The Puffer Forum

my gsp doesnt like swimming the just kinda lays on his plant or the ground and his tail is all kinked. from previous expierence i know that a kinked tail and lack of motivation means constipation....is it the same for gsps?

It could be constipation but not necessarily. Gsp's or most puffers for that matter tend to curl their tail's when resting or sleeping. If you could answer all the question above in read we might be able to help you more. Not being active could be a concern. Do you still have the two puffers? Have you upgraded the 5 gallon tank for them/him/her?

Constipation can be helped with 1 tbsp Epsom salt/5g.

I just want to say that I used to have 3 GSP's (I finally found a good home for them!) that didn't do much, they all laid on the bottom of the tank most days, and only really got up for food. So I would not automatically assume that it's constipation with your puffer, although it very well could be. Sorry not to be able to give you an exact answer.

When my GSP wil go lay down i also would think there must be wrong.. Mine are very hyper, al day.. And never lay on the bottum.. ??? When they are realy sleeping/resting they have an other color, they are lighter. Don't know how to say in Englisch

Is it a new thing or is it normal for him/her?

bauk wrote:When my GSP wil go lay down i also would think there must be wrong.. Mine are very hyper, al day.. And never lay on the bottum.. ??? When they are realy sleeping/resting they have an other color, they are lighter. Don't know how to say in Englisch

Is it a new thing or is it normal for him/her?

This is a normal thing for GSP's and some of the other puffers. Mine look very faded when they sleep.

i know its not him sleeping. theres like a lump on one curve of the tail and the other is caved it.
usually he is all over the tank and in and out of his rocks and plants but lately he lays vertical...head down in his plants and doesnt move until im pounding on the tank screaming he better not be dead lol.
could it maybe be eating something that fell in his tank or something. cause he is at my house and my 8year old sister is fascinated with him and she loves popcorn and i saw a few kernals around his tank so if a piece fell in there and he ate it....could that be the constipation problem or something worse

yes i did up grade and got a 30 gal for each of them and divided them up just in case. they are much happier now besides the fact kumar is constipated or something.

What are your water parameters? If you could answer the questions in red at the top of the page it would help. Even though you are thinking it's constipation it is possible that there would be another cause for his actions. Have you tried adding the Epson salt? If so, were there any changes at all in his feces?

i havent been home enough to notice a change in feces.
but i did the pea trick and that seemed to help a little so slowly but surely ill get him back to normal

thank you all for your help