One of my 5 SAPs is not swimming right- head down, goes belly up on the bottom. Though he had died- was able to scoop him up and he tried to swim normal for a while but after a few minutes he was head down again. I just did a beak trimming 2 weeks ago on all of them (didn't have Finquel- used clove oil but I really needed to trim- this one was having trouble eating). After that everyone was fine and eating. This one is a little thinner than the others but not skinny. He did not eat last night but did eat on Tuesday. All have been treated for IP (preventative) with bloodworms soaked in Gel Tek Ultra Cure PX for 3 days. Last week did add Maracyn for a shark with what looked like popeye- cleared up with by this weekend. Tank is cycled and set up for 1.5 yrs. Water parameters, tank inhabitants, and filtration as follows
Ammonia~ 0ppm
Nitrite~ 0ppm
Nitrates ~40ppm
pH~ 7.2
All tested with API test kit ( Nitrates high due to half a week behind on water change- was sick)
Filtration is 1 Penguin 350 Bio-wheel filter with refillable baskets - media is zeolite and floss; 1 Magnuim 350 Canister Filter with combination of carbon and zeolite all on a 55g aquarium. 50% water changes done weekly
Inhabitants: 5 SAPs, 2 upside down catfish, 1 farlowella, 1 pictus catfish, 1 south american bumblebee catfish, 3 kuhli loaches (haven't seen them in a while but most likely there), 1 irridescent shark (I know I shouldn't have him but I had one as a kid and whenI got back into the hobby I didn't know how big they get). Random snails the puffers haven't eaten (all alive)
The sick SAP is now in a 5g water change bucket with a cycled sponge filter, small heater and Melafix (did not use tank water- clean water treated with Prime- Melafix dosed at 2.5 ml) My quarantine tank is being used as a snail grow out right now.
SAP not swimming right
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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edmlfc1
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 2011
- Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:03 pm
- My Puffers: Elvis (Stars & Stripes) R.I.P. 9/11/11
125G:Fahaka (Annabelle) - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Texas
Re: SAP not swimming right
You really need to get the nitrates down. I lost one of my puffers when my nitrates reached 40 (due to a tank transfer and strring up the sand).
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What to feed your puffer? Click on Feeding......
Feeding: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/
Have a GSP, need more information......Click on GSP Article.....
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