The Puffer Forum

One of my new puffers has died
He died today about 6 o clock, last water test was at 1pm, No Amomia, no nitrite, Nitrate at a safe 5-10ppm
The salinity of the tank is 1.002 PH 7.2
I have no idea what killed him/
I've been feeding them little and often with bloodworm.

I saw him struggling for a while like he was in shock at the bottom of thank, no visible damage. Have not noticed a lot of aggression either.
I'm think latent stress reaction from delivery or his tankmate killed him.
I suppose it could have been internal parasites.

Off to do water changes. Just in case that may help.
The other puffer is staying at the rear of thank looking unhappy and not moving much. Colour is dark too.

What do the body shape on the surviving one look like? Could they have come with IP's and are really showing the effects now? Sounds like your water params are good, your temp ok? How and when did you bring the SG up to 1.002? Anything new in the tank or any big changes in general?

I've dosed with pimafix in the hope this will deal any potential parasites.

But, both puffers had such good colouration they day that one of them died.
It could have been the stress of arriving i suppose as I have only had them since thursday last week.
Temps are fine a constant 27 degrees c.

The surviving puffer is hiding for the most part at the rear of the tank. spending most of his time at the surface. No dark belly but would say he seemed happy.

Pimafix won't kill parasites. You would need a deworming medication for that.

Can you answer the question about salinity? There could be a problem there.

Ulysees wrote:I've dosed with pimafix in the hope this will deal any potential parasites.

But, both puffers had such good colouration they day that one of them died.
It could have been the stress of arriving i suppose as I have only had them since thursday last week.
Temps are fine a constant 27 degrees c.

The surviving puffer is hiding for the most part at the rear of the tank. spending most of his time at the surface. No dark belly but would say he seemed happy.

Does it seem like he's gasping at the top when he's there? If so add an airstone, may not be getting enough O2.

He's looking happier today, I've been using an airstone so i dont think it's o2. But he seems to be moving around a lot more today.

I realised the pimafix in not specifically anit parasite, but it's a broad spectrum treatment and what i have.
I'll be dosing melafix as well for a while. and keping the airstone on.
Could you recomend a Deworming medication for puffers?

Salinity :
So the day before the puffer arrived. Last wednesday, I added red sea marine salt to 1.002 spg.
I did this in stages, changing %50 of the water, raising it to 1.001 salinity. Then about 6 hours later another %50 water change and raising it again to 1.002. I mixed the salt, weighing it out precisely and giving it 20to 1hr minutes of airation and heating in the bucket after adding the salt. I also put in a large air stone into the tank to help continue mixing. While doing all of this.

Adding salt caused a nitrite spike as i posted earlier in this thread. So I took my second external from another tank (freshwater) to help get rid of this spike as quickly as possible.
But when I introduced the puffers there was 0.25 ppm nitrite, 0ppm amonia. This was zero the next time i tested the following day.

I suppose youy could say everything was big change in the tank as they are new puffers in a tank previously used for freshwater.

I think perhaps the stress of mail order may be the issue and reason why he died.

Twenty minutes to an hour is not enough time for the salt to dissolve. The specific gravity can continue to rise for the first 24hrs. (Also, correct me if I am wrong folks, but wouldn't the SG read differently again after the temperature changes?) How long after adding the SW to the tank did you take your reading?

The best deworming medication is Gel-Tek Ultra Cure px, but that can be hard to get, and I'm not sure if it's available in the UK. Another UK resident might be able to suggest something.

Hmm, my understanding was a little different.
How long salt takes to dissolve does depend on if the water is at the right temperature to begin with as it will dissolve more slowly in colder water. (I use a large heater when mixing up). I think heater + aitstone means it should be quicker. Although i apreciate 24 hrs would be very safe option.
Also depends exact make up of salt which does vary a little depending on brand according to some folk i know who keep marines.

Anyways,
salinity is fine as i tested it throughout a solid 100.2 spg.
For later water changes i did leave if a day to dissolve. Didn't make a difference to the reading, Although, i only have a hydrometer, not a refractometer. It might not be 100% accurate.

Thanks for the recommendation lilgreen puffer, but, as you said the Goods stuff was only available in the us.
I've dosed with waterlife sterazin my lfs had this in stock, and I did find someone else with puffers in UK who had used this stuff.

I'll let you know how i get on...

Lost second f8 puffer.
I'm guessing internal parasites. I think the meds were too litlle to late for him. Very sad, will maybe try again but not for a while and not before i've got some reallly good anti parasite meds and a full qurantine tank setup and running.

Wormer Plus is available in the UK, if you get any more puffers. I'm sorry about your fish.

Once again, I will say that 24hrs is best for salt. Most people use a powerhead and a heater, and still let it go for 24hrs.

I ditto the 24 hours. Just to be safe. Sorry about the losses! My best guess would be IPs, but I can't be completely sure since I read through the thread pretty quickly.

Were their bellies rounded or sunken when you got them and the next few days? Did they eat at all? Just curious, might help to understand for better success with the next ones. Two of my 3 F8s died, and I'm now 99% sure from IPs, so I can relate on how disappointing it is to have deaths without really knowing why.

Thanks for the advice. For water changes i've been letting the salt mix for 24 hrs with airstone and heater now.
Both puffers did eat, I took photos so will check the bellies, but they seemed fine.
Not convined it was IP's think it was sand compacting and going anerobic

So I made changes.
Since posting I've have actually stripped the tank, changed the substrate and added an internal filter to incrase the flow a little.

I removed some bog wood too. This has helped my PH become a little harder now, which is good. I'd like to have at about 7.8-8 ish and stable. It's at about 7.6 now. Water in my area is very soft. Great for my amazon tank, proving bad for my brackish.

I dont want fluxuations so i'm only using natural buffers. such as a bunch of shells, now in the tank. (All very clean, boiled to death).

Since then tank has been fine. Gobies are thriving and loving the huge tank to themselves and shells. Trying another local fish shop to source some puffers for me and will wait and see.