The Puffer Forum

okay well i had put my gsp in a 40 gallon after i had him in a 5 for a couple weeks where he ate VERY well and stayed active

upon moving him he became very lethargic and hasnt eaten since day before yesterday

hes in freshwater and i was treating the 40 with prime and seachem stability but i did the same thing with the 5 when i got him and he was fine

ammonia 0-1ppm

80 degrees

5 gallon been setup for about 3 weeks

40 set up day before yesterday

now ive moved him back to the 5

but he just hides underneath the filter

i think the tank transfer was stressful since i had to chase him down with a bacardi glass to move him (its clean)

the water in the 5 is fresh

i moved him at about 6:30

when he was in the 40 i did a 25% w/c this morning and anothe 25% at 4:00

at about 5 i tried feeding in the 40 and he ignored it (same as day before)

then when i moved him to 5 i tried feeding again and he still ignored it

normally all the bloodworms are gone within 30 seconds

now theyve sat for 1+ hour

help?

I think he's not eating just because of the move stress. Mine would stop eating for the littlest things, moving stuff around in the tank, increase in SG, etc.

Also, I don't think that 40 gallon tank is cycled if it's only been up for a couple of days, even with the Stability added. They make all sorts of claims but really all you are adding is a bunch of dead bacteria (and more ammonia after it starts to decay). Tetra Safe Start is the only one that does work, this is Dr. Tims Bio Spira after Tetra brought him on board.

I remember from some of your last posts that you have a Master Test Kit coming? Keep your GSP in the established 5 gallon and keep adding flake food or bits of shrimp to the 40 gallon until the new test kit arrives, then test the water. If the Stability worked you should have readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and minimal nitrate. If you don't keep going with the fish food or shrimp until you do get those readings, then you know your tank is completely cycled. Another thing you could do is get some established media from someone elses filter.

I have to disagree here. The 5g isn't cycled either & the puffer is much better off in the 40g.

Puffers can and do go long periods of time without eating for many reasons. Neither your 5 gallon or your 40 gallon are cycled so I really do think he is better off in the 40 gallon. As dadof4 mentioned tried to get established media from someone elses filter, or tetra safe to kick start that cycle.

well i know that the ammonia in both my tanks is reading 0-1ppm

if i move him back to the 40 wont it stress him even more?!

he nerver acted so slow... even when i brought him home from wal mart

could it have something to do with the fact that there was an iguana in the 40 before? (about 10 years ago)

i didnt put any bleach or disinfectants in;

all i did was rinse it really well

So you moved him back into the tank too small for him against my advice? 10 years should certainly be long enough for any iguana germs to have died off. For future reference, good thing to clean out tanks with (other than bleach which really needs to be rinsed well), is Oxyclean.

well it seems to have helped as when i got home (i got my snails =]) he was zipping around happy as ever and ate his bloodworms

i added a snail but he didnt show any interest

but the snail didnt come out either

until my new filter comes in my puff is in a 5g

skyreep1 does your 40 gallon not have a filter on it????

well when i put him in the 40 i put my 10 gal filter in, expecting my new big one to get here by that afternoon,
it still has not come in yet
another reason for me moving him to the 5g
maybe it'll come in this afternoon

Why can't you put the 5g filter on it?

cuz its not big enough to filter the 40 until i get the new one

All you need is enough to support the bioload of the puffer, which is what the filter you're using now is doing but you'd have the added benefit of 8x the dilution.

How is the puffer?