Sick F8
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.
Sick F8
My figure 8 puffer has 2 weird lumps on his belly, more towards the back. They have been there for maybe a week but I was not too worried, until today when he could not swim balanced and settled at the bottom of the tank. I put food in and it seems like he wants to eat, but is unable to actually get any food in his mouth. He also has very labored breathing. Im not completely sure but he also looks thinner than usual. I just changed he water yesterday because I was moving the tank and he seemed fine until a couple hours ago. I cant check the pH right now, but the temperature is around 80 and the SG is 1.005. He is the only fish in the 15 gallon tank.
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marksrush
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 856
- Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:10 pm
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- Location: Raymore, Missouri USA
Re: Sick F8
First of all, welcome to the forum! Sorry it had to be because of a problem with your puffer, but then that's what brings a lot of people here.
How long has the tank been set up? How long have you had your F8 in the tank? Is it possible for you to provide more of the information requested above in the pink area? Labored breathing often comes about because of poor water quality - and it's very easy for the water in a 15 gallon tank to get nasty real quick, especially with a puffer as they are quite dirty little creatures. You said you changed the water yesterday - what percentage of the tank did you change, and did you use dechlorinator?
Persistent lumps in the belly can mean a few things: one, that he has internal parasites; two, that he has not had many good meals and needs to fatten up a bit; and three, that he's constipated. The first reason I mentioned is the more likely of the three. Have you seen his poo? If so, what's it look like? You mentioned that he seems unable to get food into his mouth...do you mean that he tries to suck some in, but it won't go in? Or do you mean he goes up to it but never actually tries to eat it? Or does he suck it in but then spit it back out? What type of food(s) are you offering him?
Is the tank adequately aerated? Do you have good flow from a filter? Can you drop in an airstone?
Try to respond ASAP because your puffer sounds like he needs immediate action.
How long has the tank been set up? How long have you had your F8 in the tank? Is it possible for you to provide more of the information requested above in the pink area? Labored breathing often comes about because of poor water quality - and it's very easy for the water in a 15 gallon tank to get nasty real quick, especially with a puffer as they are quite dirty little creatures. You said you changed the water yesterday - what percentage of the tank did you change, and did you use dechlorinator?
Persistent lumps in the belly can mean a few things: one, that he has internal parasites; two, that he has not had many good meals and needs to fatten up a bit; and three, that he's constipated. The first reason I mentioned is the more likely of the three. Have you seen his poo? If so, what's it look like? You mentioned that he seems unable to get food into his mouth...do you mean that he tries to suck some in, but it won't go in? Or do you mean he goes up to it but never actually tries to eat it? Or does he suck it in but then spit it back out? What type of food(s) are you offering him?
Is the tank adequately aerated? Do you have good flow from a filter? Can you drop in an airstone?
Try to respond ASAP because your puffer sounds like he needs immediate action.
Re: Sick F8
Ive had the tank set up for about 4 months and he had been doing fine. I was traveling back to college, so i changed all the water. I know this could be bad for the beneficial bacteria and all that so i added water from his previous tank in with it. I did use a de chlorinator when i changed the water. I really havent seen anything come out of him at all lately. When he tries to eat the food he has a hard time swimming to it because he is so off balance. when he actually got food in his mouth, he spat it back out. my filter is running fine, and i dont have any airstones. thank you for responding though
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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Re: Sick F8
![[welcome]](./images/smilies/welcome.gif "welcome")
More of the answers in red please.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"