The Puffer Forum

Okay, thank you for the air-filled instructions. I saw the bit about the frozen foods, and rest assured he wont be getting any more frozen plankton, no matter how much he liked it.

It is approx 1230PM CST, and I just got done "burping" the puffer as instructed.

I did manage to get 3 very small air bubbles out of him, one of them was about the size of a piece of small gravel, I think the other 2 were smaller. My girlfriend who was watching describes it this way: there were 3 or 4, maybe more 'cause it seemed to her that they were coming out 2 at a time once or twice, they were about the size of his mouth.

Anyway, of course, his coloration got darker, and it did seem that he got a little more swollen, hopefully with water. I waited 5 minutes or so and tried to "burp" him again, and no air came out.

Its been about 10-15 minutes since, he is hiding, he is still very swollen. I have the aquarium light off hoping to make him a little more comfortable. I will post his condition in a couple hours before I go to work. I will post when I get home from work, which will be midnight to 6 AM.

SHOULD I TRY TO BURP HIM AGAIN SOME TIME IF HE IS SWOLLEN TOMORROW???

3 hours later. He is still a little dark, was swimming around a little. Still VERY swollen, maybe more than a few hours ago, hard to tell, and lounging around at the bottom. His mouth is closed, which is new from the last couple of days.

SUN, 420 AM, 16 hours since burping:

still just as swollen, the spots around his head seem somewhat...gray? hard to tell in the lighting

Sun 1230 PM, 24 hours: still swollen

Sun 930PM CST, 33 hours since intial burping.

Still swollen. I tried to "burp" him again, no air was expelled.

Tried to feed him a small snail and some plankton, it doesnt appear that he ate anything. Swims in all areas of the tank, anyone still there? any more advice?

How are the water parameters now?

Still just as swollen as ever. He did eat a very small amount of bloodworms both today and yesterday, yeah two days in a row, but not enough to overfeed him. Did another 50%er today, plan on doing another tomorrow. Ammonia and NO2 higher than 0, working on that.
NO2: think it was between 0 and 0.5, closer to the 0
NO3: think it was between 20 and 40, much closer to 20
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: <.25 on the fresh water scale
SGrav: right around 1.005

He's swimming all over right now, doesn't act like he's sick, other than not eating.

Maybe he's allergic to ammonia or nitrite, and he's swollen from exposure?

I think he's just getting bigger, he still swims around, but his swimming is starting to look...weak, i cannot help but think he's gotta be miserable, and I hate that, wish I could do something.

Have you tried feeding your puffer anything else? I've heard of someone's GSP being intolerant of bloodworms, and would look lethargic and sick every time it had any.

He just started eating bloodworms a few days ago, Nusquam, before that he liked snails and plankton. Hes a picky eater to begin with, he did not eat bloodworms before. Hes still currently eating very small amounts of bloodworms.

Hes a little (very slightly) less swollen today, color looks a little better today. In fact, hes munching on some bloodworm left overs this very second. Ive got a spare aquarium started, a little small, but my big ones are occupied atm.

Perameters today:
NO2: looks like 0
NO3: higher than 20, but less than 40
Ammonia: close to 0 but not perfect quite yet on the freshwater scale

I put in a little more ammonia decreaser tonight. next 50%er will be sat or sun.

Adding ammonia removers will inhibit the tank from fully cycling. I'd just do a WC with Prime. Look into all the other vaireties of foods for him in an article in our Library.

Try to keep those nitrates at or below 10. Over 20 or 30 and all my puffers start to show some signs of skin irritation or refuse to eat, etc.

Glad to hear he is looking a bit better!

Not perfect, and his condition has been fluctuating lately, but he looks better today than he has in a long time.

Great progress today, hes hardly bloated at all. I am a little worries about his behavior, im worried that hes acting, well, kinda blindish, but i cant tell for sure right now. I will check all the water specs tomorrow and post em, as well as his eating habits tomorrow.