The Puffer Forum

I got my green spotted puffer just yesterday...

I bought the tank a few days ago and let the temperature stabilize and made sure everything was working properly, set it up, used "start smart" to instantly cycle it and added only a teaspoon of aquarium salt before putting my puffer in the tank (only a teaspoon because the petco employees did not seem to know whether they kept their puffers in freshwater or brackish tanks, but petco is a tangent I won't spin off on right now) anyway, when we put him in his tank he ate 4 or 5 small snails within minutes and later last night we fed him some brine shrimp which he gobbled up right away, his belly was white and he seemed very happy.

Today, however, he is floating around knocking into walls and plants and he seems to be sticking to one particular corner whereas yesterday he would swim to the front of the tank whenever someone would come by... I'm not sure what labored breathing looks like in a fish, but he keeps clamping his pectoral fins and just floating along the tank. he ate 1 ghost shrimp around 4pm, but would not eat another one, nor snails, nor the freeze dried brine shrimp he gobbled up last night.

I checked his water, and it seems to be normal according to various internet sources, i also dissolved another teaspoon of aquarium salt for lack of any other ideas to make him feel better...

the filter creates a pretty strong current in the tank and i'm wondering if that could be what is causing his lethargic floating and bumping into things and lack of appetite, is it that he hasn't been able to sleep because the current is too strong? i saw him curled up in a ball for a minute or two and i turned the filter off for less than 5 minutes to see if that was the cause and as soon as i did he curled up in a little ball and laid on his gravel, but only for about a minute and when he started to swim again i turned it back on. last i saw the skin around his mouth is a little grey, but it hasn't extended down to his belly or his tail, so his color seems to indicate that he's happy but his actions do not... help?!

*sorry, the temperature is currently at 80 degrees

ammonia is between 0 and .25
nitrate 20ppm
nitrite 0ppm
water hardness is 150ppm
alkalinity 180
ph is between 7.8 and 8.4

I'd stop adding that salt. Petshops sell that stuff, but you don't need it.
If you don't have Prime, I'd get some.
Did you dechlorinate the water?

How big is the tank? I have never heard of Start Smart & do not trust it will cycle your tank, no matter what the advertisement says. Your puffer is showing classic signs of ammonia/nitrite poisoning. What test kits are you using?

I'm pretty sure he means tetra smartstart.

That's Tetra Safestart. Here's the info on Smart Start: http://www.startsmart-testimonials.com/

ohhh a company stands behind that website... I wouldn't trust them...

I'm sure we would have heard something more about this product before today, if it was any good. My guess it's no different than most other false claims--it may have contained live bacteria when bottled but all dead now.

i did dechlorinate the water, and i have been using quick dip test strips to test for all of the above. he seems to be doing a little better this morning, at least as far as having an appetite goes he ate a few pieces of brine shrimp, blood worms, and a couple snails, however he's leaving the ghost shrimp alone and sort of floating by the heater now that he is finished eating..

Perhaps all it does is add nitrate to the water to make it appear cycled.
I'm sorry, I have never heard of the product either, that's why I thought it was the tetra product.

+1 to above...your tank is definently not cycled...buy some prime as it detoxifies ammonia and do 50% water changes daily...read the emergency cycle article in the library here...I hope your puffer does well

make sure to dechlorinate the water, and do not over feed...one time a day is plenty

what size tank is he in? you should also buy a API master test kit as those strips you use are not accurate...

also, that aquarium salt is useless...what he need's is marine salt...

I hope you are able to bring the little guy through! GL

Test strips are totally inaccurate. Get yourself an API liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate. Do a 50% water change right now.

i'm going to look into all of your suggestions, thank you very much.

one last question, is it possible that he is sleeping when he just floats near his heater? i know it's normal for them to curl up and rest on a rock or plant, but i feel like the current from the filter is too strong for that... so i'm hoping that he's getting some rest when he does that... i plan on getting him some more places to hide that might block the current, right now he's just just got a lava rock along with 3 small plants and 1 larger one plus a dinosaur decoration in a 10g tank. i also plan on upgrading to a 30 gallon tank in a few months, i just have to save up for one and he's only 1 1/2 inches right now.