The Puffer Forum

Okay, so a few days ago I thought that one of my GSP's looked a bit thin. However, comparing it to my other GSP, anyone could look thin. My smaller GSP has not eaten in 3 days, and does not even seem interested in food. I have tried several different foods, such as baby brine shrimp, frozen tubifex, and live mealworms. This little guy is not hungry. His color is a bit darker green than his normal, and his belly is dark and staying dark.
I have a 10 gallon FW (I know, I'm converting it to brackish this weekend), with 2 GSP's and a common pleco. There are a few trumpet snails, and a few live plants. I have a diy co2 system, and an 02 bubble wand, sand for substrate. My parameters are: PH: 7.4. Ammonia:0. Nitrite: 0. Nitrate: 10. I have performed a 25% wc today, but my little guy is the same. Usually after a wc, my puffers seem to like their new water. So, I noticed today that this little puffer is very weak, and is not swimming well. His left side fin does not move as much as his right side fin, although it does move a bit. It is not stuck to his body. He has been on the floor of the tank quite a bit today. My thought today was that my fish has a parasitic infection. My bigger gsp has a lumpy belly, quite bigger than it's normal, even before feeding. I have picked up a pack of API General Cure, which is wide parasitic treatment, and have given the tank it's first treatment. I took out the carbon from my filter. Any other thoughts? I also noticed that I had root rot on one of my plants about a week ago, and have not seemed to remove all of the darkened particles in the sand, however, I do just toss the sand that I have vaccuumed out since. We thought maybe at first it was because the fish are not in brackish water just yet, so we went to the lfs to purchase materials for brackish water, but figured we should treat for infection first.

Far too much bio-load for a 10g. I would sort that asap

bertie 83 wrote:Far too much bio-load for a 10g. I would sort that asap

There are 2 fish in this tank, plus a pleco and maybe some snails, but I haven't seen any trace of the trumpet in about a week, so I am not sure.

also, I check my water parameters weekly, and always have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.

On top of that could be stress. 30g min for a single gsp. How big are they and how old?

Please do not force that poor FW pleco into BW.

As far as your GSPs: viewtopic.php?f=68&t=28469

As far as treating for IPs, you must treat their food, not the water.

I know that I will be losing my pleco when I change to brackish. I did not state that I was going to do that. I am researching brackish algae eaters. My gsp's are 1 inch, and I do not know how old they are. They were not born here. Also, how do I treat their food for parasites, if my little guy refuses to eat? I've put his favorites in their, and he doesn't even try to bite. My gsp is probably not going to make. He is looking worse and worse.

He may be too far gone but IPs are contagious, so you need to treat them both. Soak their food in the meds of an hour or 2.

What do you mean by "I know that I will be losing my pleco when I change to brackish"? There are no BW algae-eaters.

Pufferpunk wrote:He may be too far gone but IPs are contagious, so you need to treat them both. Soak their food in the meds of an hour or 2.

What do you mean by "I know that I will be losing my pleco when I change to brackish"? There are no BW algae-eaters.

I will treat the whole tank. What I meant by losing my pleco, was that I will be moving him to a different tank. I have a 20g fw planted I sure he would enjoy. I really was just asking here to see if anyone else thought this problem sounded like a parasitic infection.

Pufferpunk wrote:He may be too far gone but IPs are contagious, so you need to treat them both. Soak their food in the meds of an hour or 2.

What do you mean by "I know that I will be losing my pleco when I change to brackish"? There are no BW algae-eaters.

this may post twice, my internet froze while posting, but here we go. I am going to move my pleco to a fw planted tank. I am going to treat the entire tank, but the directions on my medication box say to just pour powder medicine into water. I would like to know if anyone else has seen this with a parasitic puffer, as the link given states that some gsp's come infested with parasites. Also, everyone has their own ideas about how many fish to put into a tank. I have 4 inches of fish in a 10 gallon, and my water parameters are good.

Your pleco will grow to 18". Way too large for a 20g.

I don't care what the package says, treat the insides of the fish, not the outsides. FW fish, do not drink water. In 37 years, yes--I have treated many, many fish for IPs.

The 1"/g rule is for 1" long, slim-boddied species, not the large-massed species like a puffer. Read my article please.

Your pleco will grow to 18". Way too large for a 20g.

I don't care what the package says, treat the insides of the fish, not the outsides. FW fish, do not drink water. In 37 years, yes--I have treated many, many fish for IPs.

The 1"/g rule is for 1" long, slim-bodied species, not the large-massed species like a puffer. Read my article please.

So, does it sound like a parasitic infection to you, then?

sounds like you need to research you're fish.

I have researched, and found many sites that say I can have gsp in my 10g. I am here to research, not to be judged or ridiculed. I am not trying to defensive here, but I really just wanted advice on what could possibly be wrong with my fish. Believe me, I have read and read and read about my puffers, and the link below given i have already read. Not many people that have answered this have even stayed on task. I was trying to diagnose my fish, and still have not received any help.