The Puffer Forum

i've had my green spotted puffer for about two weeks and has been fine ...but he's started sinking to the bottom of the tank, turning brown, clamping his tail to his right side, and twiching
it's like he's having a siezure
after about 5-10 minutes he's fine but it's happened a few times
can anyone help?

Seeing as though you posted this in 'Freshwater Puffers' I'm assuming you have him in a freshwater tank? This is probably your problem because they are a brackish water to full marine puffer. What are your water parameters, how long has the tank been set up, and how big is the puffer?

Moved to Hospital forum.

Please read the article on GSPs in our Library & answer all the questions above, in red.

we bought him from a store that had him in freshwater so that's what we kept him in
i read somewhere that gsp can live in freshwater or saltwater as long as the salt is phased in slowly
and he's been fine in these conditions for a few weeks as this problem has just started
nothing new has happened in the tank as he is fed the same thing at the same time everyday and he has no tankmates
he's about an inch or two long in a 2 gallon tank

Read that article in our Library NOW! Do you have any test kits?

Your puffer is being poisoned by it's own wastes. It's like living in a toilet. Your puffer needs a larger tank today!!!

Oh my goodness... a 2 gallon tank is WAY too small, even though he's only an inch.

Puffers are one of the most dirty eaters (so they make a mess, which pollutes the tank) and they are also very, very sensitive to bad water conditions.

He's going to need a much larger tank ASAP. Fully grown he wouldn't even fit in a 2 gallon tank and still be able to turn around, but if you don't get him out of there, he's going to die very quickly. 30 gallons minimum. Or take him back to the store and let them know they should provide CORRECT info on the animals they choose to sell.

I hope we don't scare you out of the forum with this. Many of us has been through the period of depending on information from pet shops. The problem is most pet shops don't have the clue about puffers. And that gives the first time puffer owners a hard time in the beginning. Many people loses their beloved puffers in very short time, because of the absolutely wrong information given by those pet shops. Stop relying on them! That's the first advice I would give you.
The second advice is to listen to the people answering you in here. They really know their stuff, and many knows their stuff because they've experienced all the bad stuff themselves.
So I hope you don't feel that we all is throwing ourselves at you because of it. Our interest is to give your fish the best for him/her. I guess that's the same hope for this as well, as you came in here with your questions. There you took your first step to do something good for your fish.
And sorry if I get a bit messy at the end here. I've taken my pills for tonights sleep, so I'm a bit not here, if you understand...
So to underline what I tryed to say earlier, is that we aren't here to scare you away. We just want what's for your fish (as you do), and then tell you what should be done to make things better. My best advice is to read the other posts in this thread, and listen to their advices.
If your GSP is in a 2 G tank, he surely is in big trouble!