The Puffer Forum

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5
120l tank 1x 6" M.leiurus, 1x 2" ancistrus
Is fed 2 tines a week last feed was 2 days ago of a prawn in its shell.
Waterchanged 2 days ago 25l and today 20l Added prime to dechlorinate
No changes to tank recently
Tank been set up for over a year Puffle had live there for 11 months

My son came running into the bedroom this morning saying puffle was stuck at the top of the tank, When i came out he was kinda floating, resting on his plants at the top of the tank breathing heavily. No i have done a water change he is sulking and hiding back at the bottom of the tank still breathing heavily. I have never seen him out at the top like that before.

Any ideas of what could be wrong or what i could do to help him would be really great.
Thanks
Lisa

Those water tests are from today?

yep right after the water change

Hmmm... my GSPs were acting like that when they were being poisoned by high ammonia/nitrita, after the system crashed. I'd do another 50% WC & add fresh carbon & an airstone.

Thank you, i will do another water change and add an airstone. He seems better again now, back in his usual hiding spot. Hubby says he was at the top this morning and looking great, but when the lights came on he went back down which i guess could be normal for him but it was very unusual for him to be up the top with the lights on. Do you think a temperature drop could cause his symptoms? his heater is on the blink so hasn't been on (the house is warm so i didn't think we really needed it)

what temperature is the tank? How cold does it get at night? Maybe you are losing some bacteria due to the cold tank, tropical bacteria cannot handle particularly low temps..

i'd get yourself a new heater... i'm sure that'll solve it for you.

Is this a planted tank? Here's my guess:

Cooler temperature water tends to make tropical fish more sluggish, so depending on what your temp is, you might want to replace yours and bring up the temp.

If the tank is planted, or you weren't adding an airstone, it's quite possible that your fish simply aren't getting enough air. My roommate had this problem in his 75 gallon, and he couldn't figure out why everything seemed to be doing poorly (fish's general attitude/mood). I suggested that he might get an airstone, so he put one in. However, he just put it in the corner and bubbles would rise up, but it didn't seem to help. So next, he tried putting the airstone right under a powerhead (such that the powerhead chopped up the bubbles and shot them across the tank). His fish were noticeably better in almost 4 to 8 hours, and were incredibly better by the next day.

If you aren't using an airstone and powerhead that chops up the bubbles very fine and forces it through the water, you want might to give it a try. Hopefully you'll have similar success.

Keep us posted if he doesn't seem to get any better. Also, keep an eye on his belly and excrement (if you can), just to be sure things are good in that manner.

Temperature would be my first guess as well.

Early this winter, my turgidus would come out and stay near the top of the tank at night, very unusual for him. It took me a few days to figure out he was staying close to the powerhead for the bit of additional warmth it put out. My heater was working, but I'd turned it down to 74 over the summer and forgot to put it back to 78 as it got colder. Once I turned it back up to his normal range, he stopped hanging out near the powerhead/top of the tank.

Or it could be the opposite, and its too warm, and he's not getting enough oxygen...

But if its low, remember these are cold blooded fish and their systems slow down with lower temperatures. If you fed him normally, and his system is in "hibernation" mode, it is probably harder for him to digest food too...