The Puffer Forum

I have a spotted that is acting erratic at times. Last night I saw him suddenly dart around the aquarium very fast and aimlessly like a ping pong ball. Today he did it again when I was feeding him. When he was done with the darting motion, he curled his tail and hovered at the bottom of the tank for awhile. He looked very tense and unstable. I have only had him for 3 weeks but I have never had any trouble with him eating. With that said, he's about 1 1/2" long and the only one in a 20gal tank (I know he should be in a larger tank, but the plan now is to keep him in the 20 for the first year and then give him the 55gal community tank thereafter). I initially cycled the puffer's from my larger 55gal tank and then put a few tetras in there for about 3wks thereafter.

Puffer in tank for 3 weeks
Water changers 40% 2x a week- use marine salt and Chlorine & heavy metal neutralizer...this week added PRIME to water change.
ammonia/ammonium=???Bought a liq test kit, and my tap and tank read 0.25ppm. Tested PRIME +water and it tested 0.25ppm...more sensitive ID test???
nitrate= 0, nitrite= 0.25ppm, pH=8.2, Density (salt)=0.003g/mL
feedings- 1x day- snails, frozen blood worms and shrimp

Questions-
1. When we first got him, we thought he was coming down with ich. We treated him w ICH-X but we had a mishap with teaspoon/tablespoon and ended up giving him a double dose each day for a week. This happened 3 weeks ago and I was wondering if that could have killed all the good bacteria in the tank right off the bat.
2. Should we have plants against the glass...does that help with bacteria accumulation?
3. Made 2 caves out of extra aquarium gravel, PVC pipe, and aquarium-safe silicon glue. Could that be harming him?
4. When we set up this tank, I rinsed multiple times, and used old shells and coral from a saltwater tank of my parent's. Is there any way these decorations are breaking down in the tank and causing harm?
5. Should I be treating for internal parasites?

figure 8's need 15gallons each.
Ur water, IdK Im not used to the Codes.
Feeding lil to much.
is his eyes cloudy?

His eyes are not cloudy.

When he eats. What is his belly like?

He is a bit extended after he eats. This goes away in about an hour.

Belly looks sunken?
Treat for IP

Darting can be a reaction to nitrites. Also, are the plants live? If so, the salt level might be killing them, adding rotting material to the tank and making it harder to cycle.

Please go to our Pufferpedia for proper ID on your puffer. Then go to our Library & read the article describing the requirements for keeping your puffer species. Also read the article on cycling & emergency cycling.

A GSP or F8 in a community tank sounds not-so-good for the present community. Puffers are pretty viscious. Also, your community tank would have to be understocked right now for a F8 to fit, and very, very, very understocked if you have a GSP.

2. Should we have plants against the glass...does that help with bacteria accumulation?
I don't think it matters where the plants are, actually.

3. Made 2 caves out of extra aquarium gravel, PVC pipe, and aquarium-safe silicon glue. Could that be harming him?
As long as everything was nice and clean, I don't think so.

4. When we set up this tank, I rinsed multiple times, and used old shells and coral from a saltwater tank of my parent's. Is there any way these decorations are breaking down in the tank and causing harm?
I don't think so. I've got shells in mine, too, and it's not causing a problem.

5. Should I be treating for internal parasites?
Yes, but not yet. Get the other problems taken care of, and then a routine deworming is probably in order, since he just came from the store.

Finally, don't be too surprised if the erratic behavior continues after everything is under control. They're just silly like that sometimes.

First I want say thank you very much for all the replies and everyones help. It makes a big difference. I want to do everything I can do to help the little guy out but I just don't have the experience yet.

I've done a lot of reading about all this in library and on Wet Web Media before getting the fish and did the research but being in the thick of all this now it's starting to feel like I'm guessing more than I'm sure what to do due to the combination of problems. He got a touch of Ich right away, the tank was cycled and now for some reason it lost it's cycle, I've found out that there is ammonia in my tap water almost defeats the purpose of daily water changes, it feels like this whole thing has spiraled out of control and I need to grip on it again.

Sorry for the confusion in the earlier post. It definitely a GSP and the only the reason I put the wrong one down is because the tank was set up with intention of getting a F8 but couldn't find a healthy one so ended up getting a GSP. It was just a bit of a slip and typo but no confusion that this is a GSP.

Ok, so I'm going to do a deworming med but after I get the tank completely cycled.

I have a community freshwater tank that I could use features and filters to get bacteria from but I'm not real confident that it's totally healthy. I got bought an extra bristlenose pleco when I got the puffer and he brought ick with him and then later a bacteria infection to that tank and while it's under control I'm concerned about introducing any of that into another tank. Especially if the puffer is already potential succeptable due to the bad water conditions. So there is no confusion, the puffer is not in a community tank. The puffer is in his own tank by himself and the community tank is separate.

There are no live plants in the tank so those can't be adding to the waste levels. I have been feeding the puffer snails every few days and some of them were bigger (it was tough to the LFS to give me small enough snails so I've started breeding my own). Rather than breaking the shell he would pretty much just bite there heads off. If he left some of the snail behind in the shell could it be rotting in the shell still? Should I be pulling the old shells out? I've been taking out the shells I see but haven't been actively hunting them out. I have only vacuumed the gravel twice during the water changes since he was introduced and have laid off since I noticed the problem with ammonia to try and keep as much bacteria going as possible

Regarding prime, is it something I should continue to use after all of my water changes in the future or is not meant to be a regular water treatment and only something to use when chemicals are present (my tap water does normally have about .25 ppm of ammonia in it)?

I've read the emergency cycling article in the Library and I've still got a few questions. I don't mind paying for Biospira and already asked about it at my LFS but they said it normally doesn't work if the tank already has ammonia or Nitrites in it. If there is a chance it will help or speed things up then I don't mind getting it. (Also, they claimed to have a new version of Biospira that doesn't need to be refrigerated? Is there such a thing or do they not know what they're talking about?) I can do the daily water changes of whatever size is necessary but I'm not sure if that what I should be doing with the ammonia in my tap water. I'm willing to do whatever is best. If it's just one thing or a combination of things. Please help me get this tank back on track.

Again I really appreciate all the help.

The new version of biospira is tetra safestart. If I had that amount of ammonia in my water, I'd use prime or amquel for all water changes.

I concur.