The Puffer Forum

So, i recently introduced a GSP into my ten gallon, fully cycled tank. About a week after i got him, he started showing signs of ich. As soon as i saw it i immediately looked up every bit of information out there, and decided to go with the heat/salt treatment, since that is what most people recommended. Today i added in some Melafix because i thought it would help heal his fins and skin.

But then it got worse.
He now has a black belly and has turned really dark. It won't go away. I'm thinking it is caused by my water parameters, they are:
pH:7.8
KH: 120 ppm
salinity: 1.002
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 1.0 ppm
nitrate: 30 ppm

I'm just not sure. i don't know if the melafix messed it up, of if i'm just doing something wrong. i would really appreciate ANY advice, as i am new with puffers, and i love him so much. i just don't want him to die, or struggle because of my stupidity.

Hi trb and welcome to The Puffer Forum. Looks like you might have a lot of things going on here. First off you tank is not cycled, here is a great article to read.
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/.

Looks like you are on the right track for treating ich another great article to help.
library/hospital/fwich/
I gave you the link for treating FW Ich as you didn't mention whether your guy was in FW, brackish or marine.

Hate to tell you but your tank is to small.
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

Melafix certainly won't mess things up but can be very helpful. Size of tank, water parameters plus ich will all contribute to what your guy is going through.

You have some work ahead of you, good luck with him/her.

most ten gallons cannot keep up with a green spotted puffer for long (recommended 30 gallons or more even as juveniles) And you need brackish not fresh water

Your nitrates are high you want to aim for <20 for a puffer, a cycled tank should not show Nitrite.

Either you weren't fully cycled, or you were cycled but you did not have enough bacteria to support a GSP.

Water changes are needed!!! ASAP

How often do you change the water? Are their tank mates in with him?

You water certainly isn't helping and your tank definitely isn't cycled. A cycled tank will have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and >0 nitrates. Do a large water change to get the nitrite and nitrates reduced. Your nitrates should be below 20ppm and ideally below 10ppm. Do you have another tank that you could get some media from? The Melafix wouldn't have done that so either something else happened to your bacteria to kill it or the tank is already too small for the fish.

How did you cycle this tank?

Have you done much research on GSPs? They require at minimum a 30gal tank but most people recommend a 55gal tank for a single fish. Cam you tell us more about your fish?

What kind of salt are you using? Take a look at this thread, especially the last two pages, there's a lot of good information on there for more difficult ich cases viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25493.

Last but not least, welcome to the forum

Hehe: We all posted at the EXACT same time

Well it's been decided that my tank is not capapble enough for a GSP. I called my LFS and they told me that they would be willing to keep him for me in a QT until i can be absolutely ready for him. I am dropping him off tomorrow and i plan on going to get a bigger tank and starting over. I feel like such an incapable fish owner at this point. I do appreciate all of the advice you guys gave me, it really helped me realize that i need to do more research and be more careful the next time i consider getting a new fish. Thanks for everything!

P.S.- if you have any more information that you think I would need, please send me a link. I want to make sure i do it right this time.

don't be so hard on yourself!

You are way better off than most puffer newbies, at least you know what a cycled tank is. You would not believe how many times we have to argue with people about cycling their tank.

Most of us here made post just like yours. My husband bought me a puffer to go in with some juvenile goldfish . When I realized the puffer had teeth, I came here and was like "It has teeth, what is it??"

trb_12fj wrote: I feel like such an incapable fish owner at this point. I do appreciate all of the advice you guys gave me, it really helped me realize that i need to do more research and be more careful the next time i consider getting a new fish. Thanks for everything!

Every one of us has made mistakes in the past. I still make them from time to time.
At least you are on the ball, paying attention, and trying to do what's best. You are here... which means you are smarter and more capable than most.

Don't worry. We're here to help you