The Puffer Forum

I have a 25 gal. tank thats been up and running for about half a year now. With one 1 GSP in it. I feed her bloodworms, shrimp, snails, ans the occasional worm.

So i woke up this morning and my tank was a little cloudy. I thought nothing of it an went on with my day until i walked in at noon and it was STILL cloudy and my puffer was acting strange. Shes bee swimming around the surface of the tank with her mouth almost out of the water like she cant breathe. I did a water change and it did no good. Still cloudy water and still strange puffer behavior and its getting worse. Now shell stop at the top of the glass and just sit there with her mouth out of the water..i scooped her in my hand and she seemed to snap out of it but shes doing it again now.

Ive done nothing different lately other than i cleaned the outside of her tank with windex. I sprayed it on a paper towel and wiped only the glass,careful not to get ANY in her tank. Does anyone know what's going on or a possible fix? I dont want my little puffer to die.

Please ANYONE with ANY info post it. Shes gone downhill so fast! She was perfectly healthy last night and even into this morning!

it sounds like an bacterial bloom from an ammonia spike. Did you test the water perams?

Is it possible that there is a large chunk of uneaten food in there somewhere?

I didnt test them before i did the water change but maybe a snail or 2 shes missed? It had only been about a week since the last water change i did so i cant imagine it was that bad. Is there anything i can do for her? Ive added a little bubbler to try to get more oxygen into the water but i dont know how much longer she has...

Some will say big water changes some will say multiple small water changes (same day). If you can get the temps to match (so as not to shock the puffer) I'd go for the biggie. If you have to adjust the temp constantly, maybe 6-8 10% water changed for the remainder of the day?

Ok its 6:23 my time....maybe every hour or so do a 10% water change?

If my guess is correct yes, at least until someone can jump in and help. You don't have a test kit anymore?

I do have a test kit. A glass API Master Freshwater Test Kit --- I just tested the Ammonia level and it says 0...

ohhh ....

when my water went cloudy like that it was because of dead food created an ammonia spike and what you see as the white haze would normaly be attributed to the bacterial bloom.

Now I am certainly stumped. Maybe PP or RTR can jump in and solve the mystery.

I have no idea what it is. but yes it does look like a whitish haze. i just did the first water change. I hope it works. thank you for the adivce

do you have the other readings? Nitrite and Nitrate?

J-P wrote:do you have the other readings? Nitrite and Nitrate?

I'll test everything I can right now and post it in a few minutes

If I were you, I'd get as much of that water out of that tank as possible. If Windex did get in there, I would say she's being poisoned. I'd want to give her as much freshwater as possible (don't forget to add your dechlorinator). I'd be doing very large water changes, which I think is better than doing small water changes. And adding extra oxygen is a good thing too.

Im about to do the second water change. She seems to be doing a LITTLE better. At least shes moving now. Shes still mouthing at the surface though. I just finished my test and these are the results:

Ph: 7.7
Nitrate: 5.0
Nitrite: 0.50
Ammonia: 0