Hi. I am a college student and this is my first pufferfish. He’s a figure 8 Puffer named Lump, and he’s honestly helped me so much getting through college. I like having someone to talk to!
1) I did notice Ammonia might be a little high. About .2 I did a water change. I also noticed the Gravity is possibly slightly over 1.008 so I’ll try and bring it down slightly. I have no idea how that happened.
2) I have him in a 10 gallon. I’d up it if it was a option but unfortunately it’s not. there was previously a guppy in the tank (the store owners gave it to me after accidentally scooping it with the puffer) but I think Lump ate the it. This was about a month ago.
3) I mostly feed mealworms and snails, but I absolutely can switch it up. I do water changers maybe every other week, but I heard I might need to up that.
4) I haven’t made any changes that I can think of honestly. Which is surprising with how sudden this was.
5) The tank has been set up only for about 3 or 4 months. I thought it was fully cycled, but based on the ammonia, maybe it wasn’t?
Last night my Puffer began acting strange. Hiding in the back of the tank, and not eating. I was confused but not too worried since he ate fine that morning (I had given him one small mealworm that morning). But this morning he’s barely responding to me. His eyes also seem flat if that makes sense. I’m honestly super worried because of how sudden it was. I’m worried about leaving for class! I did a 25% water change in a panic, but I don’t even know if that was the right thing to do! I have never used a forum before, so I apologize if I made any mistakes in this post, but I am very worried. He’s my friend.
Figure 8 Puffer Extremely Lethargic and barely moving!!! Please Help!!!
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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Lost&Found
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:45 am
- My Puffers: Figure 8 Puffer
- Location (country): USA
Figure 8 Puffer Extremely Lethargic and barely moving!!! Please Help!!!
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Pufferpunk
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T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: Figure 8 Puffer Extremely Lethargic and barely moving!!! Please Help!!!
Water changes are NEVER wrong. Get Tetra Safestart (Walmart may carry it) & add it directly to your filter, after a 50% WC. When he's feeling better & the tank is stable, change out that gravel for aragonite sand. This will stable the pH around 8. Mealworms are extremely difficult to digest. I suggest earthworms (again, Walmart).
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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Lost&Found
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:45 am
- My Puffers: Figure 8 Puffer
- Location (country): USA
Re: Figure 8 Puffer Extremely Lethargic and barely moving!!! Please Help!!!
Hi! So sorry for the late reply. He unfortunately passed within an hour of posting this. I was really heartbroken and wanted to wait till I felt a bit better before returning. I’m thinking the salinity got a little too high, and that was the main problem. I really appreciate your tips. I adjusted the water a bit and have switched to using distilled water opposed to tap water with dechlorinator. The water literally tastes off here, so I think this will be helpful rather than test for every possible thing that could be in it. I did get another F8 puffer. I ordered him online and he is super active and eating great! Speaking of food, thank you so much for the info on mealworms. I didn’t realize they were so hard on them! I actually just got him some frozen shrimp, and hes been destroying the snails I put in! I’ll look into the argonite sand as well!Pufferpunk wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:37 pm Water changes are NEVER wrong. Get Tetra Safestart (Walmart may carry it) & add it directly to your filter, after a 50% WC. When he's feeling better & the tank is stable, change out that gravel for aragonite sand. This will stable the pH around 8. Mealworms are extremely difficult to digest. I suggest earthworms (again, Walmart).
I was also wondering, do you know if shelled oysters are a good option? I got a container of them but I wanted to check before I gave him any. I heard a varied diet is good for them, so thought I’d mix it up. Ps I checked the container and it’s says it’s just oysters and water - no seasonings or added salt or anything. I’ll try earthworms too! I go fishing so I have plenty in my fridge I’ll just rinse them really good.
One other thing, I don’t think my last F8 was completely healthy. He had lots of bites and nicks, and I wasn’t completely confident he would fully heal. Most of the bite marks healed with some Melafix, but the fin bites were being a lil slower. My new puffer has no bite or nicks! I also believe he’s a bit older!
Thank you so much and sorry I took so long for me to come back!
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32944
- 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: Figure 8 Puffer Extremely Lethargic and barely moving!!! Please Help!!!
I'm glad you got another one! Those oysters sound fine.
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!"