i bought a topaz puffer about a week ago and hes been fine but the last couple of days it has been a bit strange, it will curl up on the bottom of the tank, its colours fade and it dosnt seem to be bothered by anything, it wont swim away when you try to catch it with the net, it basically just looks like its about to die.
then about half an hour later it swims around as normal for a while, at least a few hours. it keeps switching from beying fine to looking seriously ill then fine again.
im wondering if this behaviour is normal for puffers or if there is a cause for concern here.
my water conditions are as follows:
PH-8
GH-15dkh
KH-5dkh
Nitrite-0ppm
Nitrate-10ppm
ammonia-0ppm
i couldnt give a number for salinity im afraid, i have been told to use 1 tea spoon of salt for every 2 gallons, however my puffer is living with some african cichlids so i have added 1 tea spoon for every 3.5 gallons.
the tank holds 190 litres, has quite alot of plant growth, 2 air stones which produce 400 L/per hour between them, the substrate is 3/4 gravel and 1/4 sand, i also use coral sand to raise the ph from how it comes out the tap.
other fish in the tank are 4 frontosas 3-4 inches, 1 green terror which is 3 inches and a green jewel cichlid which is 4.5 inches. the green terror is quite terrotorial with the other fish but dosnt take any notice of the puffer. yesterday i added somthing called nitrazorb to the filter which reduces the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, the puffer had been acting strangly before i added this.
i used to do a 15% water change every week, i have only had the puffer about a week so i havnt done any water changes since its been here but i will now do 25% a week as i have heard that they can be quite messy. when i change the water i add dechlorinator, african cichlid conditioner (this raises the GH), cichlid mineral, and stability. i will also add appropraite ammounts of salt to the water from now on.
apart from the nitrazorb nothing else has been changed in the tank recently.
i cycled the tank with the frontosas, i added 4 of them at the beginning and used stability for the first 2 weeks, i added the green terror and the green jewel cichlid about 3 weeks ago and the puffer was added last week. the tank was setup about 3 months ago, i havnt had any problems with ammonia beying too high or anything else that would suggest that the waste load is too much for the filter to cope with.
any help at all would be greatly appreciated, thanks alot
is my puffer ill or is this normal behaviour?
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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julianchan
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:25 am
- My Puffers: 1 GSP Elevator.....Lord Vator to everyone else...
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: is my puffer ill or is this normal behaviour?
Sounds like he is taking puffer naps. When my puffer takes a rest, he fades in colour and looks pretty nasty. But then he "wakes up" and turns back to normal. I like to think of it as his PJ's. Really old tattered PJ's.
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t1gerbee
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 831
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:10 am
- My Puffers: 1 x Ceylon + 1 x GSP + 1 x stars and stripes (juv) -Marine
(Non puffs-)
4 x clowns
1 x Oscar-Tropical
3 x Convicts-Tropical
1 x Map Turtle-tropical
2 x Plecs-Tropical
2 x goldfish - Location: london
Re: is my puffer ill or is this normal behaviour?
he could be feeling threatened by the cichlids... not ideal tank buddies really...
or .. how big is he?
Ceylons need high end brackish to full marine once they mature.. so if he's over about 3 inches, he may be suffering due to low salt levels...
long term these fish are not compatible. I'm assuming you are using aquarium salt for the cichlids? Ceylons need marine salt.. and need it to a level even the cichlids will hate...
when you get him up in the net to 'check' you're not raising him out of the water are you? Just a warning that it can be really bad for them as they can 'puff' air and it can kill them, so always keep them under water...
or .. how big is he?
Ceylons need high end brackish to full marine once they mature.. so if he's over about 3 inches, he may be suffering due to low salt levels...
long term these fish are not compatible. I'm assuming you are using aquarium salt for the cichlids? Ceylons need marine salt.. and need it to a level even the cichlids will hate...
when you get him up in the net to 'check' you're not raising him out of the water are you? Just a warning that it can be really bad for them as they can 'puff' air and it can kill them, so always keep them under water...
1 x 90G Juv stars and stripes puffer, Ceylon Puffer + GSP + 2 black clowns
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
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t1gerbee
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 831
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:10 am
- My Puffers: 1 x Ceylon + 1 x GSP + 1 x stars and stripes (juv) -Marine
(Non puffs-)
4 x clowns
1 x Oscar-Tropical
3 x Convicts-Tropical
1 x Map Turtle-tropical
2 x Plecs-Tropical
2 x goldfish - Location: london
Re: is my puffer ill or is this normal behaviour?
sorry to explain that a topaz puffer is a ceylon puffer... same fish, different common name...
1 x 90G Juv stars and stripes puffer, Ceylon Puffer + GSP + 2 black clowns
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
Re: is my puffer ill or is this normal behaviour?
he is around 3 inches so ive decided to take him back tomorow because of the salt thing.
are there any puffers that will be able to live in fresh-brackish water?
hopefully i wont have to leave the puffer forum, you guys seem right on.
thanks for your help
are there any puffers that will be able to live in fresh-brackish water?
hopefully i wont have to leave the puffer forum, you guys seem right on.
thanks for your help
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t1gerbee
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 831
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:10 am
- My Puffers: 1 x Ceylon + 1 x GSP + 1 x stars and stripes (juv) -Marine
(Non puffs-)
4 x clowns
1 x Oscar-Tropical
3 x Convicts-Tropical
1 x Map Turtle-tropical
2 x Plecs-Tropical
2 x goldfish - Location: london
Re: is my puffer ill or is this normal behaviour?
fig 8's are happy at low end brackish.. but it does need to be marine salt...
they can be fiesty, so it's not recommended to mix them with other fish.. puffers have teeth..!
they can be fiesty, so it's not recommended to mix them with other fish.. puffers have teeth..!
1 x 90G Juv stars and stripes puffer, Ceylon Puffer + GSP + 2 black clowns
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish