The Puffer Forum

Are they liquid or strip kits? They do also go bad with age so if they've been sitting around awhile, its likely you (or your friend) will need new ones.

Prime will detoxify the nitrites so they won't hurt him. And it can be overdosed for emergency situations (like this).

Well, after the 50% waterchange the nitrite level has dropped, and as of 5 mins ago the little chap has got his colour back and looks more perky, swimming about and being generally nosey.

Im going to do 25% water changes for the rest of the week and then ill have the new Eheim filter for it, which ill run in conjunction with the 2 internal power heads for a week then itll be all external

25% probably won't be enough, you should consider doing at least 50% a day maybe more. I had a similar problem a few months ago, my biologicals bottomed out. All said and done, I had to move nearly 30 gallons a day (from a 10 gallon) for three days to keep the problem under control.

Did my water tests again today and the Nitrites have bottomed out back to normal, the little chap has started to get his colour back and isnt gasping anymore.

He is really shy and sits at the back of the tank, which is a shame, but i think when the plants fully grow in, that will make a difference, block out some of the light.

Ill check water every day for rest of week (then buy new kit for myself and the ones im borrowing lol)

Exeternal Ehiem Ecco should be here Friday/Saturday so that will make a huge difference i think

Fingers crossed the little tyke pulls through fully

Sorry to say, the species you have aquired is not very active. Not nearly as social as a GSP. Get him some kind of cave. Mine lived in a flowerpot most of the time. Otherwise, he hung out in the plants.

Yeah, they aren't very active at all unless they're eating. But cute little buggars they are! Bubba (as he's been nicknamed) comes out and watches me do laundry, wiggles around when he's hungry and really tears into food. He's smart too, he's learned to follow me tapping on the glass that I'll lead him to a snail that drifted away or a bit of worm he missed. Not active fish but beautiful to watch and interact with.

atm im trying to find something he will eat.

Snails, no
Mussel, no
Prawns, no
shrimp, not yet
bloodworm, no

arghhh

How are you trying to feed him. They usually only like live food at first, so with stuff like mussels, prawns, shrimp, etc., its best to stick it on a skewer or piece of string and dangle it so that it moves around. Otherwise he may not recognize it as food. I'd pick one food item and try it repeatedly. Dangle it for awhile and try to get him to take a bite. Keep trying the same item for successive meals, and don't feed him anything in-between. When he gets hungry, he'll be more likely to give it a try. It took almost 2 weeks to get my palembang to taste a piece of shrimp and I ended up having to bang him (gently) in the face with it before he'd take a bite (I used kitchen tongs). After that, he knew it was tasty food and all I have to do now is lower it into the water and he attacks it.

I had the same problem at first.

Earthworms did the trick. And once he finally figured out what snails were, he loves those too. I've yet to get him to eat much else though.

Boxermom wrote:Dangle it for awhile and try to get him to take a bite. Keep trying the same item for successive meals, and don't feed him anything in-between. When he gets hungry, he'll be more likely to give it a try. It took almost 2 weeks to get my palembang to taste a piece of shrimp and I ended up having to bang him (gently) in the face with it before he'd take a bite (I used kitchen tongs). After that, he knew it was tasty food and all I have to do now is lower it into the water and he attacks it.

Ill try that each day, tried today and he ran away from the prawn lol...

hi at all,
like i wrote to the last picture of this species: this does not look like an turgidus at all to me. if you had seen the pictures of turgidus made in the descriptions by kottelat (fishes of laos), i think you would agree with me.
this seems to be an monotrète cochinchinensis, or how most of people still call them: tetraodon cochinchinensis. its the point, that the picture ist still showin a large blotch under the dorsal fin area, which turgidus does not have.
martin

Well, he still hasnt eaten anything

Im at a complete loss for what else to try. ive tried everything i can think of. Im of the assumption that there is something wrong with him which is why he wont eat.

Currently he is dull in colour (body) and his eyes are also dull, doesnt move from the back of the tank, or if he does its just to turn around.

If anyone has any ideas, id appreciate the help, failing that all i can do is keep putting in food and taking it out when he doesnt eat it. Ive even tried Melafix as a mild antibacterial agent on the off chance that helps (to no avail)

Have you tried the garlic soak?

the what?

lol

Sorry. Garlic is a natural appetite stimulant. Try soaking the food in a little tank water with some slices of fresh garlic in it for a few minutes. Tends to work pretty well.