The Puffer Forum

Our fahaka puffer has not been eating for about ten days now. Whenever food is put in his tank, he just ignores it. He used to have such a big appetite and made it clear when he was hungry but now he is the complete opposite! He is about 6" and is in a 200uk gal. I have just done a water test and have got the following results -

Amonia - 1.0
PH - 7.8
Nitrate - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

Does anyone know what may be wrong with him? He is still swimming about like normal and seems like himself until it comes to eating!

Puffers are very sensitive to bad water conditions.

ANY ammonia will burn them, your ammonia reading should always be zero.

Start doing water changes to dilute it, and get him into clean water first. Then once you've done that, come back and give us these details:

How long the tank has been setup, how long you've had the Fahaka, what other fish are in the tank, what products you are using in the tank.

Basically, your tank isn't cycled. That's hard on any fish, but especially hard on puffers.

10 days is not really a long time to go without food for a puffer.. and one of the first things they do when they don't feel well is refuse food. If he isn't eating, make sure you take out any food you are offering him so it doesn't rot in the tank and make the ammonia levels worse.

spot on once again Myaj, I have nothiong further to add to that

What test kit are you using as it is almost impossible to have 0 nitrAtes!?!?!
Myaj is right about the ammonia so once that is diluted through lots of water changes then we will be able to get to the bottom of it. Make sure your filter stays on 24 hours a day 7 days a week if possible. MOST filters can be kept on durign water changes as long as you can push them down in the tank (if they are internal) if they are external then just insure the inlet doesn't draw in air.
the moment you turn the filter off some of your beneficial bacteria begin to die as they need high levels of oxygen.
also unless the filter is not working effectively then try not to touch it at all as this will again disturb your bacteria.
i won't go into more details until we know a fwe more detail from you but as myaj has said the water changes will dilute the ammonia and once they have reached 0 and remained stable at that then you may find that his appetite comes back but when he does still only feed once every other day and small amounts so as not to shock his system or overload the tank and put your ammonia back up again.
also keep testing your nitrite due to the fact that as the ammonia comes down the nitrite will go up. then as the nitrite goes down the nitrate will go up!!
hope he's ok!!

I turn my filters off for at least an hour after feeding. As long as the filter material is wet, the bacteria shouldn't die off that quickly.

Your best bet is to start doing large, frequent water changes on that tank, as it cycles. Frequency detrmined by trying to keep the ammonia (& then rising nitrites) as close to 0 as possible. Ammonia of 1 is highly toxic! No fish will eat at that level of poisoning.

I would like to know how long the tank has been set up though?