The Puffer Forum

I just syphon the sand like it's gravel. I barely loose any sand from it.
For the tail rot do a lot of water changes and Pimafix should help.

Thanks, rocco.
Here's a shot of the tank:



So how deep should the sand be?

2 inches max if you have no live plants. You definitly need a longer tank. Then you should make it and underwater forest. Hes probably bored out of his mind. What size tank is this now?

At least thats my opinion. he is a very nice ceylon though.

Thanks for the input. The tank is 2 feet by 1 1/2 by 1 1/2. As far as available space in the house in concerned, that's all I can do for it for the time being. I think according to the care sheet, volume-wise the tank is just about ok.

I pretty sure ceylons will need 40g (150l) when they are adults, as they can max out at 8 in. Also, you said he looks thin? I can't tell from the picture, but do you guys think he might have IPs? From experience, I would be careful with over-medicating. Just keep water conditions good and do extra water changes on a regular basis. In some cases rasing the temp a little bit can help, too. For most things, although I love maracyn2 and maracide (half doses only),.... if you're not sure what's wrong, Melafix is usally a pretty good option (not on a regular basis though). No experience w/ Ceylons though - so I'm not sure how they react to what medicines. Good luck though.

Ok, I'll remember that and wait till he grows bigger. So far none of my puffers have survived beyond their current tanks.

Oh yeah, he doesn't look thin here. I stuffed it just a little while (and the two days preceding that) before taking that picture. He did look thinner in that pic with the sunken eyes if you noticed. I wouldn't think they were the same fish if I weren't the one who took the pictures.

What's IPs?

IPs are internal parasites. They get them in the wild, I'm pretty sure. The way to tell if the fish has them, is if the belly looks sunken in. I had 2 GSPs die from it before I knew what they were. So just keep an eye out...
Take care!
Good luck w/ your new buddy...he's awesome!

Thank you. Actually, some of his buddies are stll in the LFS now and they all seem to have this sunken belly thing. I picked this guy because he was the most responsive. He tried to bite my finger when I teased him

Anyway, his tail fin is not looking any better today. I would really like to scoop him up and apply the meds directly onto his tail, but already at this size I am finding him tough to handle. He'll try to jump out of the water and if he gets onto the floor, I'll have a problem. Perhaps some of us here with experience with large puffers can suggest something?

Start doing some water changes & add Melafix. Whea't the SG in there? With the sparce decor he is probably stressed, which will compromise his immune system. Check out the decor on my tanks.

Thanks, Rocco.

The SG is still 1.002. It hasn't been pass the one week mark since I last upped the SG so I haven't increased it any further yet. I'll up it by another 0.002 the next time.

Okay, I asked the lady at the LFS about aragonite sand and she had no idea what I was talking about. They do have what they call "coral sand" though, which they use for their marine tanks. Would that work?

That should work. I bet if you look on the bag, it'll say aragonite on there. Duh... LDS employees.

Sigh ... more problems now ....

With Melafix, the fin rot seems under control. But then there is this whitish band that is spreading from the base of the tail up. I thought it might be fungus, so I added Pimafix too. But that hasn't helped. The poor guy has stopped eating. Any ideas?



Oh, right, parameters. Salinity 1.004, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0.5.

That looks bad. I'm sorry he has been ill. Have you been watching the water parameters daily and doing water daily water changes as needed to get rid of all the nitrite? You have got to get rid of the nitrite.

I have never seen this problem. I do not know what else you could do to help him. Hopefully someone else will. poor guy has been through a lot.