The Puffer Forum

plz some 1 help me,1 off my amazon puffers has lost its dark patches,they are there but its like she dont want to show them and she is really light,the other puffer is fine and showing his colours as normal.
they are both eating fine and swimming around like normal,she was showing her colour when she whent in the tank and did for a few days but then whent really pal but the other 1 is fine,they seem good apart from the colour thing.
any idears people?

Water parameters?

my amazon changes color sometimes. How long have you had them? Are there bellies still bright white? My 2 GSPs and my arrowhead all do the color changing to. Its just depends on what mood there in.

every morning when i turn my lights on my GSP's bellies go dark just at the back. Its like there two kids complaining to dad that they don't wanna get out of bed. haha!

my arrowhead changes color depending on where he is at....in the sand he is almost white and when he is in his rock he is really dark so its almost like a predator cameleon act for him.

If the color has been off for a couple days or if she doesn't come back in a day or so then it might be internal parasites but i would just get to know her first if you just got her.

water parameters would be good to. Is the tank cycled and all that jazy jazz

the bellys are white and she feeds well and is always checking around the tank doing her thing,
i have esha exit,shall i do a dose off this for any parasites?

What are your water parameters?

you need to answer the questions in red at the top of the page to let us know if your puffer is just being normal and moody or if she might have a problem. Here are the questions again if in case you missed them. I think your puffer is just being normal my amazon was all washed out today to but the stripes are still there and i know it just a mood that they're in.

Forum rules
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.


I think your puffer is just being normal my amazon was all washed out today to but the stripes are still there and i know it just a mood that they're in.

yeah her stripes are still there but very faded,my water is fine,i cycle it well and test my water often.
her sripes were very clear 4 days ago but not now,the other 1s stripes are fine,do you think i should treat them for something and if so was it a internal problem that you thought might be wrong?

i have a pygmy puffer in the tank as well and his stripes are really faint like they normaly are.
do you think my amazon might be making her self abit lighter like the pygmy? or is that just silly

Puffers are moody fish & change their shading often. If the puffer is swimming/eating normally, stop worrying.

Out of interest, how many fish are in the tank?

5 inch long fishes and 2 puffers at an inch and a half,oh yeah and little pygmy(tiny)

What're the other fish?

IMO you sap is just being a sap and that you don't have anything to worry about.

Check her at night after dark and see if she has changed her colors then. Thats when my arrowhead does a lot of his changes and my sap does as well.