The Puffer Forum

Hey all

My GSP's tummies is getting Grey do I need to be concerned????
And how do I know if my puffers has worms???? there is weird white worm looking parasites against the fishtank glass???
How do I get rid of them???

Please advise
Thank you
Tinus

Those are planaria, they aren't parasites, but are usually a sign of overfeeding. Please get back to us with all the information in red at the top of the page, a gray belly means the puffer is grumpy, which could be from any combination of factors. Is he in brackish water? GSP kept in fresh water generally get more stressed over a few weeks to months and die if kept in FW.

Hey Nick

Aaah thank you for your reply!!! Ok so I must do a 50% rince cycle to get rid of the Planaria's and from now on feed my puffers less. I am buying a gravity meter today so that I can make sure my water/salt level is 1001.1 for my puffers!!!!

So how much food should I give my pufffers then? I only give them each a snail every second day and the rest I give them a teaspoon of bloodworms or shrimp every day should I reduce it too a half a teaspoon?? I have 3 puffers??? and waiting for my other 2 to arrive so how much food shal I give now and when I have my five how much then????

Thankx a milion!!! I will report id theres is any changes.. luckaly I have seen it quickly to do something about it!!!

Enjoy your week/end!!! and talk soon buddy!!!

Cheers
Tinus

ow do I get rid of planaria???? Through rince cycles or what?

If your puffers are under 2 inch in size they only need to be fed 6 days a week once a day until you see their bellies have filled up some. For my 2 small puffers aprox 7 or 8 bloodworms each to fill up. I guess that would depend on the size of the bloodworms. Check the feeding article here for more info on that.

Getting rid of the worms will be hard I would guess. Start with feeding less, frequent water changes and throughly vaccum your substrate each water change. Here is one article I found on planaria: http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/man ... Worms.html

GSP req 30 gallons per puffer alone. It sounds like you will have your hands full w/ 2 more on the way.

They will gradually reduce in number with lots of gravel vacuuming and less waste food. Do not worry to much about getting rid of them, as they are harmless and will vanish with time if you are careful of feeding. Try adding the food slowly, so you are sure the puffers eat every scrap. Also, what salt are you using? The salt for marine aquariums and reefs is the right kind, "aquarium salt" will make the water read the correct SG, but will still allow their systems to fail over time as if they are in fresh water. If there is any trace of ammonia or nitrite in the tank, that can result in a darkened belly, so make sure your water tests are reading clear and accurate. Nitrates, while not as critical, can get irritating to puffers when they go over 20-40ppm, so check them as well, remember to shake the second bottle of solution in the test kit very well before use.

I am using salt specificly stated as Brackish water salt!!! But I will get the merine salt emedietely!!
Thanks guys!!!

What size tank do you have now & what size are you planning for 5 GSPs?

Well I maid sure there is 10L per puffer so I got them a 60L/+/- 20gallon tank.

I have bought myself merine salt and slowly started to ad the salt each week I will through in a few grams till I get to 1.001GRAVITY!

Thank you guys they are already looking so much better their stumichs turns whiter every day and I put them on a diet!!! so the damm PLaneria is also minimizing as we speak!!!

Enjoy your GSP's!!!! Mine is happy and healthy again!!!

Talk soon and I will keep you updated!!!!

GSP require over 100L per puffer They grow very large and are very messy. Even dwarf puffers require more than ten liters per puffer, but were you thinking of them maybe?

I'm glad things are going better. Watch your water parameters closly.

You will need aprox 150 gallon tank Heavly decorated for 5 gsp's as they grow. 5 gsp's will outgrow a 20g in no time. 1 gsp requires 30g alone. Keeping them in a small tank will create many health problems and death eventually. Start planning for a very large tank or find good homes for them.

i tried keeping just 2 gsp in a 30 gallon. i was setting up a 60 gallon to move them to. each was around 2". i think them being in such close proximity may have contributed to the death of one of them. please make sure you get a much larger tank