The Puffer Forum

Hi,

I've lost two SAPs today and my other one looks like he is ailing, I've run out of water test kits and it's too late to go to the pet store to get one, I've only just got in to find 2 dead. I have one left and I'm just not sure what to do with him, I do have another aqaurium which is running fine so I was tempted to pop him in there in a plastic bag with some of that aquarium's water. I'm a little hesitant to put him in with the rest of the fish a)incase he eats them and b) incase he has some kind of disease. He is swimming around as normal but I have given him some blood worm which he doesnt seem to be interested in that! Can anyone suggest anything!?!?!?!?!

water changes

keep an eye on him.

what color is it? The back is dark or light?

Edit:
Tell us about the history: when did this start, did they die suddenly? What are your feeding and water change patterns etc...

Can you answer the questions in red?

When you answer questions in RED, it will help us determent what is going on.

There could be a lot of things or only one, that could cause death of your Puffers.

They were until yesterday in my community tank where they had been happily eating through my tetra's fins and tails. Therefore yesterday we moved them into another cycled aquarium (30l Biorb) which we had treated with nutrafin cycle where they were to live on their own. We used water from the aquarium they were in in the other aquarium as we did a water change a few days ago. They have seemed absolutely fine and this morning were perfectly happy so what happened between me going to work and coming home I do not know!!!!
As i said in my previous quote i dont have access to a water testing kit as I meant to get a new one and forgot! Man am I paying for this now!!

I wouldn't put him in with the other fish. Can you describe in more detail how he looks sick? Color, anything abnormal on skin, shape (is he very skinny?), etc. With what you said about lack of appetite I'd almost say IPs, but I have no other info to back it up. How long have you had them? Was the tank cycled properly? Did you deworm? Any other info you could add would be helpful.

There's other questions besides the water parameters, and those are helpful.

Nutrafin Cycle is absolute poo and doesn't work. I'd do a water change.

As far as I'm aware the tank was cycled properly and he looks ok but seems a bit lack lustre, do fish grieve? Could he be lonely? You are asking me about worming, I was unaware that you had to worm then!!! We have had them less than a week and they were fine in my community tank apart from being hugely fat from eating my neon tetra!

I'm going to assume that the new tank isn't cycled as of yet, tank water alone is not enough.

If you swap out the filters between the established tank and the new one that will dramatically speed up the process. Keep up with water changes and use that dechlorinated water.

Having 2 fish die in 8 hrous from ammonia is possible depending on the size of the tank 30L tank = 8 US gallons ... far too small for even one fish

What exactly was the cycling process? Did you just add the Cycle and the old water? Or did you add an ammonia source and monitor ammonia and nitrite for a while?

J-P wrote:I'm going to assume that the new tank isn't cycled as of yet, tank water alone is not enough.

If you swap out the filters between the established tank and the new one that will dramatically speed up the process. Keep up with water changes and use that dechlorinated water.

Having 2 fish die in 8 hrous from ammonia is possible depending on the size of the tank 30L tank = 8 US gallons ... far too small for even one fish

+1

this is by no means a complete diagnostic... just an observation. We are still lacking a lot of info, but the tank size / change was what causes some bells to go off.

What kind of water source do you have (well, city water)? How do you treat the water when doing water changes? Have the SAPs had any symptoms on breathing problems? Have you treated your SAPs any different from your other fish tanks, i.e. more frequent water changes? Has there been any changes in the SAP's lives lately?

I know it's a lot of questions. Some of the questions I ask because I am thinking about the ash cloud from Iceland. It's a long shot, and I have no idea if it can affect fishkeeping. But it's at least something to be aware of, that it can be a danger.

AFAIK ash would would lower the PH level (I use it in my garden). Trace amounts in the water could have other side effects that we don't know about.

BUT, I do know of a place in Japan where the only thing that survives in hot spring run off (very acidic) is lake trout. Sorry a little off topic ...

Vulcanic ash can contain some nasty stuff, like sulfur and fluorine, and, yes, it can lower the PH. Besides, the ash particles has very sharp edges, and can irritate fish gills. I have no idea how big a problem this will be with water from a city supplier (I don't know how much bad stuff that can be removed by their filtering), but I think it can be a problem if you use water from a well (not sure though, I only think it can be). I am not sure how badly UK was hit by the ash cloud, but I know airplanes was grounded all over Europe (or so the news said, but Norwegian newspapers have a habit of exaggerating), so I guess you got your share too.