The Puffer Forum

Ok so I've had my gsp for about 2 weeks and lately I've been noticing his eye sight is really bad. he will bump in the decor I have in the tank and its got an equal amount of space for swimming and hiding spots but is there anything I can do to help his eye sight. I heard lettuce helps but he wont eat it. so idk what to do and I've looked everywhere online. please help, thanks

If I remember correctly, nitrite poisoning can cause disorientation. Do you know your water parameters - ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? How big is the tank, and are there any tankmates? How did you cycle it?

Agreed--classic behavior of nitrite poisoning. Please answer all the Qs above, in red.

Stockldale09 wrote:Ok so I've had my gsp for about 2 weeks and lately I've been noticing his eye sight is really bad. he will bump in the decor I have in the tank and its got an equal amount of space for swimming and hiding spots but is there anything I can do to help his eye sight. I heard lettuce helps but he wont eat it. so idk what to do and I've looked everywhere online. please help, thanks

Have you noticed if the eye is white\cloudy?
I doubt it is popeye unless his eye is bulging.

Most likely the tank isn't cycled would be my guess though.
When the nitrogen cycle is getting established, the aquarium water will have an ammonia spike followed by a spike in nitrite.
Both of these chemicals can cause your fish to act that way.
My suggestion if you have more then .25 ammonia is to do a 50% wc. same with nitrites.
I like seachems's Prime. It will help keep the levels in check in between WCs without killing the beneficial bacteria.
But, remember that the bacteria does still need something to eat, so be careful not to use too much prime.

+1 Lil ... suspect water conditions.

Some things I would recommend to help with diagnosis:
I would check out his eye very closely.
Does he have a constant black belly?
check the stats every day for a while and keep track of any changes.
If you are having an ammonia spike, that can kill him quickly.
Nitrites will take longer, but will still kill in time.
My best advice would be to do a 50% WC every other day for a couple weeks if your levels are out of whack.
You might still be able to save him if this is the case.
If you need it to cycle very fast, you might wanna try tetra safe start or dr. tims.
Better option would be if you have a friend that keeps fish and has a healthy, fully cycled tank ...
You could ask him for some filter media to stick in your filter and that will jumpstart the cycle fast.

I have listed a lot of possibilities only because I don't have much to go on.
check those things and check back. I'll try to help if I can.
I'm just trying to help. If I got anything wrong, please lemme know. I need to know also if I'm wrong

Prime doesn't remove the toxins it only neutralizes them. The Ammonia and such is still available to the good bacteria. I would actually suggest the opposite and use a lot since it'll help lower the dangerous toxins within the tank more efficiently.
I also agree with everything else people said.

Also do you have a test kit? If so what kind? And can we get some idea of levels of Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites? Thanks.

nitrate poisoning? how can I get rid of this. I'm new to all this so I dont have a test kit. this is all chinese to me. hes in a 20 gallon tank so I assume thats a good size since hes only like 2 inches at the least. in the tank I have a hollowed out plastic log, and another plastic fake rock looking thing, about 5 real plants and 5 fake. his only tank mates are some ghost shrimp that he hasnt seen and some tiny snails. I change his water every week. the aquarium was set up for a day before I put him in, as for the cycling... yeah idk what that means... I assumed I could learn as you go with this, but ignorance was not bliss in this case.

EDIT: I do know as for the salinity, that it said like 1 tbls for every 5 gallons, so I put 4+ in. I dunno if it counts as brackish, but I was hoping it did.
And I've been using an ammonia remover chemical I thought would really help him since I read they produce a lot of it. and his eyes arent cloudy at all. hes just bumping into crap.
and no his belly only got black the first time I put him in the new tank. since then hes been fine, cause I like to keep a close eye on him cause hes just so damn awesome!

Hi Stockidale09 and welcome to The Puffer Forum. You have got a bit of reading to do. Your tank isn't cycled so I am sure the parameters are off. Here are some links to get your started.

library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
Water changes, water changes are in your future. 50% or more daily til you get it cycled. Ammonia remover chemical are crap and only way to get rid of ammonia is through water changes.

You going to need an upgrade soon rather than later to 30 gallons min. Is he is brackish now with marine salt not aquarium salt and if so what is the SG and how are you measuring it? Full marine as an adult is suggested.

library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

You really do need to go out and get a tests kit asap. Don't bother with the strips get the liquid test kits.

trekenk wrote:Hi Stockidale09 and welcome to The Puffer Forum. You have got a bit of reading to do. Your tank isn't cycled so I am sure the parameters are off. Here are some links to get your started.

library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
Water changes, water changes are in your future. 50% or more daily til you get it cycled.

You going to need an upgrade soon rather than later to 30 gallons min. Is he is brackish now with marine salt not aquarium salt and if so what is the SG and how are you measuring it? Full marine as an adult is suggested.

library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/

ok cool. as for the salt yeah its aquarium salt. so I guess I'll be making another run to petsmart. and right now I cant afford a 30 gallon, so I'm hoping this will do for now since he is still small. so should I keep him in the tank while I keep changing the water or what? thanks for your help

Stop adding the aquarium salt and don't worry about any salt for now you can transition to brackish ( the proper way ) once you get your tank cycled. Read that emergency cycling link I gave you. Do not move the puffer out when doing water changes. Can you describe to me how you change the water.
You really do need to go out and get a tests kit asap. Don't bother with the strips get the liquid test kits.

Ok I'll be sure to get that kit then. for the water changes, I was planning on using my gravel vacuum and getting as much as I can out then scoop the rest out till about half way. then fill the bucket up with new water and put the prime that removes the chlorine and all and let that sit for like 5 minutes before I add it in. I hope I'm doing that right. thats what I've been told at least.

Also, along with changing the water and all, can I use the bio-spira that was mentioned in those topics and everything be good? whats the rule for that, and how should I use it?

Make sure the water you are adding is the same temperature as the tank. Don't let the pet store talk you into anything other than what is mentioned in the emergency cylcling link, the directions will be on the bottle.

Oh well, the troll gave bad info as usual, but puffykid immediately counteracted it with good info. At least we don;t have to write pages to counteract the usual bad info this time.

Prime (or any other conditioner) does not "remove" anything. It locks ammonia into the ammonium ion form (which is harmless) until the good bacteria can oxidize it. It does not affect the bacteria action on ammonium ion. The effect on the nitrite ion is less well understood, but apparently is similar.

Stockldale09 wrote:Ok I'll be sure to get that kit then. for the water changes, I was planning on using my gravel vacuum and getting as much as I can out then scoop the rest out till about half way. then fill the bucket up with new water and put the prime that removes the chlorine and all and let that sit for like 5 minutes before I add it in. I hope I'm doing that right. thats what I've been told at least.

Also, along with changing the water and all, can I use the bio-spira that was mentioned in those topics and everything be good? whats the rule for that, and how should I use it?

my personal recommendation would be to only buy the bio-spira if it has been refrigerated. If not, try tetra safe start or dr. tim's.
or is bio-spira good on the shelves now? last I knew, it needed to be kept cool for the bacteria to stay alive.
I'm sure someone will answer this below, I don't know for sure if they are OK on shelves now.

RTR wrote:Oh well, the troll gave bad info as usual, but puffykid immediately counteracted it with good info. At least we don;t have to write pages to counteract the usual bad info this time.

Prime (or any other conditioner) does not "remove" anything. It locks ammonia into the ammonium ion form (which is harmless) until the good bacteria can oxidize it. It does not affect the bacteria action on ammonium ion. The effect on the nitrite ion is less well understood, but apparently is similar.

hmm, let's see here ... everyone else has said to do the exact same things as I did.
The only error at all would have been that prime removed ammonia. Which I never even said. I knew it neutralized it, but I didn't realize the bacteria could still use it. So, I warned not to neutralize it all. I learned something new I knew prime was safe for the beneficial bacteria, but now I understand the why a bit more. I just thought it didn't kill bacteria, didn't realize there was no risk of starving bacteria. Better to warn if unknown then say nothing.

You should really stop saying troll. It's just childish.

I would actually suggest you do 70% water changes instead of 50% normally you would only want to do 50% water changes because it would disrupt the good bacteria in the tank but in your case since your tank isn't cycled and is pretty much tap water. Its more important to remove the toxins then to worry about the good bacteria that probably isnt there in significant numbers.

Don't worry about the tank size right now as you are right that since he is only 2 inches the tank will be okay for a few months.
Please don't add anymore aquarium salt, but don't worry about adding in marine salt yet as your tank isn't cycled and it will only make the cycle take even longer.

Right now your big concerns are getting a liquid test a good one to get is a API Salt water. The strips are no good and are inaccurate. Keep doing 70% water changes until your results are coming up as Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 and nitrates under 20
and make sure you get a big bottle of prime and add about a cap full of it daily to help with the toxins.

Good luck with your puffer!

+1 puffykid good plan, keeping those changes up will only be a good thing for this puff