To start things off:
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - 20 ppm
Tank Size - 10 Gal
Inhabitants - 2 GSP (both around 2in long)
Feeding - Daily (except Saturday's), Bloodworms
Water Change - Weekly, approx 25%, add back in cycle solution after every other week of water change
Changes - No changes in the past week
Did fishless cycling for a month, fishes have been in tank for around a month.
Problem:
- Algae growing in tank, I cleaned the top area with a quick wipe with that magnetic eraser thing. There is still a lot of algae on the plastic plants and rocks on the bottom ( need to know how to clear the algae on the bottom) I've taken the tank away from sunlight in the meantime too.
- One of the GSP is getting black below the eyes and belly, been on and off, every other day it goes black...the reverts to normal
- The same one going black is twitching a lot and he's doing a HARD brush on his side against the rocks like he's got an itch or something like that, been happening since yesterday
- The same one also started to hide in the plastic plants (didn't used to do this)
- The other GSP is totally fine, swimming away and enjoying his confined life
Side note:
- Been watching the GSP's sleep (with a flashlight on), they sleep funny, they sleep vertical down head first into the ground...I thought they were dead, but they were very much alive, just a weird thing I noticed.
GSP Multiple Issues
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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Tapiana
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:30 pm
- My Puffers: 1 GSP
- Location: Fountain Valley, CA
Re: GSP Multiple Issues
What is your SG?
What does the GSPs color look like? Any change(other than black lines)?
IMHO - I think your GSP is stressed from too small a tank - 2 GSPs need 55-60g of room (even at that small of a size). Black lines running horizontal across the belly and under the eyes are a sign of stress - either from water changes or environment. If your water parameters are the same every day - then I would hazard a guess that it is environment.
I would also suggest changing their diet around a bit - offer them mysis, and bits of raw shrimp with the shell attached, and mussle meat. They like a variety of food (at least mine does) so I switch it up every so often.
Not sure about the Algae - sorry about that.
Keep us posted!
What does the GSPs color look like? Any change(other than black lines)?
IMHO - I think your GSP is stressed from too small a tank - 2 GSPs need 55-60g of room (even at that small of a size). Black lines running horizontal across the belly and under the eyes are a sign of stress - either from water changes or environment. If your water parameters are the same every day - then I would hazard a guess that it is environment.
I would also suggest changing their diet around a bit - offer them mysis, and bits of raw shrimp with the shell attached, and mussle meat. They like a variety of food (at least mine does) so I switch it up every so often.
Not sure about the Algae - sorry about that.
Keep us posted!
Taps
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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Re: GSP Multiple Issues
I would up the water changes to 50%, 2x/week & stop adding the "cycle bacteria". Most all products are nothing but dead bacteria--adding more waste to your already overcrowded tank. What are your plans on upgrading?
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!"