How I got my puffer
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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Puffernovice2006
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Louisiana
How I got my puffer
Okay, here goes. My name's Amanda and although I've had aquariums since I was 14, I've only learned recently that I was doing it all wrong. So I'm still learning (I don't change my water or my filter as often as I should---please don't hate me). I have a 10 gal with some tetras. I got it last year and set it up (didn't know about cycling) (or QT for that matter), and of course it's been restocked a couple of times since then. So on one mission to restock, I went to Sam Walton's store (yeah I know...I told you I'm still learning) and was told about the puffer. It was so cute! I had to have it. I was also told that it would get along fine with my tetras, which it did....it had a "fine" meal by the time we got home! So I knew I couldn't keep them in the same tank. I didn't have another tank and I needed something that my cat couldn't tip over, so he spent the night in the blender with rocks on the bottom to hide the blade. The next day I went to buy a new tank, but being new to the subject and not having a lot of money, I could only afford a 5 gal, which he's in now. He also has a reaaally bad case of ich. I feel so sorry for him. I read some topics you guys have on ich and I did a 50% water change and put the heater in and put some salt in. I have no idea what the specs on the water are as I don't have the testing stuff. I don't want him to die and I don't want him to be miserable (oh yeah, right now he's about 1 1/2")(oh yeah again, he's a GSP). I need help!! Thank you for letting me write this novel, and I hope to be learning a LOT more about this cute, wonderful little fish.
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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:
Start with this article: http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/ ... ffers.html
Since you know about cycling now, how did you cycle the 5g tank? Personally, I'd return the puffer, till you can cycle at least a 10g tank & be prepared to upgrade to at least a 30g tank after he grows to 2". If you don't see any of that in the very near future, then forget about keeping this particular puffer & get a dwarf puffer for the 5g (after it's cycled).
Since you know about cycling now, how did you cycle the 5g tank? Personally, I'd return the puffer, till you can cycle at least a 10g tank & be prepared to upgrade to at least a 30g tank after he grows to 2". If you don't see any of that in the very near future, then forget about keeping this particular puffer & get a dwarf puffer for the 5g (after it's cycled).
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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Puffernovice2006
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Confession: I haven't' really cycled my 5 gal...like I said, I have just recently (like in the past two days) learned about this. I just did a 80% water change and took out the gravel to clean it. I didn't put the gravel back in yet (don't have a vacuum thing..yet) I can't return him now...who's going to take him with an infestation?
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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:
Sorry, I missed that part. There is an article on treating puffers w/ich in the Hospital section, where I'm moving this to. With the ich & being in a too small, uncycled tank, he doesn't really have much chance of survival. 
If he does survive, it won't be long before he reaches 2" & will need a 30g tank.
If he does survive, it won't be long before he reaches 2" & will need a 30g tank.
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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Puffernovice2006
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Louisiana
I'm working on getting a larger tank (which WILL be fully cycled before he goes in). I just looked in on him and he's swimming around...his color is a lot better (except for the obvious white spots) and he's eating well, so I'm hoping those are good signs. I hate to leave him, but I have to go to work. I do have a bubble stone in there since the temp's higher (about 84 right now).
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Puffernovice2006
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Surely the LFS should have told you about cycling before they let you take the fish.
I think the LFS i bought boomer from is one of the better ones i've been to. I bought both him and my tank from them. I was allowed to reserve him but was only allowed to take him home 2 months (minimum) after i bought the tank.
Its probably best you do your own research on these little guys beforehand, I trawled the net for weeks before getting my mbu! Thats how I found this place
I hope it works out ok for you. Keep us posted....
I think the LFS i bought boomer from is one of the better ones i've been to. I bought both him and my tank from them. I was allowed to reserve him but was only allowed to take him home 2 months (minimum) after i bought the tank.
Its probably best you do your own research on these little guys beforehand, I trawled the net for weeks before getting my mbu! Thats how I found this place
I hope it works out ok for you. Keep us posted....
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Puffernovice2006
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2006 2:05 pm
- Location: Louisiana
Remember, I got the fish at Wally World....nuff said. He seems to be doing better this morning. His belly is not as black, and he's eating well. I'm going to Petsmart today to spend a bunch of money for him. I'll keep you posted. Thanks everyone for all your help!boomer wrote:Surely the LFS should have told you about cycling before they let you take the fish.
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Why would an LFS tell you about cycling? I know my does but it seems to be an abberation as far as LFSes go from what I hear from everyone else. If you buy a bunch of fish from the LFS to stick in an uncycled tank and they all die, you'll just go back and buy more. So why bother instructing you on how to keep them alive?
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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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:
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Cooper
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:29 pm
- My Puffers: 1 DP named Bajaj
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Contact:
I observed something the other day that almost made me faint. I was at Petsmart (West Hills, CA) as they were having a tank sale. I've only been there a few times as it's not near my place. The 2 women in the fish department that day were exceedingly knowledgeable. I think they take a class. One of the women there told me that "It's advised to keep one goldfish per 10 gallons of water but I think one per 15 or 20 is much better. . . " Then I overheard another sales woman there tell a customer about stunting and how big fish stay small due to polluted tanks, and how bad/cruel it is etc. I'll definitely go back to that store, though I generally am appalled by the big box pet stores.
1 DP, named Bajaj
