The Puffer Forum

1) Ammonia 0, Nitrates under 10, Nitrites 0 and salinity 1.023 - 1.024
2) 50g, 2 clown fish, a dragon goby and a lawn mower blenny. I also have a protien skimmer along with filters to.
3) I feed them every 2 nd day either some shrimp or clam, and sometimes I'll toss in some blood worms. I do a 20% water change every 2 wks I use Prime in the water. I haven't added anything new to my tank in awhile. It's been running and cycled for almost a year.
4) I haven't done anything new or added anything new in the last 2 wks.
5) My tank has been running for almost a year now, It was cycled via media and filter from an excisting tank.


Ok so here's whats going on, for about a few weeks now one of my gsp's has been acting wierd, he used to be so plump and would greet me always and ate alot when it came to feeding time. Now he hasn't really been interested in any food, he only takes a nibble and he's been getting more grey on his belly to. I have noticed his belly has begun to get smaller and alittle sunk in ( My 2nd gsp is doing good, eats and has a full looking belly. But the other gps I call him Chunky, he will hover in some areas and stay like that and when I feed him it's like he gets over excited maybe and tried to go for the food but just keeps biting at the tank glass near the food. I'm not sure what to do, all my fish have always been healthy. And yes I know my tank is over stocked but I keep up with the maintenance and the water perams are good.

Hopefully someone has an idea as to what my gsp chunky has and can help me get him better.

Thanks in advance for any help

No one has any ideas as to whats going on? (

And yes I know my tank is over stocked but I keep up with the maintenance and the water perams are good

Parameters are not the only reason we don't overstock our tanks. There is territory & swimming room... How large are the fish in there?

Only other thought is go ahead & treat for IPs.

He doesn't seem to mind the other fish, there are no bite marks on fins and I haven't seen the other fish chase him. My puffs are about 3 in and the other fish are about the same siz and 2 fish are about 2 inchs. Ive had them all for about a year would they still get IP's after this long, or would it take this long to show symptoms?? And what kind of IP medicine should i use?

You feed live worms, don't you? Are the clams, etc frozen before feeding out? Lots of folks seem to have luck with the Jungle fizz tabs. Just soak their favorite food in it & garlic.

I freeze the clams when I buy them fresh from the store to kill off anything bad, and feed frozen blood worms on occasion. What kind of Jungle fizz tabs?? Are those the ones where I could just drop it in the tank or do they just get soaked in food?

They are made to put in the tank but you need to soak their food in it. I thought you were feeding live worms---my bad. I can't think of any other reasons he'd be getting thin.

That's the problem, I can't seem to see why he's acting wierd. Im gonna try to do another good wc today, I'll have to see how Im feeling later got a nasty head cold Ill do the wc and test again. Maybe I'll feed him a scallop and see what happens.

+1 to pufferpunk's comments..

But I had an additional thought..could his teeth be over grown? He does not seem to have a varied diet and you only mention 1 hard shelled food for him to scrape his teeth on.

I've tried to feed them snails and they were never interested i gave them small ones nogger than their eyes and they didn't touch em. I did take a look at their beaks and they look ok, they do bite at the food i give them and take chunks off.

Please post exact diet & maybe a pic of his teeth if you can.

Ok sorry I haven't posted in a bit, this cold has been kicking my butt. I was mistaken before about both of their beaks, I think they need to be trimmed down. I took a much closer look this morining and I'm pretty sure a beak trim is needed for both. I cant seem to get a good pic of them though Im just trying to get some tips on trimming their beaks, I can't afford the ms 222 stuff and I dont want to use clove oil (I dont have any anyways lol) Can I use just normal nail clippers that have been steralized??

So has anyone done a beak trimming on a gsp with no meds to make it sleepy?? I read that you could do it quickly under water with nail clippers and the net??

This is a delicate procedure, and doing a GSP without meds and without experience may be difficult..

I would really like to see a pic before you attempt this because it will cause stress.

You do not have to have the puffers mouth wide open. We *should* be able to see what we need to if you can get a picture of him looking directly at the camera.

Ok I think I got a good picture of the beak, it's Chunky in the pic, Nibbler was camera shy lol.