Porcupine Puffer Color Loss

[Puffermike64]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone here can help me out.

A couple months ago I bought a Porcupine Puffer. His color was a beautiful gold and glowing white under his stomach when I purchased him. The first week in the tank his color stayed the same. But now weeks later his color has shifted to a more darker tone. His belly is white, he eats normal and shows no signs of illness it's just that his incredible golden color has disappeared. Hes a pretty young puffer that's only about 4 inches in size.

My water parameters are for that of a Predator Tank with Fish Only.

Everything checks out at 0 except for the Nitrates. My Nitrates are around 10 - 15. I was wondering if perhaps the Nitrates are causing the color loss? If anyone has tips then please let me know!

[marksrush]

Afaik, nitrates at that level shouldn't harm a porc or any other puffer for that matter, since they're below 20ppm. Can you give more details about his environment? That is, tank size, tankmates, food offered and feeding schedule, etc. Is there a time of day when he reverts back to his golden color?

[J-P]

ohhh my favorite kind of puffer ... I hope you find a solution and he / she gets well soon!!

[Pufferpunk]

My water parameters are for that of a Predator Tank with Fish Only

What does that mean?

Question--what color is his substrate, background, decor? Sometimes puffers try to match their surroundings.

[Puffermike64]

Afaik, nitrates at that level shouldn't harm a porc or any other puffer for that matter, since they're below 20ppm. Can you give more details about his environment? That is, tank size, tankmates, food offered and feeding schedule, etc. Is there a time of day when he reverts back to his golden color?

Hes living inside a 75g setup with a dwarf lion fish. His feeding schedule is around 5-6 in the evening that consists of Ghost Shrimp and Frozen Raw shrimp that I just weened him over to eating. I'm going to try to get him to eat frozen krill soon. And. no he does not revert back to his original color.

My water parameters are for that of a Predator Tank with Fish Only

What does that mean?

Question--what color is his substrate, background, decor? Sometimes puffers try to match their surroundings.

Most predator tanks tend to have Nitrates above the normal.

But, the background I just took down to see if he'd change colors and it didn't help. But, the substrate is argonite sand along with white gravel. With various pieces of light to dark brown rocks.

[Puffur]

Sounds like protozoa disease.