get these guys eating just the right amount of food without them spitting half of it.
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Puffmasterflex
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:37 pm
- Location (country): Boulder, CO, USA
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
Another thing that i considered may be making the thing sick is stress. He rides the tank walls a lot any suggestions with aqua-scape on these guys while transitioning slowly to salt? Also, thank you so much for responding! You're a true hero!
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32776
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
Decorate as heavuily as you can, with lots of hidy-holes & swim thrus. Keep in mind though, when you get him to SW, you will be using 1 1/2-2lbs live rock/gal.
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!"
-
MARCO TATTOO
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 1:10 pm
- Location (country): portugal
Re: !HELP! Ive got a sick gsp!
hello!
for what i learn with my green spoted puffer, and i had severel of them in diferente times, is that in fresh water eventualy they all gonna die, u nedd to put them in salt water, u will need to Forget about plants on aquarium….
my firsts gsp had the same problem, black belly, no moviment on aquarium…. problem: fresh water bactérias, and i believe that hes body really neeed the change from fresh to salty water…
all my gsp dieing with black belly etc , i did some research (many years ago) and learn that some puffer live on fresh water but they bread in salty water, in the shop they told me that the fish cannot handle salty water but they were all dieing so "who cares im gonna try"....
i pick a container half fresh water and the fishes inside, than i pick a air pump hose with regulator, connect the hose to my full salt water aquarium and start to drop salt water to the container with my puffers, when container full i take out half water and continue to salt water drop sistem till full again, repeat the prosses untill u have full salt aquarium water in the container…
for some fishes when they are to smal the change will be to fast for them and they will start to float, so u pick those fishes and give some steps back , another container to put those fish and replace some of the water with fresh water (2 steps back) when they´r ok keep that salinity for a few days and then try to do it again to full salty aquarium water…
my last gsp lives arround 5 or 6 years swimming arround my corals, and biting my clownfish swimming taills (no longer need to worry about teeh, they are all time biting rock and corals, and eating sea bugs froms the aquarium)
hope i was helpfull
for what i learn with my green spoted puffer, and i had severel of them in diferente times, is that in fresh water eventualy they all gonna die, u nedd to put them in salt water, u will need to Forget about plants on aquarium….
my firsts gsp had the same problem, black belly, no moviment on aquarium…. problem: fresh water bactérias, and i believe that hes body really neeed the change from fresh to salty water…
all my gsp dieing with black belly etc , i did some research (many years ago) and learn that some puffer live on fresh water but they bread in salty water, in the shop they told me that the fish cannot handle salty water but they were all dieing so "who cares im gonna try"....
i pick a container half fresh water and the fishes inside, than i pick a air pump hose with regulator, connect the hose to my full salt water aquarium and start to drop salt water to the container with my puffers, when container full i take out half water and continue to salt water drop sistem till full again, repeat the prosses untill u have full salt aquarium water in the container…
for some fishes when they are to smal the change will be to fast for them and they will start to float, so u pick those fishes and give some steps back , another container to put those fish and replace some of the water with fresh water (2 steps back) when they´r ok keep that salinity for a few days and then try to do it again to full salty aquarium water…
my last gsp lives arround 5 or 6 years swimming arround my corals, and biting my clownfish swimming taills (no longer need to worry about teeh, they are all time biting rock and corals, and eating sea bugs froms the aquarium)
hope i was helpfull
Last edited by MARCO TATTOO on Fri Jul 31, 2020 10:29 am, edited 2 times in total.