The Puffer Forum

I just got my congo puffer last friday. he was really active when I brought him back home and was eating and reacting well with others( I have true red eye in the tank). he was active and swimming to get the food while I was feeding on Saturday and Sunday. Today I came home and found him on laying on the gravel pitch black, barely swimming at all. I tried to feed him with bloodworm and he ate the first one then stopped eating. I changed the water to give more oxygen in the water. the tanks is well cycled I think ( I did the water check last week) the rest of the puffers seems to be fine and swim up and down just the congo. can someone help me? I did brought 1 stone from outside and put it in the tank on Sunday, I'm not sure if that's what cause the problem.

Please answer the questions in red.

Could you please answer all the questions above in the red box? It could be really helpful if we know the answers to these first before we give advice. Thanks!

my tank is 22gal with gravel and couple stones.

What are your test numbers? We can't help you without definite numbers, and "good" and "ok" are not good answers.

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
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it?

Sorry I didn't know how to check the water so I brought the water to the shop and asked them to check for me, I set up my tank for 3 weeks now.I let the tank run for 1 week first by filter and tetra aqua safe and bio-support in. i feed them once a day and today is the first time I changed the water. for the water I put in tetra aqua safe and bio support. I putted in a stone which I got at a park, rinse it and put the stone in the tank.

You should have boiled the stone.
Please go out and buy a test kit ASAP. We don't know your nitrate or nitrite or ammonia levels, so there's no way to see if it is either one of those causing your fish stress. It sounds like one of them is way too high.

OK Christemo thanks a lot for your help. I will buy the kit tomorrow and let you know for detail. it's 11 pm right now in canada so can't I can't go buy the kit now but I will get it tomorrow

beapeman wrote:OK Christemo thanks a lot for your help. I will buy the kit tomorrow and let you know for detail. it's 11 pm right now in canada so can't I can't go buy the kit now but I will get it tomorrow

Get a liquid kit. Test strips are useless.

ok i will thanks.

Actually, the strips aren't bad. The liquid ones are important for when something seems wrong, like now, but if it all looks good, the strips can be fine.

A great brand for liquid kits is API. They are expensive, but worth it.

Your tank size may be a factor. A fully-grown congo puffer needs 30g, and with tankmates, you'd need more than that. How big is the puffer, and how many true red-eyes do you have?

What I think the culprit might be is that you have at least one other puffer (and possibly more) sharing a 22G tank with this congo who is now lethargic and pitch black. I'm not trying to shoot you down but it sounds like you have a tank too small to accommodate these messy eaters who are really sensitive to ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Immediate actions need to be taken if you want to save the congo's life or preventing it from getting any permanent damage (puffer blindness is very common when the water is not in pristine condition). I know puffers are really precious and I hate to see them go myself. However, if you want the best for your puffer(s), you might need to consider bringing the congo back to the store, until you can figure what to do next. If you absolutely cannot let go of it, please keep up with daily water changes, 50% or more. I strongly suspect the water condition is to blame (you'll get the verdict once you get the API kit tomorrow hopefully).

Welcome to the puffer forum by the way This is the best puffer forum I've found. I'm glad you've come to the right place to ask questions! We may not know all the answers but we're all eager to help!

Another possibility while you figure out what to do is to get a big plastic storage container and put the puffer in that. Keep up with the water changes, of course, since it's not cycled, but it would help, I think.

IMO, you really need to return the Congo. Your tank is large enough for only 1 puffer species. Stick with that one, maybe get a pair of red-eyes in there--that's it. If that Congo was feeling better, he'd wipe out every fish in the tank with it.

Is the "true red-eye" the same thing as the red-eye puffer? Just checkin'.

Have you done research? If no, here's where to get started.
Congo puffer rundown:
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Freshwater/T_Miurius/
Feeding and diet:
library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/ (Since the congo is a piscivore, their feeding will differ from that described in the article; Pufferpunk or someone else who's owned a Congo can help you with that. This is the place to start, though.)
Further feeding and diet, as it applies to piscivores:
library/feeding/feeders/