The Puffer Forum

Hello everyone,
Today I noticed my GSP rubbing him/her self on the glass, I think close to its gill? I did a internet search and read that it could mean a skin problem, or gill problem. What do you guys think it means? and what should I do? I don't ever remember him doing this before, and this is the first day he's done it. I don't see anything different on his skin or gills and he is currently swimming around the tank like usual. But as a precaution I would like to do something just in case it means the start of something bad. So please let me know what you think, and I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Also I don't know if it matters but I did do a large (around 50%) WC yesterday.

Could be he is just flashing?

Mine will flash occasionally after they eat.

purplecandle wrote:Could be he is just flashing?

Mine will flash occasionally after they eat.

Maybe, but it looked like he was tiring to itch/rub a certain area on his side. But I hope he was just flashing.
I don't see him doing it now but he just did it randomly because he was lying on the ground but when he saw me he came out then started to rub his side on the glass and he seemed agitated. But then he just started swimming and acting normal. lol maybe he just had a itch?

Any white spots on him, that look like specks of like salt?

Pufferpunk wrote:Any white spots on him, that look like specks of like salt?

No I don't see any white spots or anything different about his skin.
But I am worried because my sister has ick on one of her fishes, and before we saw ick on her fish I would take out snails from her tank and feed to my puffer.

Read the article in out Library on treating ich. It can't hurt.

Pufferpunk wrote:Read the article in out Library on treating ich. It can't hurt.

Ok, then I'll treat for ich just to be on the safe side. I'll slowly raise the temperature to 86. The temperature is certainly at 80 and I have set it to 82. Will such a high temperature of 86 be ok for my GSP and ghost shrimp?
I have 10 ghost shrimp and my puffer hasn't eaten a one, two of them even has eggs

Hi I've noticed that his gills look a little more open than usual. I can see him open it where as before I didn't notice him breathing. Could I just be watching him too closely or could this be a sign of something bad? Is there anything I can treat it with? Any kinds of meds I can use that would treat all the things that he may have? Sorry I'm just really worried because I read the post about the inflamed gill, and now I'm paranoid that my gsp has something similar. But his gill dose not look swollen, just maybe a bigger opening.

Before helping you further, please answer all the Qs above, in red.

Pufferpunk wrote:Before helping you further, please answer all the Qs above, in red.

1. Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15
Salinity- Too low to read on my hydrometer
2. 30 gal tall with 1 GSP and 10 ghost shrimp
3. I feed him almost every day with ramshorn snails and bloodworms. I do a 40-50% water change weekly. I use Amquel + each time I do a WC, and treat the whole tank.
4. added a little more sea salt ( a few teaspoons) and raised the temperture to 82, tring to get it slowly to 86, just in case he's been infected with ich
5. The tank had some gold fish and a blue gill before I put my puffer in it. So I would asume that the tank was cycled. I have had my GSP in this tank since october.

I can tell that he is not as hungery as he normally is, but he still has a nice big white belly. I do see him once or twice a day "hit" the glass like he's rubbing/itching himself. I don't see him do this often. Most of the time he is swiming around the tank. In the morning I find him laying on the gravel with a little bit of a dark belly but when he sees me he comes out from the fake tree roots and starts swiming around with a white belly.
He's left gill is more open than his right gill. This was not like this a week ago, he's gotten this recently. Please let me know what I should do and what it could be. Thanks

I have two thoughts on what you're telling us. First, when you started treating for Ich did you add an airstone? The warmer the water gets the less dissolved oxygen it can carry and he could be showing some signs of low oxygen levels (harder breathing). Second, a GSP is a brackish water fish and is in near fresh water from what your water parameters read. If the current method of treating the Ich (if that is what it is) is too stressful on the fish you can try simply raising his SG up in larger amounts and bringing the temperature back down. The max you can raise is by .002 per week. Most captive GSP's have a freshwater ich and it will not survive as the SG raises, neither will most other FW skin problems, some will tolerate the raise then you have to check other avenues. The good part of doing it this way is that it gets your GSP in to a more natural environment and helps with the skin problem all in one shot.

Dadof4 wrote:I have two thoughts on what you're telling us. First, when you started treating for Ich did you add an airstone? The warmer the water gets the less dissolved oxygen it can carry and he could be showing some signs of low oxygen levels (harder breathing). Second, a GSP is a brackish water fish and is in near fresh water from what your water parameters read. If the current method of treating the Ich (if that is what it is) is too stressful on the fish you can try simply raising his SG up in larger amounts and bringing the temperature back down. The max you can raise is by .002 per week. Most captive GSP's have a freshwater ich and it will not survive as the SG raises, neither will most other FW skin problems, some will tolerate the raise then you have to check other avenues. The good part of doing it this way is that it gets your GSP in to a more natural environment and helps with the skin problem all in one shot.

His gill was "inflamed" or more open then usual before I started raising the temperture in his tank. I did add a airstone before starting treatment and have it on high. Yeah I know GSP's are brackish fish, but I got him from a previous owner that had him in fresh water for the whole time he had him (he told me he had him for about a year), so I've been tring to slowly raise the salt level in his tank with out hurting him. But my hydrometer only starts reading the levels at 1.012, so I'm scared to put too much salt in his tank at one time. I am hoping to save money and get a better salt reader that will read lower levels so I can slowly bring the water to a more brackish level. In the mean time how much salt should I put in his tank per gals? He is not showing any signs of ich, but I was told it wouldn't hurt to treat him just incase. What should I do now? Please help me treat his gill that apears more open, thanks

Hydrometers are cheap. Get one that starts at 1.000.

Pufferpunk wrote:Hydrometers are cheap. Get one that starts at 1.000.

Ok I'll look around, when I got the one I have it was the only one there.
What should I do about his "imflamed" gill? Could it be some kind of gill worm? Any meds I can give him?
He is at a temp of 84-86 now. Should I keep it there, or lower it back down? He seems to be doing ok, but I do notice that he isn't as hungery as he normally is.

He should be hungrier. Higher temps will raise his metabolism. You could try the Jungle Parasite Clear in there.