kirby wasnt eating UPDATE! she seems to be back to normal!

[hadla]

i tried blackworms, she picked at one and lost interest. i took some and soaked them with garlic(my room stinks of garlic now). she ignored those. i went to my boyfriends and brought back a few small snails, let them float in the tank for a bit, walked in and she was eyeing them, but took off once i took the bag out so i dumped some in the tank, hoping she would see them moving and go hunting. did a 50% water change, took a shower and checked on her again. her stomach wasnt curved in anymore so maybe she got a few snails? the last time i saw her eat was wednesday night when i gave her and my dps blackworms. ill try blackworms and bloodworms tomorrow morning and if she doesnt go for either, ill test the water and put the results here. dont want to do it now since i just did a water change so ill let the new water mix in with the old water over night. wondering if i should try a few blackworms now since it looks like she ate something. i know im missing most of the numbers at the top of the page but im too tired to type a lot. i looked at petco for something for ips, but didnt see anything and anyway, if she wasnt eating, she wouldnt get medicine in her anyway i dont want to lose her now. i dont think ill ever find another ceylon cause i had never seen one before i saw her.

UPDATE! she loved the bloodworms i just fed her and luigi. thought maybe at first she got shy of eating with me there since id leave the room and come back and she would have a little bulge on her tummy. im thinking maybe it just took a few days for the salt to get into her system and make her feel better(hoping thats what it was). im not worried about her beak being overgrown anymore cause when shes facing me, i dont even see it. maybe it got chipped or cracked somehow and thats why she wouldnt bother with snails? ill try a few small snails after work. i hope my little girl is back to her normal happy puffer self now! *knocks on wood* when i do my next water change this saturday, ill change her plants around a bit, she probably needs a little change of scenery. maybe ill get a rock and pvc pipes to make her a cave or something to explore. wish i could do that today i really need to get my camera thing hooked up to the pc so i can post all my pics of her and luigi.

[Pufferpunk]

The reason we urge you to post your parameters is fish will not eat when they are off, so it's extremely important to know what they are.

[hadla]

she ignored the blackworms just now. guess ill try a few bloodworms again. im starting to give up hope. i dont know what else to do

[crazedpuffer]

nitrate is zero?
thats extremely odd. Is the test kit new or old? Do you use RO water?
Whats the PH normally? That sounds pretty low for a light BW tank. I'd do a 75% water change, asap.

[hadla]

nitrate is zero?
thats extremely odd. Is the test kit new or old? Do you use RO water?
Whats the PH normally? That sounds pretty low for a light BW tank. I'd do a 75% water change, asap.

i dont know what the pH normally is... theres no salt in the water. i got the test kit about a month ago. whats ro water?

[Troender]

whats ro water?

Reversed osmosis. If you don't know what it is, you don't use it
Is Kirby your Ceylon? Ceylons need brackish water, that's why Crazedpuffer asked about salt (and saltwater mix contains stuff that keeps your PH higher).
I agree that 0 nitrate is odd. When you've got 0 nitrate, it usually means that your filter isn't properly cycled. But then you should have some readings on nitrite and/or ammonia instead, which you don't. Do you add anything to the water when you do water changes? Do you use liquid tests or test strips?

[hadla]

i use the API freshwater test kit (liquid stuff). i just did another nitrate and it looked like 5 this time. i dont think i did it right before. should i just do a big water change now? i didnt want to put her in brackish water until i can get her 55g so there wont be any salt left in my 20g which is going to be my dps home. or should i bring a water sample to my lfs and see what they say about it?

edit should i just start with instant ocean now?

[crazedpuffer]

It would probablly help. How big is she now?
A test at your LFS might be a good idea. Either way do a w/c.

[hadla]

It would probablly help. How big is she now?
A test at your LFS might be a good idea. Either way do a w/c.

ok thanks, ill go to the lfs now before they close at 6 then do a water change. proabbly getting some instant ocean and a hydrometer at the lfs. thinking about getting 2 small ghost shrimp to try feeding to kirby...

[Troender]

I need to know more to could help you. A little copy and paste from the questions above:

1) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is. If I understand right, Kirby is in a 20 G tank?

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it?

How long have you had her? If you got her recently, there's a good chance she has IPs. Ceylons are wild caught, and they almost always bring some load of parasites, even though they often can keep them under control for a long time. But the changes and stress by transport and new environment, often lower the immune system, and then the fish gets in trouble.

You write you saw her eat on Wednesday. I take that as a "yes" that she has been eating since you got her. Have you seen her getting thinner before she stopped eating? Did her belly quickly get thin again after eating? I would recommend reading the article on IPs in the puffer library. It's possible to use meds against IPs without the fish eating. Liquid meds, like PraziPro (contains Praziquantel), you add to the water, and they get into the fish through the gills. But there's always the danger of the fish not starting to eat again, even though they get rid of the IPs (their digestion system has shut down before). I've lost several discuses that way I don't know where you live (what country), so I don't know what meds that are available for you (where I live, there's no meds good enough against IPs, so I have to import it from the US. But it's actually not legal to import meds for animals here, so I always risk losing it in the customs ).

Do you know whether she was in FW or BW in the shop? I'm not sure adding salt at this point is the right thing to do, but I can be wrong. I would guess the change of water parameters could stress an already ill fish. You have the danger of the PH changing, and that is always a factor of stress for fishes. This is nothing I know for sure, but something I guess out of my own sense of logic. Others will have to correct me if I'm wrong.

[hadla]

1. just her and whatever blackworms and snails she doesnt eat right away. its a 20g tall.

4. bought a gsp at walmart wednesday night who i found dead on friday night(returned for my money) he ate less than kirby did on wednesday night... he didnt seem to have any ips though cause his tummy was rounded and maybe he didnt eat much cause he was full already. maybe some kinda ip came from him and got into kirby? i feel so bad now for even walking past the fish tanks in walmart that night.

5. um originally was a 10g set up from like august/july? with dps(before i had kirby) and ghost shrimp. moved everything including the filter into the 20g tall at the beginning of january

i thought about the ips. i dont think she got thinner as she was eating, her tummy usually stayed rounded for a few hours after eating, but it hadnt looked concave like it does now since i brought her home from the lfs. she was in full freshwater in the lfs.

i just got home from bringing the water to get tested and the guy said the pH was at like 7.8... how was mine 1.0 off? he had the same reading of 5 on nitrates. stopped at petco on the way home(yay for them staying open later than petsmart on sundays!) and bought some instant ocean and a hydrometer(the only one at the lfs read 1.010 at the lowest and i need to start with 1.002 right?)

i could kick myself for not feeding kirby friday night.
EDIT: im using this page for converting kirbys tank to brackish: http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/brackis ... guide.html
the guy at the lfs said that just adding marine salt to kirbys tank might make her start to eat again because its happened with puffers before. hopefully it will stop her from looking so depressed

EDIT2: just looked up ceylon puffers in the pufferpedia again and it says 7.8 to 8.4 pH... i think ill try testing the pH using the high range directions. maybe i should put her heater up a little? the thermometer says 76 degrees

[hadla]

ok her tank is now at about 1.002 sg. hoping she will perk up by morning and beg for food when she sees me. the hydrometer is a pain! anyone ever see a digital one? thatd be so much easier lol

[crazedpuffer]

What brand did you buy? The ones that don't start at zero are very innacurate IME. You might want to look into a refractometer.

Back on topic, How is she doing? I think the salt should help her eat. Also it sounds like she might have IP, I'd treat her for them. Also it sounds like taht GSP caused her lots of problems I'm pretty sure he is to blame for waht ever is happening to her.

[hadla]

she ate a few bloodworms this morning. i got instant ocean and the hydrometer that says its from the instant ocean makers. could her beak be overgrown and thats why she cant eat?

[crazedpuffer]

That could be it. Take a look does it look overgrown? If you cant tell try to get a picture and we'll help.