The Puffer Forum

So I bought a Figure 8 from my LFS and the guy that owns the store doesn't have a lot of knowledge about them so he was no help at all. The first fish I bought from him was a plump, dark back, very white belly puffer, his name is Zeus <-- I love him a lot. I have had him for a month now and we have gotten to the point where he eats out of my hand and greets me, I did have a little trouble with him in the beginning; he wouldn't eat and would bump into everything almost like he couldn't see, I changed the water and it didn't help with anything, so I bought another puffer (Hades, who I have questions about later) and a few small snails. My idea on this was maybe he didn't like the food I was feeding which was blood worms and brine shrimp, and maybe Hades would help him find food, but my thoughts were wrong and he still wouldn't eat. I then noticed Hades picking on Zeus. After searching the internet I couldn't find anything. I then noticed little cottony white film over Zeus's eyes I then went to my LFS and told the owner all about it, luckily he knew his fungus ! So I treated my entire tank with Jungle Buddies and have had a lot of results, Zeus is now eating , but Hades will not . He almost seems jealous and won’t even look at food, but now he tries to go after Zeus. Is it normal for this behavior? Another question about Hades, when I first bought him I noticed he had a lot of bumps in his stomach, they do not look normal to me. (Since he was the last one I couldn’t not buy him.) but when I feed him the bumps blend in with the rest of the belly but when he hasn’t eaten the bumps are very noticeable. I also noticed when he was eliminating waste that it was coming out in huge chunks , I feed them brine shrimp mostly and it looked like the full brine shrimp was coming out! Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong?

I have 2 female feeder guppies and 4 fry guppies, who are all going back to the LFS. 2 small snails, and the two puffers Hades and Zeus.

they're in a 10 gal, sorry I know that's not enough room hence why I'm taking the guppies back; but I'm also planning on a bigger tank soon, the water temp is 76 degrees, nitrates nitrites all that are good, they are in a brackish tank, water current is at a slower pace. Plenty of hiding space, I sometimes can't even find them. Any ideas on Hades?

wouldn't eat and would bump into everything almost like he couldn't see

cottony white film over Zeus's eyes

Classic signs of an uncycled tank, nirtate/ammonia poisoning & poor water quality.

so I bought another puffer

Worst thing to do was adding more bioload.

nitrates nitrites all that are good

Exact numbers please? Ammonia?
library/puffers-in-focus/fig8/

I feed them brine shrimp mostly and it looked like the full brine shrimp was coming out!

When a fish is overfed, it will not digest all it's food & it comes out whole. How often are you feeding? Adult BS have almost no nutrition, as it is 98% water.

More feeding ideas: library/feeding/feeding-your-puffers/

tank was cycled. water changes have been done, he had fungus, I treated, he is better now. Not the answer I was looking for. The water perimeters have nothing to do with my question unless it has something to do with the lumps all over my puffers stomach.

I feed twice a day maybe four or five baby brine shrimp, he had the lumps at the fish store and the owner said he had just eaten, maybe he was the one over feeding? Thanks for all your help!

Yes, the lumps are food. Have you read the 2 links I gave you?

Yes I did, I'm for sure taking the feeder fish back. I do have the small snails in there for them, but they find no interest. How would I get them interested?

jrkling11 wrote:tank was cycled. water changes have been done, he had fungus, I treated, he is better now. Not the answer I was looking for. The water perimeters have nothing to do with my question unless it has something to do with the lumps all over my puffers stomach.

In most questions about poorly puffers or general puffer health - water parameters are probably THE most important thing! Always helpful for people to know that a tank was correctly cycled & what those all important parameters are.

And even if a tank was properly cycled this means nothing if the bioload is too large and the water changes aren't large or frequent enough. Jrkling11, I hate to say it but I think you're either going to have to return/rehome your 2 puffers or get them a larger tank (29g).

How often and how much water are you changing out?

What filter is on your 10g?

Do you have a test kit to test ammonia, nitrItes, and nitrAtes. If not have the pet store test them for you. Ammonnia and nitrItes must be at 0 (no exceptions) and nitrAtes should be present and preferable under 40 and under 20 is better.

Good luck.

Actually nitrate should be <20 but <10 is better.

+1 to PP's NO3 comment.

Water parameters always matter hugely.

Numbers matter, "fine" is meaningless.

Percentages matter - they are numbers too.

Sorry guys, I kinda forgot where nitrates should be. When you do water changes properly and don't overfeed you kinda forget those things as I rarely test for them anymore.

Just for argument's sake I just checked mine and my DP tank is at 10 and my F8 tank is <10 and I'm 2 days past due for a WC. This is also a testimonial for proper filtration and not over-crowding.

And my arm hurts from really shaking the solution bottles. lol


Good luck

I cheat. I have a test tube shaker - press the bottle or tube against the rubber cup and it shakes it for you.

All progress is made by lazy people.

But congrats on the good readings. Properly set and managed tanks should come close to taking care of themselves with only predictable and easily managed care on our part. That is the only way to go when you suffer from MTS (multiple tank syndrome, not the snails). That too may be considered a form of laziness, just a highly beneficial one.

RTR wrote:I cheat. I have a test tube shaker - press the bottle or tube against the rubber cup and it shakes it for you.

have a timer and are you able to do the bottles too???