Sick GSP

[PufferGrrl]

Hi, I have a small GSP who's not acting himself. His water params are what they always have been, but just below his mouth is a little dark (where it should have been white). I'm watching him and making sure his water changes are ok, but just wondering what the "dark" means. I know it's generally not good... but I was wondering if anyone knows exactly why that happens.

Thanks!

[PufferGrrl]

I reduced his SG, I think I may have raised it too quickly for him. It was only about .002/week, but I just took some of his water out and replaced it with fresh, no salt, and he seems to be doing a little better. The darkness around his jaw area is going away, and he's more active. He was hanging out by the heater and toward the top of the tank by the heater. I was reading another post about GSP's getting grumpy if the SG is raised too quicky, so I'm hoping this does the trick. Any feedback would still be great though!

Thanks

[Nick]

Saltier water also holds less oxygen, the hanging around near the top indicates this might have been part of the trouble, too. What is his current SG and size?

[PufferGrrl]

He's a small guy, probably about 1" or so from nose to tail. He still seems to be sitting around the bottom quite a bit resting, but he's swimming right now. The SG was about 1.004, so I took it back down to 1.002. It's not real high, but I think he should be ok at this level for a little bit. I'll just raise it very slowly in the future.

[PufferGrrl]

Well, I took him out of his main tank and put him in hospital tank. Not so much for disease, but I'm concerned about his water. He has a bumblebee goby living with him in his regular tank who seems fine. Chomper (my GSP) seems ok in the hospital tank. Just have a heater and airpump/filter in there with him. Going to see how he does and if anything changes. He keeps bouncing between being lethargic and being fine. He was going with the current before, almost got stuck to the intake tube on the filter, so I figured he'd be safer in the hospital tank for a little bit and hopefully he'll get better. Just wanted to post an update.

[Nick]

Is your hospital tank cycled, or are you doing water changes? I also can't imagine a GSP even at 1" having trouble 1.004, thats quite odd... Do you have a picture?

[PufferGrrl]

I used some of the water from his original tank and added some fresh water (dechlorinated, matched salt), just because I was concerned about the oxygen as well. I don't have a picture, but I'll try to get one. He's doing about the same, but not very well.

[Ikkle1]

I hate to say it, but I think 82 degrees is too high.
I keep Buffy (also a gsp) at a regular 77 degrees. Though the salininty is quite high at around 1.004/5, I keep the air pump going 24hrs.
She even laid some eggs for me a few weeks ago! So she must be healthy

[PufferGrrl]

I have him at 78 right now. As well as my F8 puffer, but he's in a dif tank.. he's doing great! I've only had the GSP for about 2 weeks or so.. he was doing fine until a couple days ago. Not sure what brought it on.

[PufferGrrl]

Well.. I just went and checked on him and he was floating upsidedown... I put the net in because I thought he had died and he moved a bit... I wish I had some clove oil because I'm pretty sure he's not going to make it and I can't flush him if he's still breathing. He's just sitting on the bottom of the tank. I still wish I knew what brought this on. My other puffer is doing fine, so I'm guessing I'm doing things right. (other puffer is in a separate tank and is a F8)... He's always been kind of jumpy and shy, I'm not sure if that was just his personality or what.

[Nick]

You can't just use water from an old tank and have a cycled tank, the bacteria live in the filter and gravel, not the water. He's probably sick from ammonia effects on top of what his previous problems were.

[Happy_Puffer]

I keep my gsps at 80 degrees is that too high? They aren't sick bur I raised the temp when they had ich and then I just never took it below 80 and they seem to be fine should I lower it?

[Nick]

My GSp are at about 80, but I'm tepted to drop it down to 76 to save money and slow algae growth.

[Ikkle1]

Well.. I just went and checked on him and he was floating upsidedown... I put the net in because I thought he had died and he moved a bit... I wish I had some clove oil because I'm pretty sure he's not going to make it and I can't flush him if he's still breathing. He's just sitting on the bottom of the tank. I still wish I knew what brought this on. My other puffer is doing fine, so I'm guessing I'm doing things right. (other puffer is in a separate tank and is a F8)... He's always been kind of jumpy and shy, I'm not sure if that was just his personality or what.

First, I really do think he needs to be in a bigger tank. In the tank you're using, it is almost impossible to keep the water at the proper levels. Even doing umpteen water changes is making little difference, and if anything is stressing your poor guy. And if anything, I've discovered that stress with these guys is the biggest killer.
Do not remove him when you do your water change. It sounds to me as though you are causing a "mini cycle" everytime you do a WC, and GSP's do not do well with that.
When you bought him was he in FW or SW? If he was in FW (which is more common with LFSs) then all these changes are going to make him worse, you should have kept him in FW, and done TINY changes over several weeks.
You should never ever catch a GSP in a net, however big it is, even if you think it is dead. It is the most stressful thing you could ever do, and the cause of many an instant death. They are most likely to "puff" when you take them from the water and "put in a bowl".

Looking at the photo I suspect this guy is very nearly a gonner. Perhaps he was sick when you got him? If he has intestinal problems, then no amount of melafix is going to fix it.
He also looks like he's been scraping himself. So get all ornaments out of the tank (they could be the problem, if they came from another tank without being hygeinically cleaned), and if you can, get a small bag of Aquarium sand, and get rid of that gravel!

And get a bigger tank, please!! at the very least a 30 gallon tank.

[Pufferpunk]

I do not see how a WC would cause any sort of a cycle at all. I do 90% weekly on my discus tank & 75% weekly on my other tanks, cleaning the gravel thoroughly. I do agree with the tank size & getting this fish into BW.

I wonder if when moving your fish back & forth, it might have ingested air, which would cause the fish to be upside-down? How were you removing him--with a net?