The Puffer Forum

Ok...now my GSP is even more grey, and he was curled up in a ball almost black.

I gave him some melafix and upped his salt...

I hope I didnt burn him when I dumped in the salt, it was dissolved but I am sure was concentrated when it swirled around.

on the upside he ate like a pig...that was a plus today.

Should I continue with the melafix ?

Thanks!!!

What's the SG? You can't just indiscriminently add salt. How long was it mixed? What are the parameters now?

you need to be more careful when adding salt, if you change the s.g. by more then about 0.002, you'll cause the tank to cycle again.

give us the background again, keep up large water changes, matching the temperature and the salinity..

PRE MIX the salt in half a bucket of hot water until fully dissolved, (doesn't feel gritty) then add more cold water to the bucket until the temperature matches that of your tank..

thn slowly pour it into your tank...

ok, found your other posts...

gets confusing with different threads... better keeping to one so we can follow progress...

if you are adding salt without testing the you've probably swung your salinity, which could swing your pH and wipe out your good bacteria...

large water changes... matching SG and temp... see if that helps...

do it now, as if your cycle has crashed he will be suffering ammonia poisoning.

Whata re your parameters?

Ok, Here goes...

I did do a salinity test...dont worry, I have a hydrometer and I use it...The salinity is now 1.010...exactly the same as before the water change...it was a bit lower (1.008 after about 6 hours after the water change) before I added the salt which was dissolved in water...but probably not as well as it could have been.

Parameters
Nitrate = 0
Nitrite = 0
PH = 8.4
Alkalinity = 300
Ammonia = 0.6

The temp is 77...which is too cold, I know...I think his heater is broken...I turned it up last night and this morning it is still 77, so I turned it up again and hopefully it will be warmer when I get home from work...I am going to stop and buy him another one on the way home...just in case. It may have been moved when I was cleaning, but I didn't think so at the time. This may be the problem...

On the upside...He was swimming around this morning when I woke up and his belly is only slightly grey...

Do you think I need to give another dose of melafix or leave it alone for the moment?

Thanks for all the help!! Mr. Tubbs greatly appreciates it!!

One last thing...he is hanging up at the top a lot...I know this is a sign of low oxygen but I have a strong bubble disk int the tank and it runs 12 hours at least a day...

thanks

maybe he just needs time to settle down, the SG has been a bit jumpy and so has the temp so maybe he's just a bit stressed out..

the tank 'may' also be slightly warmer at the top if you have lights...

i'm sure i've also read about some GSP having issues with melafix and it causing puffers to have laboured breathing.. i'm sure i'm not mis-remembering that..

is there a specific reason why your using melafix that i missed, any open cuts? wounds? ...

Problem: Ammonia = 0.6
Do 75% daily water changes until this goes down to and stays at zero. Ammonia often causes fish to gasp for air near the top of the tank.

you're right..

sorry, didn't spot the ammonia reading.

How fast did you raise the tank from FW to 1.010? How did you cycle the tank & how long ago?

I never raised it from freshwater...he has been BW since I got him 2 years ago...it has always been steady between 1.008 and 1.010.

I got home today and he is much better...not grey at all..and hanging around at the bottom of the tank as usual when he is sleeping...it is still cold...77degrees, so I am thinking the heater is broken.

I used melafix because I thought I had maybe burned his skin with the salt.

I will do another water change until I get the ammonia down.

Thanks...and I will keep you posted!!

Well, I got home today and he was VERY sick. He was sitting at the bottom of the tank as if sleeping but didnt come to the front of the glass to greet me and beg for food like he always did... I got the new heater, changed some water...and the temp is now around 84. Ammonia is 0 and salt is back at 1.010. I think most of the melafix is out of the tank and all other levels are on target (as posted above).

Hopefully he will be better tomorrow...he is still breathing, but is not swimming around much...I am going to offer him some bloodworms, but when I changed out the water he didnt investigate the tube like normal...

All the melafix, salt, water changes and ammonia levels together must have caught up with him.

I am worried about damaged internal organs.

I will keep you posted.

Feeling sad as I really love him.

Continue testing for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate daily & do WC accordingly. Melafix won't hurt & is the only med I'd add at this point, to reduce stress.

Unfortunetly I woke up this am and he was really bad...I had to euthanize him with the clove oil...there was no way he was going to get better.

Not really sure what happened...I had him for 2 1/2 years with no problems...and then all of a sudden this...

I am going to go to my LFS and see about getting another one...if not does anyone know how to change the BW t6o fresh for my dwarf puffers?

Thanks to everyone who tried to help me...

My tank sure does look empty.