The Puffer Forum

ok i dont think its air... what do i do if its worms?

I have merged your 2 similar topics, to avoid confusion.

ok update. i got a gravel vaccum, ammonia test strips and stress coat. im going to clean up the gravel, test the water and add some stress coat. i will post my findings again shortly.

gravel cleaned, ammonia level is deadly, got an ammonia tab to fix that, sadly my sick puffer has passed away. i took him back, they offered a replacement, i accepted. this guy looks much healthier than the other, a bit bigger though. i picked him from the 2nd tank of puffers, which all looked healthy, the first tank was aweful, 2 dead fish, one with some sort of growth on his head, and they were all very dark colored and not swimming well... very sad. i let them know they are not caring for them properly, and asked that they discontinue to carry them. they didnt hear a word i said, the responce i got was "fish are not our #1 priority, we get to them when we get to them".

Trichardson so sorry about the lose of your puffer. I don't know if you understood what we were trying to tell you. In a 5 gallon tank with 2 GSP it may not matter if the puffers are healthy or not when bought they just won't stay that way in such a small tank, it is just to small for them. I am sorry but I really think you shouldn't of went out and got a replacement until you had upgraded, as by your post of the Lfs not caring for them properly you must care but are just not prepared as many people who find the puffer forum aren't. In the end your going to need a 60 gallon tank but for now your going to need a 30 gallon ASAP. The people at the puffer forum are here to help and answer any questions, they have learned through years and years of experience and mistakes. Bottom line no amount of knowledge is going to help if the tank is inadequate to support the life. Good luck.

I would have held off on that replacement until you had a 60g for the 2 of them. I'm afraid more deaths to come...

I found a 55 gallon tank with lid and stand for 100$, is that too much? sounds reasonable to me. I am going to purchase and cycle that tomorrow. hopefully for now i can get things straightened out : S been a rough couple of days. i think if i can get them to hang out just for a couple more days, they will much happier in their new home. now for cycling the new tank, should i use stress coat and aquasafe?

also i am having the HARDEST time getting the ammonia down. i put 1 tab as it said, and did a 25% water change. waited an hr, ammonia hasn't gone down at all

trichardson15718 wrote:also i am having the HARDEST time getting the ammonia down. i put 1 tab as it said, and did a 25% water change. waited an hr, ammonia hasn't gone down at all

There is no magic cure to get rid of ammonia. Save your money on adding anything to the tank besides aquasafe when doing water changes. Look at pufferpunks signature water changes, water changes, water changes. Do 90% twice a day until you get that 55 gallon set up. Read this article on emergency cycling library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/.

The problem isn't just ammonia anyways. It's just something we can measure to give an idea of other things that are in the water. That goes moreso for nitrate as ammonia and nitrite are poisonous and should always be 0.

Do more water changes and you'll notice that ammonia going down and that's the only thing you should be doing to get rid of it. Good luck on getting the 55gal!

I wonder if it's best to put the puffers in the larger tank as soon as you get it and then deal with cycling that. Perhaps get dirty media or something. I think it would be better instead of leaving them in the 5gal. Does anyone know the answer to that?

Yes get them in the 55 gallon ASAP. I doubt whether that 5 gallon is cycled anyways. as the OP stated in their first post they didn't know how to cycle a tank.

the 55 gallon + Dr Tims might be the best way to go here...........
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... atid=18986

I agree--put the puffers in that 55g tank as soon as you've got it set up.

i cant wait to get them in the new tank and get everything set up tomorrow. they arent acting right. ammonia is nearly gone, but the small one seems to not be fully digesting food, the bigger one seems to be hanging around the bottom of the tank like the other one. after i get them moved, what is a sure sign of sickness like worms or something? thank you guys so much! you have all been such a big help! i would have very dead fish by now if not for you!