The Puffer Forum

I have owned a Fahaka puffer just for a few months, bought at the lfs, he has been sick and not eating. I was told he was brakish, come to find out with help from reef central, he is fw, I know have him in fw, and he looks to be doing better. The ammonia was .25-.50, it has come down to .25, and looks like it is going down. I think he has eye cloud, he is swimming more, but seems like he does not know where things are, and has white spots in his eyes. I have med. the tank with API fungus cure. Any advice, would be a great help. I am new to all this but learning, thanks to all you from rc, that has put the word out for me.

What are all of your parameters?
Whats the tank size?
What is your water change schedule like?
How long has the tank been up and running? Was it cycled? Was he in brackish at anytime?

My lfs told me he was brakish, I put him in 1.012 salinity. I found out he is more fw, I just switched it to fw yesterday. I tested the water and it was high ph 7.8-8.0, fresh water ph 7.2-7.6, nitrate 0, ammonia .25 and going down, nitrite 0, temp. 76.

oh and tank size is 29 gal. the fish is 3-4 inches long

I found out last night the lfs tank was 1.oo2, I have always changed my water every 2-3 weeks while it was brackish. I was told by the lfs I cycled it right.

Yes, but how long was the tank cycled and exactly how did you do it?

I cycled it with a Fahaka, a figure 8, and a GSP. It took about 3 weeks with the help of a product called Stability, made by Seachem.

This is my first fish tank, I was going by the help of my lfs, which I now know they screwed me on info and fish.

I also treated the tank with API fungus cure, I think he has eye cloud.

What size is your tank and are all of those fish still in there?

Your water parameters should be Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate 20 or less. Keep doing the water changes. I find my puffers are more active and healthy when I do weekly water changes. Water changes every 3-4 weeks maybe too long. By the way, are they all still in there because the f8 and gsp may not do well in freshwater?

For right now until your bacteria can handle the bio-load, you should do 50% water changes daily. You should have 0 ammonia. This was one of the best advice, I have received from here.

Exposure to ammonia and nitrite can also cause blindness in fish.

The main issue here was the fish was introduced to salt in it's water and it was unable to handle it. He probably took incredible damage from it and luckily he did not die. Having salt in the freshwater causes a suffocation effect.
Another problem was cycling the tank with fish. There is an article in the library on fishless cycling that you should check out for future purposes.
Fahakas are freshwater.
Figure Eights are low-end brackish (1.004)
Green Spotted Puffers are high end brackish to marine. (1.010-1.023)
Having all these different fish in a tank that was not suited for them is detrimental to their health.
You never stated what size tank this was either. That is important to know. Fahakas require 120g+ tanks as they grow very quickly and have an unbelievable bio-load. Small tanks cause stunting in fish growth and can cause premature death and health problems.
Also a "fungus cure" is not going to help with a cloudy eye problem. Pristine water quality can help remedy this situation. I suggest doing MASSIVE water changes 75% every other day until he starts to feel better. How long was he in the brackish conditions? Was he housed like this in the fish store as well?

treecowboy42 wrote:oh and tank size is 29 gal. the fish is 3-4 inches long

alright.. in addition to the problems stated above, switching your tank from salt to fresh immediately with no acclimation between did not help. also.. 29 gallons would be the correct size for one fig 8, OR one JUVIE GSP (under a few months old), and under no circumstances ever, a fahaka. your tank will never be able to handle that much bioload in that small of a tank, so don't count on it ever cycling properly. daily water changes, and either get rid of the fahaka, or get it at LEAST a tank of 120g. get the other puffers in the salinity shown above.. in different tanks.


sorry the lfs duped you... glad you came here, now you have the information and help you need. for the sake of the fish, please make this right.

What happened to the GSP & F8?

Outside of the current issues you're facing, I would completely avoid the LFS you purchased this from, and would encourage you to have others boycott it. Cycling a tank with a fish is bad enough (as it causes stress for any fish), but recommending that you cycle a tank with a puffer is outrageous. Puffers do not have scales, which means they are extremely sensitive to toxins (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate). The "cycling" process is the process of building up beneficial bacteria in your tank that converts the ammonia (created by fish waste) into nitrite (which is still a deadly toxin), then converts the nitrite into nitrate (which is considerably less toxic). In order to have healthy fish and a healthy tank, your water parameters need to be in the range of ammonia = 0 ppm, nitrite = 0 ppm, and nitrate > 0 ppm (having nitrate lower than 20 ppm is recommending, but a nitrate reading of 0 ppm indicates that you don't have the proper bacteria in your tank).

I would agree with everyone else: if you don't plan on upgrading your tank immediately, I would return the Fahaka puffer or give him to someone with an already-established tank. He has basically outgrown your 28 gallon already (in terms of bio-load - or the amount of waste he produces compared to the volume of water he's in), and his condition will only worsen without proper housing and pristine water conditions. If you can get a 55 gallon - 75 gallon immediately, you'll be in much better position for the next few months. After that, you'll need to upgrade again to a 120 gallon or larger to accommodate this Fahaka.

For the time being, do you know of anyone else who has freshwater tanks? If so, ask them for a used sponge or used filter media. This will speed up your cycling process, which should make your puffer a lot more comfortable.

I'm really starting to get tired of fish stores that give out completely horrible information. Small mistakes are fine, but mistaking a freshwater fish for a brackish one is a pretty large mistake, especially to first-time tank owners.