The Puffer Forum

I got a Green Spotted Puffer approximately 2 inches about 1 week ago to add to my 25 gallon tank. He had a black belly when i bought him but seemed very lively and greeted me at the front of the tank. Since putting him in the new tank his color fluctuates from a completely white belly with very green coloring and dark spots on top to where he is completely dark (which is most of the time). I checked my water and the are as follows:

Ph 7.8
KH 180
GH 150
Nitrate 0
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0

Salinity 1.006 (i am in the process of raising it every two weeks)

I have had this tank cycled for about 2 months now. I have a 1 1/2 inch cory catfish in there and a very small lobster about 2 inches (surprised he didn't eat him yet!). I have had puffers in the past and i am feeding him the same as i did them alternating between, frozen krill, frozen beef heart, bloodworms, brine shrimp, gut-loaded ghost shrimp, lots of snails and occasionally mysis shrimp. The first two days he ate everything i put in and had a good round belly afterward. Since then he eats very little and spits up most of it and then sits at the bottom of the tank breathing very fast. I have also started adding a little bit of garlic juice, about two drops to his food which seems to have helped him eat a little bit but not like he did. I haven't changed anything around since i got him and i do a 25% water change twice a week (so twice since i got him). I went to my LFS and they thought it could be some sort of parasite so i have started treating him with Parasite Guard by Jungle. He seemed to perk up about an hour after i put the initial dose in but now he i back to sitting on the bottom of the tank. He livens up every now and again but goes back down to the bottom and looses a lot of color. This fish has so much personality i would really hate to loose him please help!

Take the cory out. It needs to live with others of its own kind, and it is not a brackish fish. It's not a happy camper right now.

The parasites are a definite possibility. Continue with the deworming.

If he's breathing fast, he's having some sort of problem getting enough oxygen. Set up an air pump and airstone.

I'm not sure *why* he's breathing fast. Maybe the stress of parasites, maybe something else. Someone else will have to help you with that.

Good luck! And welcome to the forum.

What test kits are you using? An established tank should be showing some nitrate. For more diet tips, see the articles on feeding in our Library. Also one on GSPs in there.

+1 on the cory & airstone.

Howdy! Welcome to the Forum, sorry your first post has to be in the Hospital section......

Since you've kept puffers before I don't have to tell you that the black belly is a sign of stress. From what I can see there are a few issues you need to resolve. First, retest your water. If your tank is properly cycled you should be showing some nitrate in your water as nitrate is the end product of the ammonia being broken down by nitrifying bacteria. Really shake your test reagents well to get accurate results. It is possible you may be having high nitrates and not know it. The next thing I see is that the tank is over stocked. The GSP needs 30 gallons to himself because of the amount of biologic waste he produces. Also the Cory cats will not tolerate the raising SG.

The diet you are feeding is good except the Beefheart. Beefheart is a cardiac mammalian mussel, and although not bad for a puffer, it's not really the greatest choice. Most fish lack the enzyme to properly digest this type of food. If you're using the beefheart for the protein, try earthworms, you can buy them at bait shops. Just make sure the substrate they come in doesn't contain any additive (you can see the little white spheres in the substrate)

When you do get him to eat, does he end up with a round belly? How long does it stay round after feeding? Any signs of white stringy poop?

I found a different strip test for Nitrate and it said its about 20 (i have a hard time judging the colors but that looks the closest). I have removed the cory and put him into a different FW tank. Now that i think about it i fed him beef heart first, could he possibly be constipated or something? If so how should i proceed? I will continue the de-worming as the directions say. After he ate the first few times his belly stayed round for a while, not sure exactly how long, but now his belly gets big and then looks like he didn't eat anything a minute later, almost like he is vomiting up his food. I already had an air-stone in the tank but i just added a powerhead in hopes that the breathing gets better and its just and aeration problem. If i do larger water changes more frequently do you think i would be able to keep him in a 25 gallon tank? I will defiantly try out the earthworms! thank you all so much for your help!

And now that i think of it i don't think i have seen him poop once. And i was using an expired test strip not sure how i still have those but i re-tested my water with a brand new kit and the only thing that is different is the nitrate is about 20.

30g is the absolute minimum you can do. Your fish won't grow to its full size and will not live as long in anything under that mimimum.

Well i will definitely up the tank size as soon as i can then. Thanks!

Great!

Nevermind that they love swimming! Mine would have been happy alone in a 55g.

All i want is for this fish to be happy so i think maybe i will get a 55 gallon for him. I have had such good experiences with puffers before they really live up to their puppy dog reputations. Thanks for everyones help!

Even though you need to treat for IP's, treatment is stressful for fish. Especially if they were showing symptoms in the first place. That might be what his problem is. Do keep treating though, hopefully he will come around before, or by the time you are done with the treatment. Also, be sure to get the nitrates down a little bit. Puffers, like other scaleless and/or marine fish are more sensitive to them and usually require less than the FW standard Max of 20.

after all the panic of yesterday and multiple tests nitrates are actually down and my GSP seems great he has eaten great and is swimming around the tank like nothing was wrong to begin with. I also bought a 55 gal tank and have just started cycling it for him. thank you all so much for your help this website has helped so much!

That's great. Show us some pictures when you've got the new tank set up!