The Puffer Forum

hey i just got a fahaka puffer a few weeks ago and i just noticed the he is only using his left gill, im not sure what this means or if there is something wrong. if someone could help me i would very much appreciate it

Fish "breathe" as well as expell the extra water that gets in their mouths while feeding via their gills. Is it possible that something is stuck in the right gill?

how can i check that without stressing out my fish or having it die on me?

I read about fish using one gill some days & another gill other days. Unless you see worms sticking out of there, I wouldn't worry (look with a flashlight). Are his parameters perfect? Is he eating?

oh yeah i keep his tank in exelent condition, i feed him apple snails every other day and i am working on getting some freshwater lobsters. and i feed him the odd tetra just to give him some exercize and its kinda fun to watch. so just watch and see if he uses his right gill, and no i have not seen any worm like things in his poop of gill.

just for the record what are perfect conditions for a fahaka puffer, i would like to know from someone who has one, and how do i keep a stable tank without useing chemicals, i have driftwood to make my water hardness medium, white river sand to keep ph at 7 and higher.

In addition to a large tank, See my sig:

your sig:? i do weekly water changes, i replace it with purified water not tap, i just would like to know the correct parameters and woild like to know how to keep them stable, like using driftwood etc.. and what i should put in my filter bags that will not stress my lil guy out, he is about 2.5", i will upload a video of him, he is so cute i love him

How is the water purified? Is there something wrong with your tap water?

Large tank, lots of broken lines of sight, lots of decor for him to investigate.


My fahaka likes to hang out in his mangrove root "cave".


He's a happy fellow!


Goofy-colored gravel, optional...

Pufferpunk wrote:I read about fish using one gill some days & another gill other days. Unless you see worms sticking out of there, I wouldn't worry (look with a flashlight). Are his parameters perfect? Is he eating?

+1

That makes sense. As long as you don't visually see an obstruction, it's probably fine.

___

Ammonia and nitrites should be zero, and nitrates should be under 20ppm.

- That was what you wanted to know when you said "...what are the proper parameters...," right?

If not, just ignore me.

yes thoes are at zero, there is no amonia, but like a good temp for him, i have it a 79, but the proper gh and kh and ph, i just took the black rocks out today and bought some white river sand for the store, washed it very well, he is a little stresses still, the top of his body does not have lines on it yet but his tummy is now turning yellow and so is his tail.

i use purified drinking water, the water you fill up your 5 gal water jugs with from quality greens or walmart, costs 2 dollars a jug but its purified

No reason to use purified water unless you have bad water. If you do use purified water, you must reconstitute the minerals back into it.

ok i will just condition tap water for now on, thanks for the tip, but i still would like to know what the proper ph,gh and kh should be, and how to maintain that, like i heard driftwood is good to keep water hardness at medium and i just put white river sand in tank today and that raises ph i heard, but how would i keep thoes at stable levels even after water changes, i really hate putting chemicals is my tank, only melafix 2 or three times a week

here is a link with a video of my lil guys new home, i just replace the rock with sand today so its a lil merky, but i have a catfish and a rubbernose sucker with him to clean up his messy eating, he loves to hide in his log and hide behind his driftwood and play in his silk plants:) oh and one silver dollar for a treat, if he can ever catch it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1OFlytFGg