PLEASE HELP! Sick, Lethargic CheliFish.....

[spoot]

Wow, that is very impressive!

[Stormylee]

Yes you can change the water with the fish in it. Just leave enugh for the fish to swim in and ry to get it the same temp. Your water could have ammonia in it. Try to get some Prime to add to your water. It helps get rid of chlorines and neutralizes ammonia. Also if you have nitrites it's going to affect your puffer. Any isn't good for it. You might ask the LFS is they have any gravel or sponge from an established tank. Even just gravel will help cycle your tank in a week. Good luck.

[Nick]

WOW, a fish store run by a puffer knowledgeable guy. I've never actually seen that anywhere on LI.

[crazedpuffer]

Wow thats impressive, I've seen fish stores run by people who know about puffers here on LI but never the way your LFS owner does.

[manutius]

Yeah I agree great little store, you should add it to the favourite store forum

For the record you should always leave your puffer in the tank for water changes catching and removing is very stressfull too them. Sounds like you've had all the advice you need. Good luck and let us know how its going, would love to see some pics of Cheli

[PufferPuck30]

Happy belated Thanksgiving, all...

Update:

Since my last post I've been performing daily large scale (50%+) water changes. I think, (hope), it's starting to pay off:

SG = 1.002 (Cant seem to get it any higher, perhaps I need a new/better hydrometer) I've got a question about this one.....below.....
pH = 7.8
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrites = 0.125 ppm (or thereabouts....it's a 'tweener)
Nitrates = 12 - 13 ppm (or thereabouts....another 'tweener reading)
Temperature = 82 degrees

Now for the important stuff:

Cheli seems much better, at least to my untrained eye. His color is much better. There's very little to no grey in the pearly white tummy area, and he's very close to his prior "glow-in-the-dark" green.

He's back to his nasty self as far as "attitude" goes, too. He's got that swaggering swish back in his tail, and he's back to "chasing" me at feeding times....and if I don't give him the type of food he wants, he's back to "bullying" me.

Example; I tried mysis (again!) today. "No Thanks". He watches them float to the bottom, then follows after.....BLOWING on them, but not eating them.....The he "challenges" me, following me around the room from inside his tank, back arched like a cat, looking combative. Krill? "Hmmm....maybe half.....as an appetizer...." (*sigh*) So I drop in a mealworm. He destroys it, then does the "And....?????" swim. "FINE! Three ramshorn snails, and that is IT, sir!" In they go.....Plunk....plunk...plunk....and are devoured before they even hit the bottom of the tank. NOW he's happy, fluttering around his tank, between the plants, in and out of his cave..... I swear I can almost hear him whistling a contented little tune. (He's off key, by the way). Spoiled brat.

Here's a question.....

I'm VERY concerned that my hydrometer is wonky. Reason? Because I'm adding WAY more Instant Ocean per gallon of water than what everyone here recommends, and yet the SG is still low compared to what y'all say it should be. Any advice on a readily available, accurate, hydrometer? I'd prefer something I can pick up at the LFS over something I have to order on-line and wait for, but if the on-line option is the best available, I suppose that's the way I'll go. Cost is not really much of a problem, as long as I'm not dropping $100+ on the stupid thing. I'm going shopping for Cheli tonight, (who am I kidding....??? I go shopping for him almost every night...). Any advice?

OH! And another question:

I've been adding a few drops of Prazi-Pro to his food at feeding time, as he still has one gill swollen shut, (oddly enough, he alternates which gill he closes off), and because it states on the bottle that it can be used, (even in a preventative capacity), for internal parasites. The question, (okay...okay...TWO questions.....):

1.) How many drops should I put in the food, (thawed, rinsed, and in 1 TBS of tank water)? and
2.) How long should I soak it for?

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and thanks a MILLION for all the advice.

[crazedpuffer]

I use an instant ocean hydrometer and it works great.

[PufferPuck30]

I'll look for one tonight. Thanks for the advice.

[Nusquam]

If you're using a hydrometer, remember to calibrate it, or have the LFS calibrate it for you, on a regular basis. Ours turned out to be 0.005 s.g. off, and we didn't even know it.

So far we're loving our refractometer. It was a bit pricier, but it hasn't deviated at all yet, is easier to use, and easier to calibrate.

[PufferPuck30]

HA! Just as I suspected! The hydrometer was off! The old one was reading 1.002, even though I knew it must be higher. The Instant Ocean hydrometer I purchased tonight, (thank you, flamesofifreet), is reading 1.008.

Anyone think that might be a bit too high?

I dosed Cheli's tank with NovAqua and AmQuel+. Water parameters seem to be normalizing....

SG = 1.008
pH = 7.8 - 7.9
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrites = 0 ppm (Hooray!)
Nitrates = 12 - 13 ppm

Now the only issue seems to be that alternating "inactive" fin and closed off gill.

Anyone care to hazard a guess as to what might be the cause?

[PufferPuck30]

Okay, now I'm REALLY worried.

I went to check on Cheli, and found him lying on the substrate inside his cave, panting. He was curled up into a little Cheli-ball, tail "bent", (looked VERY unnatural!) all the way around and touching his nose. His color had gone all mottled, too.

He stayed that way for what seemed a long time, until I couldn't stand seeing him like that anymore, so I threatened him with the net. (Bad me, I know).

He snapped out of it and is now back to normal colorwise, and prowling around the tank as if nothing is amiss.

What is going on with this fish? Has anyone ever seen this type of behaviour?

[spoot]

he might have just been resting. Their colours fade and they don't move much when they are resting, tail curl is normal with sleep too.

[PufferPuck30]

Excellent. Thank you, I feel a bit better now.

Now I've got the whole "white, stringy poo" issue going on. First time, ever, in the three weeks I've had him that his poo has been anything else but obnoxiously "normal".

I've got the PraziPro (praziquantel). I've been adding it to his food as follows:

1/2 cube of blood worms, thawed in tiny dish, rinsed in tank water. Add 1/2 Tablespoon of tank water and 3 drops of PraziPro. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Empty entire contents into tank.

He shuns the worms at first, biting at them but spitting them out immediately. He lets them "sit" for awhile at the bottom of the tank before he'll eat them, but he finally eats them all.

Could it be because the medicine dissipates into the water the longer the food is in there?

Is there something else I should be using? Something more effective for internal parasites?

This poor fish is a mess, isn't he?

[spoot]

Not sure, but if you soak freeze-dried food in medicine, i should soak in better.

Try to drain the food a bit before dumping into the tank. No point fowling the water any more than needed.

[Pufferpunk]

Soak food/meds for at least an hour, even overnight.

Stop using Amquel, is preventing your tank from cycling. Detoxify ammonia/nitrates with Prime--also a dechlorinator. Use for every water change. No other chemicals should be used in that tank.