The Puffer Forum

I just got a bubble wall, and he is swimming around a lot more but still putting his mouth to the surface. Should I leave the bubble wall running all the time? The package said I needed some kind of indicator to measure something, but I didn't realize until I left the store.

Is he still in the 10 gal or back in the 30?

He is still in the 10 gal.

I leave my bubble wall on all the time and I don't have anything on it just a bubble wall. Hopefully he will realize that he has more oxygen and stop going to the top. I'm not sure why he is doing that but I am glad that he is swimming better. Next time maybe get some prime and see if that helps, other then that I'm not really sure what to do. Is he eating yet? Maybe he is stressed by being in a 10 gallon, what did you have him in before? He needs a bigger tank, maybe thats why he is upset.

Be careful for him inhaling air while he's up there. I had mine do that once, and he ended up upsidedown because he had air in his belly and he wasn't letting it out. Just something to watch for... He was doing the same type of thing though...hanging out up at the top, trying to get air up there.

He was actually a lot more stressed out in the 30 gal. when this behavior began, and he did a lot of lying down. I wanted to put him in a clean aquarium in case something had contaminated that one.

I'm having a really hard time figuring out what's wrong because his symptoms are constantly changing... his coloring has been consistently poor (black tummy), but for a while he would lie on the bottom being unhappy, and today he is constantly at the surface of the water. His appetite has been nonexistent except for four bites of food this morning. He has been eating a few bites a day. Right now he is ignoring the freeze dried blood worms, I don't know why.

If he is inhaling air at the top, what can I do to have him stop? Any idea why he is refusing food?

How are you water parameters doing? I had the same problem and couldn't figure out what was going on with mine either.

What is your sg at? He might be getting burned if you didn't mix the salt well enough. I would do a water change and see if that helps him. If the salt level is too high (meaning that you raised it too fast) he might be freaking out. When I put mine in the salt water tank after an hour or so acclimating him, his belly was black and he wouldn't eat and he died a few days later. Are he teeth over grown and he can't eat? Did you try moving the food, maybe he likes to chase it. Did you change the filter media in the last few days, maybe its going through another cycle, is the tank cloudy? I am just fishing for answers, I have had a few puffers that have acted like this and I am just thinking of the problems I had. Did you treat for ips? (sorry if I have asked these questions before)

Freddy passed away in his sleep Tuesday night/Wednesday morning We buried him in a nice garden. Thank you all for your help and I hope everyone who has a sick fish sees him or her recover.

I'm sorry for your loss You did everything you could have for him..

Thanks, I tried really hard. After looking up another disease I came across Gill Disease, which is what it sounds like he had.

Aww I'm so sorry I was really hoping that you could save him!!