Well, I no more than started on this form, and I have a change in one of my two.
I haven't got all water parameters, and for that I am sorry.
I know that Ammonia is in the safe zone based on the side mounted tester that i have... this being less than.02ppm
Nitrite is at zero based on the API test kit.
Salinity is at 1.006 roughly, and i say this because i haven"t found a hydrometer that measures below .01 except the floating kind, which is what I am running with right now.
tank has 2 gsp and a dragon goby... all have been in there a while ( dont remember exact dates, but over a month on all, and mid feb for the puffs.) This is a 29 gal
feeding: krill, brine,bloodworm cubes...frozen.... have fed ghost shrimp gut loaded with algae wafers....also freeze dried shrimp
Have used product called chlor out for the chlorine.chloramine.. using instant ocean for the salt... have used something called bclear which is supposed to "biologically clear tank water." but seems like bunk to me. used amquel plus for a while... once a week with water changes at a half dose because it claims to pull down ammonia and nitrites/rates... there again, more to be sure that there wasn't something in the water change.
filtration in a single 30 gal hang on back charcoal filter and two sponge filters. I do 15% weekly water changes. with every 4th being 25-30%
tank was cycled as fresh with biospira, and a snail with 2 ghost shrimp...
this for 2 weeks, and added puffs.
last week... all i have done is the standard water changes. today i did a 25% and rearranged the tank a touch.
PROBLEM: Larger ofmy two puffs (to be named still) has what appear to beshort spines on his stomach. I have never seen these before.he seems to be swimming around very fast as well... which is odd for him. usually he just paddles around looking here and there, hoping to fin a shrimp....OH... about 1 month ago i fed tadpole snails from the pet store for about a week straight....with other food... but as a treat...
He also seems to be pacing the glass, which is something I haven't seen before.
I did rinse the sponges in a bucket of aquarium water when i did my change over, but i just dont understand the appearance thing.it doesnt look like the little worms that stick to their sides but on a 1.25 inch fish these are maybe 1/16 long at best. appear to be about 7 of them.
Just trying to find out what that is, and how to help the little guy.
Both fish appear to be pretty plump and happy, though the smaller of the two seems to get disgruntled and turn a little black if i miss feeding time by a few hours, but drop in the food, and hes white again.
Thanks for the help
Appearance Change in GSP
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) 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.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
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? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) 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.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
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? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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SeeingGreen
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
Any possibility of getting pics? Would love to see those spines too. Bio-Spira is useless, unless added with fish. Otherwise, all of it dies off & only enough is left to support the snails/shrimp that are in there. I'd up those WC to 50% weekly & you will have to move the gobty eventually--the puffers will kill it.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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SeeingGreen
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
Going to the pet store in a few minutes to get water tested
Largest puffer still rapidly darting about the tank. Spiny looking things aren't apparent anymore...
runs length of the tank a few short bursts, then bumsps the glass and runs up and down breaking the surface a couple times, splashing... then repeating.
Quite unusual behavior
Pufferpunk, if I see the things again I will photo.
Largest puffer still rapidly darting about the tank. Spiny looking things aren't apparent anymore...
runs length of the tank a few short bursts, then bumsps the glass and runs up and down breaking the surface a couple times, splashing... then repeating.
Quite unusual behavior
Pufferpunk, if I see the things again I will photo.
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SeeingGreen
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
also dont seem to be eating...
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SeeingGreen
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
OK...
so nitrites were zero, ph was high 7low 8 (petco guys words not mine)he suggested that I add some more salt if i want to make it more neutral. ammonia was present in a small amount, but he said that since i had just fed them that that was my doing.
Behavior of the fish one comes up and takes freezedried shrink from my hand the other one is avoiding me... i don't know if hes sick at all, or just mad at me because i spooked him when i was moving decor around to vacuum. Appears to swim normally when i am not there... when i am he freaks.. could he be scared of me? i dont know how intelligent gsp's are...
any thoughts would be appreciated.
also, both my puffs appear really chubby.... if they should be kinda club shaped, mine seem to have tiny potbellies... is that bad?
sorry for all the newb questions.
so nitrites were zero, ph was high 7low 8 (petco guys words not mine)he suggested that I add some more salt if i want to make it more neutral. ammonia was present in a small amount, but he said that since i had just fed them that that was my doing.
Behavior of the fish one comes up and takes freezedried shrink from my hand the other one is avoiding me... i don't know if hes sick at all, or just mad at me because i spooked him when i was moving decor around to vacuum. Appears to swim normally when i am not there... when i am he freaks.. could he be scared of me? i dont know how intelligent gsp's are...
any thoughts would be appreciated.
also, both my puffs appear really chubby.... if they should be kinda club shaped, mine seem to have tiny potbellies... is that bad?
sorry for all the newb questions.
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Nick
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
Sounds like your GSPs are well fed, so I don't think theres a danger of starving or have IPs. They are also VERY smart, and will remember being scared quite well, until you have a chance to convince him you are alright.
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SeeingGreen
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
Thank you for the reply, any suggestions on how to convince him I am ok... and how to keep from repeating this?
Also, pufferpunk, I have posted two photos in my album... it doesnt show those things on the belly... and i havent had a good lok at his belly, as hes been flitting around abit too much.
Also, pufferpunk, I have posted two photos in my album... it doesnt show those things on the belly... and i havent had a good lok at his belly, as hes been flitting around abit too much.
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Pufferpunk
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T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
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Re: Appearance Change in GSP
You really need your own test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH. Don't depend on the LFS for this.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"