The Puffer Forum

Um... Now the other one has done the same thing... He didnt puff, but he did everything else... My phone rang and I had left it in my room with the fish, so I went to get it and figured I'd check on them at the same time. The second I walk up to the tank, the other one was set off. The first one is still hiding behind the filter, dark as can be. I've left them alone since the suggestion of schismy007, until just now.

Is there anything else at all I can do? Has anybody else had this happen? Could it be a heart attack? My friend in elementary school had a black rabbit that escaped in the backyard, and his German shepherd chased it for fun, and it died of a heart attack, I guess out of fear.

I know this isn't the best advice, but they sound like they need to just rest and de-stress. I would keep the lights off, and try not to get near the tank for a while, give them a chance to settle down. I know most people think something is bad wrong when they are dark, but I've got a Ceylon whose belly is dark 95% of the time, yet the other one's belly is always nice and white. So I'm beginning to think that the black belly means other things besides illness or unhappiness. But that's just my way of looking at it. I hope they are back to normal soon.

Bad news guys... The first one died... I think I already mentioned this, but my friend had a rabbit that died of a heart attack while being chased by his dog, so I think that may be what happened here... Why else would they have frozen like that, and immediately after spazzing too?

The other one is still in the skittish state, and they both looked okay when I went to bed, and I left them completely alone and in the dark almost all of yesterday. I even told my family not to go upstairs in case they scared them...

I feel horrible

Wow. This has me stumped, it really does. I've never heard of fish freaking out like this. I agree with Schismy - let the remaining puffer relax. Keep the lights low. Cover all four sides with dark paper or cardboard or something. If you're still coming in and out of your room sometimes and have to turn the lights on, put a desk lamp near the tank 24/7 instead. This way, they'll be exposed to low, steady lighting, instead of changes.

Im trying to make his environment as stress free as possible, yet he is STILL doing this, and several times a day! Now with severe twitching! This is really freaking me out, it happens almost on the hour now, and Im totally leaving him alone!

Do you have the ability to test for nitrites, nitrates and Calcium? I would try some huge water changes just to make sure nothing toxic got in the tank, this sounds too much like an accidental poisoning or nitrate toxicity. If you have a real high calcium load in the tank that can cause spastic movement also, it has to do with muscle cell contraction. I know calcium is an essential part of the environment but an excessive amount can be harmful. Just throwing thoughts out there...

Too late, he died last night

You did everything you could. Really, you went crazy trying to help them.

The day he died I literally had to revive him 8 times... I did run myself a little ragged, I almost didnt leave my spot all day just to keep an eye on him

Sounds like he's just very nervous and scared.. could be the tapping just scared him bad enough to need time to settle down, but fish often get nervous when their tank is too small, water is too dirty or they are being harassed by a tankmate.

Maybe the other puffer is picking on it at night, its trying to hide, and you're coming along and exposing its hiding place?

And this sounds odd, but its something a few of us have learned over the years with puffers.. sometimes bright red and orange colors can really freak them out. Make sure there's nothing bright red close to the tank (or that you aren't wearing a hat or shirt, etc).

Keep in mind that it is perfectly normal for a puffer to "nap" and they tend to go semi-comatose practically. Their colors dull out, they sometimes curl up in a ball and have trouble uncurling and swimming properly. So it could be the little guy is just slow to wake up and then you spook it and that's when the puffing starts..

But I would simply lean towards increased water changes to ensure the water quality is good, and move towards getting a bigger tank or separating the two fish so you know its not harassment (I haven't read the other posts lately so no idea what's been going on in your tanks )

Shoot, sorry I missed that he ended up dying. I'm sorry about that...

Myaj wrote:And this sounds odd, but its something a few of us have learned over the years with puffers.. sometimes bright red and orange colors can really freak them out. Make sure there's nothing bright red close to the tank (or that you aren't wearing a hat or shirt, etc).

Heh, learned this the hard way, wife bought new red, beige and orange bed sheets and my Turgdis is right next to the bed. Leon stopped eating, got rid of the sheets and he's fine....

Sorry to hear he died. That was two out of the smae tank, correct? I would think about stripping it down, now that it's empty, and starting from scratach just in case it was something that got in the water.

Im 99.99999% sure that it was nothing in the water. Nothing bright red or orange. Not waking them up. Not being picked on by the other. If you were there you would probably know exactly what it was. I think the scare was big enough to really eff up their nervous systems or something like that. If my friends rabbit can die out of fear while being chased by his dog, I dont think its unreasonable at all to rule something like that out. Puffers are pretty high-strung, high-metabolism little guys, so it makes sense to me.

I dunno, I did my weekly water change anyway, made it bigger than usual just in case. Got a 6 inch-ish dragon goby in there now.

Rabbits and other small rodents are well known for their weak hearts and how you should never scare them badly.

Puffer, on the other hand, are pretty hardy when it comes to that sort of thing. They may pout for a few days, but they don't die.

I've seen humming birds die of scaredom when it was surprised by a praying mantis.