heeeeeeeellllllllpppppp puffer dying off

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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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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jdluvsjane
Puffer Fry
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:27 pm

heeeeeeeellllllllpppppp puffer dying off

Post by jdluvsjane »

hi i bought a spotted green puffer from my lfs and now that i have relized i know nothing about it i need help he ws doing fine the first couple of days that i had him and now he is falling head first into the gravel and seems that he does not have enough strength to swim at all
my ph is 8.0 my hardness is unknown but is quite hard my tank is fully cycled with no ammonia and no nitrites and 3 nitrate i do weekly water changes of at least 10% and feed once a day i have added some doc wells aquarium salt to the water and have medicated with an all purpose remedy and ick please help
YBeNormal
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Re: heeeeeeeellllllllpppppp puffer dying off

Post by YBeNormal »

jdluvsjane wrote:i bought a spotted green puffer from my lfs and now that i have relized i know nothing about it i need help
That's how many of us got started with puffers. :)

Please answer all of the questions here so the folks on the forum can better diagnose what might be the problem.

Also, how long has he been acting this way? What meds did you use, how much and how big is your tank? Puffers are extremely sensitive to many common meds.
jdluvsjane
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:27 pm

Answering all questions

Post by jdluvsjane »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my tank is a ten gallon i use wardleys all purpose med he does have some do wellfish aquarium salt and gets fed earth worms meal worms snails and shrimp pellets he has been this way going on one week now
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Pufferpunk
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Post by Pufferpunk »

What are the meds in there for?

Make sure to read about the care & feeding of this puffer in the Library.
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!"
jdluvsjane
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Post by jdluvsjane »

the meds were incase he had something that i could not see
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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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

You should absolutely never medicate any fish for a condition you haven't diagnosed them with. Puffers especially, are very sensitive to meds--some are even deadly to them (copper, for instance). Also, using meds unnecessarily, can lower the immune system & cause resistance to the meds when they may actually be necessary.
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!"
jdluvsjane
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:27 pm

Post by jdluvsjane »

i medicated at half dose
is aquarium salt or uniodized table salt ok to use instead of marine salt
as an update he is now acting as if he has swim bladder disorder but he seems he is breathing fine but is just not able to swim or hold himself up for very long
when i first started this trade several years ago i bought my first gsp and he did this for about an hour and just died but any help that is offered is greatly appreciated
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Pufferpunk
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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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

Puffers don't have swimbladders.

Would you take 1/2 the dosage of the meds you had around the house just in case you might get sick?

You must use marine salt. If you aren't prepared to care for this fish properly, maybe you should return it until you have done more research & saved up for the necesssary items this special fish needs to thrive.
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!"
jdluvsjane
Puffer Fry
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:27 pm

PUFFER

Post by jdluvsjane »

the puffer is doing better he is able to keep upright and swim and is beggining to be more perky i will watch him for a few days and then return him to my local fish store because i am not prepared for this fish as of yet but will try again in a few months after some more research and cycling his brackish tank
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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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

Sounds like the smart/caring thing to do. :)
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!"
YBeNormal
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Post by YBeNormal »

I applaud your decision! :D

Please continue to hang around the forum, read and ask lots of questions if you are unsure about anything.
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