I was checking the water and feeding my puffers when I noticed that one of them wasn't doing to well. He was floating on bottom and not moving at all. Sadly enough I think he is dead.
The water measured ok
0 ammonia
0 nitrates
7.8 PH
80 temp (don't have central air )
I have some aquarium salt in tank (waiting on a hydromter before going with sea salt .... coming next week).
I think he may have had a tape worm or something because he wasn't growing like the other two (GSP, Fig and looked a little thin. He was eating daily bloodworms. I have also crushed a live snail and a live clam from my other tank which he ate also.
I plan on replacing him next week but wondered if anyone had any advice.
Fully agree with Woland. In addition, it is very important to get that hydrometer and marine salt as soon as possible. Make sure you only raise your salinity by no more than .002 a week.
What kind of puffers are they?
What's central air?
Can you give us the tank info...size, water change schedule and feeding schedule, so we can look at anything that may be wrong so you don't make the same mistake again.
The only prob is, introducing a new fish will make the remaining two very territorial and they may attack the new one.
Also, unless you quarantine him for at least a month, he may bring a disease or parasite into the tank that the other two could pick up, and you could end up losing all three.
I'd hold off on the new fish for a while. Are these your first puffers?
Pami.
Central air, eh. That's filed away for future use. Hardly anyone here has air con either, except in their office.
We bake in the summer, freeze in the winter, and whinge the long year round.
What's happening in that tank, anyway....he's not been back to update us.
Pami.
I do regular water changes every weekend and the tank size is...... eeeekkkk ..... 10 gallons. (put into 55 gallon until I realized they were brackish....had to move them from my community tank and all i had was the 10 laying around)
The tank is temporary though. They are going in a 55 gallon ASAP, or ASAIBO (as soon as I buy one). But I do regular water changes every weekend and the water looks good.
I feed them 1 block frozen blood worms daily. I thaw it out in a cup of hot water before putting in aquarium. They were all eating and getting stomach bulges after feeding. I was careful to watch and make sure they all ate.
I have also fed them one of my mystery snails and one of my gold clams (on different days). Smacked it with a hammer and put it in tank. They ate them both. This was in place of the blood worms for the day.
Not sure what else I can say. They swim around the tank fine and I set a bubbles for them to play in. The bigger GSP stays in back of tank playing in bubbles all day while the other two swam around front.
The little GSP seemed fine until one day and then all of sudden he just sat on bottom and didnt eat.
I did notice in hind sight that he hadnt grown any....especially like the other GSP. Even the figure 8 had out grown him and they were same size when I got them.
The only thing I can gather is internal parasites. Any way I can tell if the other two have them.
I do have two window unit AC but they cannot cool the whole apt like I want them to, so that is why the water temp is soooo high.
An entire block of frozen bloodworms seems excessive, and should quickly foul the water in a 10g tank. I find 0 nitrates pretty surprising, given the circumstances. How did you cycle your tank, again?
The tank is fully cycled. It has been up for at least a month, but more like two or three.
I cycled it by using gravel from another tank, half water from another tank and two cyclids from that tank. I also used some bottled cycling stuff that helps. Dont remeber the name, but it wasnt instant cycle.
I didnt want to stun the cyclids too bad with fresh water because the tank they were in was pretty filthy (wasnt my tank). I was trying to make room in a 30 gallon tank that had 12 med sized cyclids in it. Unfourtanately I only have 9 now. Three were eaten by the others. I woke up one morning to find them missing and a few bones scattered on the bottom of the tank. Survival of the fittest?
It was up for well over a month before the puffers got in it.
Ohh and the puffers have been eating the whole block of blood worms, except now that I am short one there is a little remains left over.
)
and looked a little thin. He was eating daily bloodworms. I have also crushed a live snail and a live clam from my other tank which he ate also.