The Puffer Forum

okay i have a 40 gal tank that has been established for about 6 months now. I have a gsp named smegal that is growing and doing wonderful. he has grown so much and has taken over the entire family. My boyfriend who told me that i was obsessed with him has fallen in love. So much so that he brought a poor scraggly gsp home that he said he just couldn't leave in the store because he knew it would die. He is sooo thin, think i can see bones. it is heartbreaking. since he was in freshwater i put him in a bucket with freshwater and slowly dripped smegals water into it. he took this well and his color, which had been almost black improved immensly. he is still dark but much much better than before. I crossed my fingers and put him in with smegal who was curious but then ignored him completely. when i feed them he tries to eat but can't seem to tear off pieces. when he does get a piece off it seems to sit in his mouth as though he cant' swallow it. i think i can see a bit of tooth that seems too long. i'm not sure what too long is, i just noticed it was longer than smegals. he ignores crushed snails. is there something that would be easier than shrimp for him to eat. i've managed to keep him alive for 5 days now but i don't know how long he can last in the condition he is in. i don't want him to die. also i am in the process of cycling a 30 gal tank for him in case he survives. smegal and the new guy who i have decided to name lucky are both small but i don't want to nurse lucky back to health only to find him shredded one day. i'm on the verge of tears everytime i look at him, please help me. i will try to take pictures of him so you can see that by thin i mean literally skin and bones.

What are the water parameters in the current tank?

IMHO lucky should be in a quarantine tank by himself so that you do not expose your healthy puff to something lucky may have.

Good Pictures may help the experts here with luckys problems.

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 15
SG 1.005

i haven't had any problems with my tank at all, although i didn't consider that lucky might contaminate my tank. I just didn't have any other place to put him and didn't want him to die

SS is correct. You put a half dead puffer in with your healthy one? Whatever you treat, you'll have to treat them both for. Smeagol is in huge risk of looking just like the other one. Plus, that 40g was the perfect size for 1 GSP.

Why not try those cubes of bloodworms that you can thaw? They also have cubes of mussel with tiny pieces that might be easier for him to eat than something he has to tear pieces off of. They'll be really messy though...