The Puffer Forum

I have had my 2 GSP's for about a week and a half and everything has been fine until today. I did my first water change today and it has been 7 hours since and one of my puffers is not looking good. My larger of the two puffers is at the top of water behind the filter just sitting on a bubble tube line. The smaller of the two puffers is looking okay and is puffin around. My salinity checks out at 1.006 and the temp is at 79. I got my water tested about 3 hours ago and the person at the store told me that it was at 8.8 which is quite high. I have made efforts to do another water change with bottled water, because on my last water change I use well water. So Ive done that and have added stress coat. If anyone could give me advice that would be great.

You need to give us some other parameters. Tank size, ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. 8.8 is high for pH, but without the other parameters it will be hard to tell. Have you cycled the tank yet? The more info we have the more we can help

I have a 39 gallon fish tank that has been cycling for about a year and has not seen fish for 3 months previous to these puffers. The tank was turned brackish 2 weeks before introducing the puffers. The nitrates and ammonia were okay according to the guy from petsmart who tested the water. The tank is full of plants its quick thick and has a gravel bottom.

Unfortunately, after being empty for that long, there is most likely a lot of bacterial die off, especially also converting it to brackish, so it's most likely not cycled well anymore. Ammonia levels that are not toxic to goldfish etc can be dangerous to puffers, so a specific number is good to know, as would a nitrite number, as these are very toxic as well. A once mature but long empty tank is much faster to cycle than a new tank, but it may still take a bit of time.

Absolutely, post ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH levels.

Hes still alive and sitting at the top corner, what should I do now. Im doing a small water bottle change every other hour. Is their anything I can do to help him?

Do a large (50%+) water change and see if it helps. Chances are the tank is uncycled now and you will need to do those large water changes daily, until the the tank cycles.
See if you can get established filter media from a tank of the same sg to help cycle the tank.

You are matching the SG in the water you are changing, correct?

Yes I match the SG with the new water replacement. I also double check it after being added to the fish tank. I recently called a fish specialist and they told me that the reason he is hiding behind the filter is because he is being picked on but I watch the other pufferfish and he doesnt go near my sickly pufferfish and when he does, he just curls up next to him and lays with him on the tube. The guy at the store also told me that he might just like being up there sitting on hte tube because it is dark. When I turn the lights off he will move out of that spot but when I get near the tank he moves back up. I want to assume that maybe he wants a cave? Im not sure I will keep doing the water changes, but like I said before my other pufferfish seems to be doing fine. Also another quick question, Im leaving hte lights off in my tank and sometimes I see one of my puffers lay below a plant but his color is kind of faded its not vibrant, why is that?

I just completed my first 30% water change. I used bottled water and water from a brita machine, im hoping that this might help lower the pH. My sickly puffer is still hiding in his corner and my other puffer was swimming at the top at a corner for about 30 minutes but now hes on the bottom eating some of the food that was kicked up from the addition of the new water. Im thinking about getting a cave sometime today in hopes that maybe they want somewhere to hide

Just remember you have to try and keep a constant pH in there....having it swing around is not good for your puffers. Good idea getting that cave...GSP's do like to explore and do like to have hidey holes. The more, the better.

It is normal for GSP's to go a little dull in color, and get a dark stress line that runs from the corners of its mouth when it rests. As soon as they start moving around, they go away and brighten up. If they get super dark and blackish in colour, there is something that is stressing them out, be it water condition, being scared of something, or just shock over something it does not like (for instance, mine hates huge water changes, but I have to do it sometimes, and he also freaked out like crazy and got really dark when we had our earthquake last week).

But like other people have been saying, there is a high possibility that the bacteria in your tank has died off with the long absence of fish in that tank. It might be recycling now that you have new fish in there. Nitrates and ammonia can be ok in a tank like that since there is nothing contributing the ammonia that the bacteria needs to stay alive. If you can get your own liquid test kit for home to test your water daily for now, that might be a good idea. If indeed the tank is recycling, you will have to do 50% water changes daily till the tank cycles again.

Good luck! I hope your little guy gets better.

How is your little guy doing today?

I turned off their light at about 9pm and right before I did my sickly puffer was swimming around with a strong color. I noticed that by his mouth it seemed kind of darker on the edges I think you said that was related to stress but right now I dont want to turn on the light to disrupt their sleep but from what I can tell neither of my puffers are sitting at the top of the water. I went to the pet store today to pick up another cave and check the water for a different fish tank I own and decided to wait a few more days before I purchase a cave for them I dont want to stress them out again. So Later today probably around 1pm im gonna do another major water change because it looks like that makes a difference. I also wanted to ask you guys if I should put another tablespoon of electrolyzed salt in I have a 30 gallon tank and I have already put 2 tablespoons in yesterday and the day before that.

Thanks for your help and advice, dennis

the salt should really be marine salt. and i would invest in a good test kit so you can stop running back and forth to the petstore to check your parameters (will make your life less crazy).

Those lines don't always mean stress....if they have been resting, those lines show up too, its when those lines don't go away when they are swimming around, something might be wrong. Its when they turn dark all around that something really not good is going on. I don't think adding a cave will stress em anymore either. Give them something to explore and have fun in and around. Ditto on the marine salt too.