The Puffer Forum

hello i was wondering if anyone can help me please, i have just rehomed a 28inch mbu puffer . he is 9years old and has a bit of a curved spine
he had a 3hour journey to his new home and on his arrival i noticed he has slightly cloudy eyes . for a start he was swimming around fine and investigating his new home but for the past two days he tends to sit on the bottom and he has not eaten yet but he passed a whole cockle shell the other day!!!
he is in a 1000lts tank with a malawi and a danio which he has lived with for 6years
the tank has been running for a year now and the temp is 26, and nitrate nitrite ammonia is 0 gh is between 7+10 . i made a 50percent water change two days before arrival. all the paramiters are the same as he has been in for the last 9 years only difference is the tank is a lot bigger than he is used to.
he has been fed on cockles in shells and mussels
sometimes he sits with his mouth wide open
please advise me

Hi Matt. Is your nitrate really 0? This might indicate that something is amiss with the cycling process. What did the tank have in it prior to you getting him & the other fish?

That's still only a 250gal tank which is way too small for him. I'm surprised he's grown so big in a tank that sounds like it's significantly smaller than that.

sorry there i missed off a digit!! it is 20. it used to have a pair of red snakeheads in there before

Flutter wrote:That's still only a 250gal tank which is way too small for him. I'm surprised he's grown so big in a tank that sounds like it's significantly smaller than that.

the tank i rescued him from was a lot smaller than that !! this is only a temperary home for him until our new one is delivered(8x3x3)
he was in a 5x18x18inch tank for 9years hence the bent spine

He's lucky he found you then! Good luck.

Ok. Ideally, it would be good if you could get that nitrate down to 10 or less - sometimes depends on your tap water - some people seem to have really high nitrates in the UK tap water to start with. Puffers don't do great in high nitrate levels, although for such a short period of time I doubt that would be your problem. More likely stress etc from the move. Don't worry too much about him not eating - a big guy like that can probably go a while without food. Hopefully some of the big puffer owners will be on here later to offer some advice. Well done you for rescuing him from a small tank & good luck with his care & getting an even bigger tank!

thanks
the test kit i have is one of those test strip ones and the first mark is 0 and the second one is 20 and the colour was in between both of those , i also have some seachem de nitrate which i was gonna put into my filters but previous owners said not to worry as he has been in pure tap water all his life?????
i wondered if putting in was a good idea?

I wouldn't add any chemicals like that. Water changes are the best way to remove nitrate. Add Prime to dechlor. My fahaka was moved from a 55g into a 125g & sulked, not eating, for 3 weeks.

Haha! What an ungrateful...

Pufferpunk wrote:I wouldn't add any chemicals like that. Water changes are the best way to remove nitrate. Add Prime to dechlor. My fahaka was moved from a 55g into a 125g & sulked, not eating, for 3 weeks.

so i dont need to be having a nervous breakdown just yet ha ha .
now doing a 50% water change to see what happens next

i think i might have solved puffs sitting in the corner problem! his tank is positioned in a corner of the room and the end where he is always sitting is right up close against the wall so i think he could see his own reflection and couldnt move away from it, so i put a towell against the end and he has now moved away and is swimming around so maybe he will eat soon

How about that!

thank you for all your help and advice im hoping this is the last time im on hospital forum.
how do you get vitamin c into fish by the way???
thanks everyone
matt and puff

I dose VC into my reef tanks & add vitamins as a soak for most foods.