Chompers getting better... but one gill's closed ??

[sparks42]

Okay I got home from work and he was all dark bellied, and light on his top (where his black dots are)

and he was just laying on the bottom now moving.
didn't come after food
didn't move much when i touched him... *omg*

so now he's in a bowl of 80% new clean water... and I'm so worried
My boyfriend is filling up his tank with new water right now

and help/suggestions at this point?

catching him from his tank with the net was like catching a rock.... he's just laying there....

[sparks42]

he's been laying on the bottom of the tank for almost 2 hours. hasn't moved a 1/4 inch

[Jase]

I don't have any help to offer, but I'll bump your thread up again.

can you post current parameters?

[Pudge]

yeah Chomper has something wierd going on.

He Seems to be very dosile. he moves his eyes around , but he doesnt really move around.. his breathing seems normal but he doesnt move his fins much, he also doesnt have his fins clamped against his body. Where his yellow meets the white on his belly 3 of his black dots are kinda white. His skin is not slimy, he looks like he is paralized, although we did see him move around today, and hes is really doppy.. like When he does move.. he will swim upwards and then kinda just torpedo back down to the bottom of the tank. While torpedoing he hits things in his way instead of swiming around them.. not scratching.. he just runs into them.. Im starting to think he is semi Blind or in shock, Or maybe he is poisend from the treatment. Anyone ?

[crazedpuffer]

Do a large water change (about 75%)
He could be suffering from the medications, what medicine did you use and what's in it? Also what kind of decorations are in the tank? The could have absorbed the medicine and are leaching them back into the water causing him problems too. Also what are your perams?

[studmaster]

You would be surprised how quickly ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels get out of whack. Make sure to test again for those, to ensure all levels are okay. Also make sure that when doing large water changes to make sure it doesn't affect the PH levels. I made the mistake of changing 70% of the tank water once because of high nitrates, before I remembered that I had added crush coral to the gravel in order to raise my PH level of my tap. Changing that much water dramatically dropped the PH level for a day or so and stressed out my puffer. Puffers are hard fish to take care of, especially when you first get them from the local fish store.

[sparks42]

Pudge is my honey, just incase anyone was wondering lol....

but anyways we'll test the water tonight and post that....we're at work right now...

We've had him for about a year now, he's not new. He's never really had a problem until I treated him for flukes It was called Parasite Guard, it said it kills flukes.
It said to add 4 teaspoons for my size tank, I only added 3.

So I'm hoping/thinking now that he'll just need some time to come lively again?

I think he is shocked from all the change.... once we realized the medication was making him lethargic, we did a 90% water change (I wanted to do a 75% change... but... didn't work that way)

So should we just leave the water the way it is, cuz it's been changed so much?
Or do another water change? I was thinking a 25% change tonight?... I don't know

We'll test the water when we're home from work.

I tried to feed him shrimp this morning, the shrimp sunk to the bottom right infront of his face, and he didn't even touch it

ok back to work, thanks everyone!

[sparks42]

SG 1.008
Ammona 0
pH 7.6

He's sitting on the bottom about 60% of the time now... which is an improvement.
He was kind of acting blind... bumping into things. He also gets tired really fast.

He is starting to swim around more, but he hasn't eaten for 2 days now
and his colour is still horrible !

What should i do at this point, just leave Chomps and his aquarium the way it is so he can rest without anymore shock?
Or change some water?
.....

[Jase]

how about your nitrates and nitrites? those are key.

[sparks42]

They were all out of nitrate tests. Have to pick one up tomorrow.

[Jase]

you really need those tests. so get them asap!

as for the WC, I would go ahead and do maybe a 25% change and leave Chomper in there. don't scrub anything, or mess with the substrate though, just water.

I forget, how long has your tank been running?

[sparks42]

yea we'll look for those tests at a different store tonight. we know we need them, so we went last night to get some... but the LFS closed earlier than we thought it did.
so we went to walmart, they didn't have any
so we'll pickup a nitrate/nitrite test tonight.

I just want to stress that he seems blind
he can't see that I've fed him...
I think he's blind becuase he bumps into stuff still.... but he's swimming like normal now.
now he's not reacting to me, or to food, or anything.
just swimmin around like a zombie.

he's still really faint on his top haf.

[crazedpuffer]

How did you treat the tank? Did you wait 6 days between or no?
Also it says to use half dosage for members of characidea family, I'm thinking that would apply to puffers to after the events that happened with yours.

[sparks42]

i treated him once. i gave him slightly less than it called for. it said to repeat in 6-7 days if needed.
but he started acting sick the first day he was introduced to it, so we cleaned the tank and did the large water change to get the medicine out of his tank because he wasnt reacting well.
so now he is getting better, and he even has a little bit of colour back...
we gotta test nitrates and nitrites tonite...

im just wondering if theres anything else i can do to help right now? or should i leave him be...
he finally had a little nibble of shrimp this morning !
I feel like he's getting better... but he seems blind ! - ???

[Nick]

The Parasite Guard stuff contains acriflavine, along with some common antiparasitics:
From Wikipedia:
Acriflavine is a topical antiseptic. It has the form of an orange or brown powder. It may be harmful in the eyes or if inhaled. It is a dye and it stains the skin and may irritate. Commercial preparations are often mixtures with proflavine. It is known under a variety of names.
Apparently in aquariums it's sometimes used for treating velvet. It does not look like anything I'd want in my fish tank. This stuff is going on my "last resort" list right next to copper.