The Puffer Forum

The waters at 86. Earlier I added some more of the saltwater that I made yesterday and the SG is at 1.004. All I can say is wow! His appetite came back. He was actually hanging out in the front of the tank begging for food. He ate a much better amount of the med/garlic krill, and ate a couple of snails and I almost thought he was going to eat one of the ghost shrimp. He was looking at it like it was actually food and not a tank mate. His color even got a little less dull. I know it hasn't cured him yet, but I am amazed at how much better he has gotten over the last few hours. I guess he was really irritated by it. I'm still not even positive that what I saw was ick, (my husband never saw what I was talking about), but the other symptoms fit and he is responding to the treatment so... ten days at 86 degrees tomorrow 80% wc

Not only that but his immune system was compromised in FW.

So yesterday I did the 80% wc. I also tok out the castle and the terracotta pots ( he never even noticed them) and put in the structures we made. They are slate slabs and river stones that we got from a local building material yard. They said these were not treated with any chemicals and are sold to them as non-treated since most go in or near the ground, and californnia has many enviormental laws, and ect... ( I dipped them in oxyclean and rinsed with boiling water)They are held together by aquarium silicone. I have misplaced my memory card or I would have included pictures. I refilled with treated (prime) tap water mixed with the saltwater that was mixed with a powerhead for 7 hours. To redecorate I put him in a clean black 5 gallon bucket of his tank water with his heater. ( I remove him with a very small clear bucket so I don't net him or take him out of water to reduce stress). I waited to put him back for a while to let the water clear, cuz it was a little stirred up. But I am sad to see that he his back to sulking at the bottom back corners and did not want any krill or a worm again. I put in 4 snails, he did eat those. Yesterday he was really responding to us and coming to the glass and was interested in everything, but just as quickly, he is back to looking ill. Is it just stress from the new environment or a secondary infection? On retrospect I should Have waited till after treatment to change the tank, but I thought since I was taking out so much water anyways, replacing a few items wouldn't be a big deal. Numbers are good 0,0 and 10-20 ( I have a hard time judging those two oranges. I think its 10 it could be a little higher. Ph is 8.2 temp is 85.8.

Hey, where'd ya learn the Oxyclean trick?

Like I said before, if he's eating/swimming normally, I bet there's nothing wrong with him.

I read it from this site! I did a lot of reading before hand, and I had algae in my guppy tank and I have a piece of fake coral that I like but got covered in algae. I saw your GSP tank and went "OMG Thats so cool but how do you keep it clean?" So I dug back and read about the oxyclean, it only made sense to me to pre-treat my decorations in it, in case they had any stuff on them. I actually wanted to ask if you did some sort of pre-treatment to keep your decorations clean or do you clean them regularly.

Black Beard seems to be feeling better he is checking out his new decor and ate some snails.

I like my thin layer of algae On my decor

UPDATE

Black Beard is still the same, no personality, not interested in food, pacing the bubble wand ( I have a second finer bubble stone for the extra air) and hiding during the day. He swims around more at night when no one is in the living room. The tanks temp is still up, 86.2 last time i checked. SG 1.004. Did 80 % wc yesterday. 0,0,10. Only thing new is the ghost shrimp are dying. I don't know if its the puffer or what.

Ghost shrimp dying concerns me. What kind of test kit are you using? Are you adding anything to the water?

How long have you had the ghost shrimp? Were the quarantined? Has your puffer ate any?

Maybe they can't take the heat.

You'd think at that temp, he's be zipping all over the place with the raised metabolism...

Can we see a FTS?

Ammonia, or nitrates, nitrites.

Also, did you remove anything major like a filter sponge

I can't for the life of me upload the pics right now. I almost got my memory card stuck last time and the card reader I have is not supported by windows 8 thats on my new laptop. I'm gonna stop by a library later to upload them later.

He is doing worse. He wouldn't eat at all today. He is just resting on the bottom of the tank. I took a pic of my test water as well, ammonia bright yellow(0) nitrites light bright blue (0), nitrates orangish (10) ph 8.1 temp 85.7. I'm using the api freshwater kit

The ghost shrimp I have had for over two months. I got them over a month before the puffer and had them in a 1.5 g. I put half in my guppy tank and then half in his. I removed one yesterday that had eggs and put it in my 1.5 that I was gonna keep MTS in. There are two more in there that I can't catch and three have died in the last two weeks ( the last two I found a couple days ago). I also want to note that I think they are dying after they molt(?) I'll find a shrimp shell and then the next day I'll find one dead and one was not whole. So I'm still not positive its not the puffer, we did see him chase them.

No filters have been removed except to rinse (in the tank water in the bucket) I treated his food for two days with the tetra parasite/garlic med. I'm still suspecting ips, my husband says he seen a small odd lump in his tummy and I have noticed his belly is "uneven" when he eats.

His left gill seems.... swollen? not red... but maybe swollen or extended. I'll include a close up pic when I upload them. I think I also saw two small white dots on the edge of his skin/gill. His black his seeming more gray......

I've been out, got a new printer with a memory card reader. I'll have it set up soon and get some pics uploaded. Black Beard is swimming around but still not interested in food. Turned away krill, live earthworm and didn't see or go after the snails I tossed in. His left gill still seems... swollen

I'd start adding Melafix. Remind me why you have the temp so high? Have you tried offering him a live earthworm?

ick, i saw white dots one day then gone the next then back a week later. Came from a walmart ( who had ick a month before i got him) Yes to the live earthworm.

He is getting worse, again. The left gill is now looking red and he is swimming around weakly. I turned off my large filter cuz its pushing him around and he is bumping into stuff. I'm setting up the 10g hospital tank. I'll fill it with his water. I'll start treating with melaflix

Poor little guy. Teeth overgrown? That last pic makes me suspicious. (mouth looks to be held open) The dots are likely sand sticking to him I have that happen with mine all the time. Also I would just add the meds to the main tank and lower the temp down to 76-80 to slow his metabolism.