The Puffer Forum

so the last two days ive noticed that my two gsp puffers are flashing. it seems to be toward the head area and not the body. both puffers have had small puffs of cottony looking stuff (i am assuming fungus) on their pectoral fins. on both, the cottony areas were small and had persisted for several days despite water changes. they are not showing any signs of any other problem on their bodies; no white patches, no fuzz. they are eating well and are not gasping. parameters in the tank are ammonia: 0ppm, nitrite: 0ppm, nitrate: 20ppm. i need to grab a KH test kit. my SG is at 1.003 (my tap water shows 1.002). we started adding melafix tuesday to try to combat the fungus since we noticed that they would hold one fin or the other still against their bodies. could the flashing be due to the melafix going to work? should i continue the treatment? should i up the SG? or should i sit back, take a breather and relax? im really at a loss here

crap, heres the rest of the info:

2) the two puffers are currently in a 29 gallon. i have a 60 that i am cleaning up to set up for them to move into. there are no other inhabitants in the tank

3) i feed once a day. they did not get fed last night (this is their skipped meal since they are around 2"). i have been changing out 8 gallons of water every 3 days since the tank is pretty small for the two of them. i have been using prime to condition the water (2 drops per gallon) and petco brand marine salt

4) see the above answer for these. primarily the melafix and the salt are the new additions to the tank

5) the tank had been cycled for months. we had fish in them and moved them all to the 55. unfortunately, i didnt realize that i had to cycle the thing again since it went several weeks without any inhabitants. we had a mini cycle when we added the puffers. we used old filter media from the 55 to seed the puffers filters. it has tested clean (no ammonia, no nitrates) since the 14th. we started adding salt on monday.

Gradually increasing the SG should help eliminate the problem. I have most commonly seen this in GSP that have spent more than a month or so in fresh water, you just started adding the salt, so hopefully over the next week or so it will help.

thank you so much. ive been wondering if i was doing something wrong

i increased the SG to 1.004 on sunday. initially, both gsp looked wonderful and were white bellied and happy. especially when i added the crushed coral substrate (no aragonite around here). the tanks pH has risen from 7.8 to 8.2 over the last couple of days, but seems to be holding fast at 8.2. ive been monitoring parameters and got a small nitrite spike for a day which has subsided. i noticed this morning that nitrates have gone up to 40ppm, so i did a 50% water change. temp is at 78ºF. one puffer (spot) has been fine. sleepy during the day like usual and active in the evenings starting around dinner time. his color is wonderful.

dot on the other hand has been shwoing stress coloration for the last 24-36 hours or so. her underbelly is still white, but she has really dark grey bars down her sides. she also hasnt been eating much. she is eating, getting really excited at first, but stopping after a couple of bites, then going up to the top of the tank to sit under where the filters spill water back in. there is a bubbler. today she is greyed out and very lethargic. she is swimming, but she seems to be doing everything in slow motion. and her eye appear sunken. is this just a reaction to the water? is there anything else i can do?

a crap. she just started doing the erratic swimming/crashing around thing and is sitting up at the top looking stiff.

CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP

she just went belly up. i am euthanizing with clove oil

I think you could have jumped the gun with euthanizing... Is she gone now? What are the parameters?

she went belly up and was barely breathing when i pulled her out of the tank. parameters were: ammonia: 0ppm, nitrite: 0ppm, nitrate: 20ppm, pH: 8.2. when i went to get her, there was no response. if she had even wiggled a little to try to get away, i would have let her go and waited it out. she was just bobbing.