think i killed my GS puffer help me so i dont kill the other

[helpmypuffer]

bare with me i'm very new at this... my husband saw these green spotted puffers in the store and wanted them for his birthday so when i saw them and my lil puffer came to the glass i had to have one too. my lil puffer died yesterday, i lost sleep for days trying to find out what was wrong with him and help him. the internet was NO HELP and i just found this site today =( i spent the last money i had for meds for him which i think did more harm than good. i bought these fish from walmart so i guess one would say i'm stupid for that to begin with. they didn't even have a name for them so i kind of wonder if my lil puffer was even green spotted but i know the other one which was in the same tank at the store is. they had them in freshwater and fed them shrimp pellets. when i first had the two (in a 2.5 gallon tank!!!! i didn't know any better then...) they loved krill the lil one would eat and then i had to persude the larger one to come out and he'd gobble it all up right out of the lil ones mouth. then one mourning i came in to feed them and the lil puffer was belly up!!!!!! i screamed and he looked at me and started swimming happily i then named him hudini i thought he was playin games cause he was hungry because he ate right away after that but had long stringy stuff out of his anus i just thought it was feces but after research i found it may have been parasites?
could it have been the dead snail i found outside and gave them for their teeth because i thought i had to do that or they wouldn't be able to eat eventually.
when my lil puff died he had a funny yellow spot on his perfect white tummy that never changed to black when alive. now my large one we call scardy cat because he use to stay curled up in a cave has black "stress lines" i've been reading about, on his tummy. they use to go away when i would walk up to the tank but now they dont and he wont eat the only food i have for him which is krill he nibbles then gives up and swims away i cant afford anything diffrent untill the end of the day tomorrow i gave him brine shrimp once which he ate right up but they were too small i think

can i catch tiny fish out of the stream and feed him those??? or will this cause parasites? he has a white dot on his back so i treated his tank with QuICK Cure for ick yesterday but i haven't today because i don't know if i'm doing the right things or not. i don't want to give him back to a petstore where they'll put him straight into freshwater they will probably defintly kill him. HELP this is all overwhelming i already have sick cat and dog. i've seen pufferpunk everywhere and just typed her name in google and found here i thought you'd be the wisest to ask, the internet is not helping. when the lil puffer first died the big ones stomache turn almost black immediatly and they weren;t in the same tank. they both had 10 gal tanks. maybe he is sad? when the lil puff was dieing and they were still together they use to curl up together. i have my puff in a 10 gal with filtration system air bubbles decorations some gravel i'm afraid to mess with the tank so i dont stress him out i put water conditioner in ofcourse because i used tap water and i used top fin salt to turn t he water brakish. can anyone help my puffer?

[Pandora114]

Umm first: Get a 30+ gallon, 10 Gallons are too small.

Then, your tank is probably uncycled. You need to get some biospira or do some serious huge water changes at least 1 per day or 2 per day tops, ammonia and nitrites are seriously toxic to puffers.

Then, these puffers are high brackish to full marine when they get older. You need to have some marine mix, and bring your tank slowly up to brackish (1.005 on a refractometer) with no more than .002 per week or else you'll kill off what good bacteria are there.

[Pandora114]

oh yeah and get a liquid master test kit to monitor water parameters. Test strips are bunk

[AliKat]

I'm wondering if it's even a GSP. If it came from Walmart, isn't it more likely that it's a DP?

Beyond that, Pandora's already covered everything else that came to mind.

[Nick]

As walmart does not to my knowledge sell DPs, and dp's do not get black stress lines on their bellies, certainly not.

[helpmypuffer]

Umm first: Get a 30+ gallon, 10 Gallons are too small.

Then, your tank is probably uncycled. You need to get some biospira or do some serious huge water changes at least 1 per day or 2 per day tops, ammonia and nitrites are seriously toxic to puffers.

Then, these puffers are high brackish to full marine when they get older. You need to have some marine mix, and bring your tank slowly up to brackish (1.005 on a refractometer) with no more than .002 per week or else you'll kill off what good bacteria are there.

the everyday water changes don't hurt the puffer more than he's already stressed? i'll have money tomorrow evening to be able to buy a biospira should i change his water before that?
i don't know exactly what cycled means... i keep seeing it but no one says what it means, and i'm sorry for being so uninformed and probably annoying but how do i bring up the tank to brakish slowly? is that where i need a hydrometer?
if i do change his water should i still use the top fin salt untill i get marine? also should i stop treating him with QuICK Cure? i'm not sure if i know what ick is. do GSP'S have natural tiny dots scattered on their body when you look closely?
my GSP is about 2-3 inchs long. how long will he last in a 10 gal? my brother might have a 20 gal i can use...
why is the space so important? cleaner water?
thank you all so much for being so kind to read my scrambled post and trying to help!!! i appreciate it very much.

[Nick]

More water changes are better, they are not stressful relative to sitting in a bath of poisons created by your own unprocessed waste. Cycling means that the tank has the proper bacteria in it to process the fish waste, from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, nitrate being relatively safe as long as it's removed with water changes weekly, unlike the other two, which are deadly poisons to fish. At nearly 3" he needs a 30 gallon right now, thats half of adult size, he needs the tank for growing out space, even 20 is insufficient, though much better than ten. Space is cleaner water and cleaner water prevents stunting. Don't bother with the aquarium salt, even at water changes, get marine mix. Are the dots raised like little tiny salt grains? If it's raised, it's ich, if not, just the puffers spine tips. Do not use the quick cure, it's mostly formaldehyde and burns your fish's gills, which are already burning from ammonia.

[helpmypuffer]

anybody live near palm bay florida and want a GSP?

[helpmypuffer]

awww thank you sooo much i didn't know that i wish i hadn't treated his tank earlier today. i am defintly going to clean his tank now but i'm afraid to not use the salt though as of right now i can't get the marine mix. that helps a lot as of right now though i will defintly change his water!!! THANK YOU

[Nick]

No problem, the aquarium salt on it's own does very little, the most important things in the marine mix are the other minerals that buffer it, your puffer will be fine without it for now. Just keep up daily 50% water changes, and I recommend using Prime as your dechlorinator, as it will also keep the ammonia and nitrite from making him more sick while letting the tank cycle still.

[helpmypuffer]

i changed his tank once and got brave since you said it wouldn't bother him and added a plant and undergravel filter for his air bubbles and more gravel after i changed his water and it still seemed dirty after i filled it back up with water so i vaccumed his water again and didn't add the top fin salt this time almost immediatly his stress lines went away now they are back im wondering if he needs the salt because he's use to it even though it isn't marine.
i think he's starting to like me? lil puff always liked me but this one was always shy. i'm so excited i'm afraid to say it but i think he's doin better already. i knew his tank looked dirty. something i was so afraid to do because i thought it would hurt him, made him better. we're going to get him live bloodworms tomorrow, and/or ghost shrimp. i hope he lasts till then, at least he nibbled a little on the krill. thanks again for helping me do and know the right things to do.

p.s. walmart shouldn't be able to sell these fish without the proper names and information!!! i bet just about every puffer that makes it home from there dies. i saw about 20 in one plain tank at walmart one mourning and that night when i went back (yes i make too many trips to walmart) there was only like 3-4 left.

[Nick]

It's sad.

[Pufferpunk]

Hi, I'm glad you found us! I'm not the only one here though, that can help you. I have wonderful, educated puffer-moderators to help you.

[crazedpuffer]

Thank goodness they won't be selling fish anymore. I hope everything goes good for your puffer.

[Boxermom]

i don't know exactly what cycled means... i keep seeing it but no one says what it means

This should explain it pretty well: http://aquariumboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26