The Puffer Forum

nitrate- 20
nitrite- 0
hardness-75
alkalinity- 40
ph- 6.8
temp 76
my puffer seems like he has air inside him, everytime he lays down he has to swim his bottom half back down. i came home from work and he was belly up on the bottom i tapped him with the net and he sprung back to life. he is in a 20g long, 3 inches sand, lava rocks with hiding places, and live anacharis, using a 30gal filter. there was also about 10 small guppies, shrimp and 2 crayfish. i just bout him 2 days ago.

Not too sure what's wrong with him but u seems to introduce him to a "food" tank. All the existing stocks are a puffer favourite food..

ya he ate almost everything and popped alot, hes swimming around now just conner to conner. man i hate having sick fish so worried :/ but hes kind of darker now so i think he might be stressed for some reason. should i buy prime or something like that ?

Erm.. Shouldn't u be using prime already? So how do u dechlorinate your water? Prime will only do just that and render the ammonia "harmless". Its does not have any medical properties. Have u treated him for IP?

i used water from my guppy tank, i havent treated him for IP im assuming the guy i bought him from might have done it. what is IP lol??

Btw, I would not have all the "food" in there. I will only put in enough for 1 feeding and would expect him to be able to finish it. Having everything there could mean he might overeat or simply "playing" with him and contaminate the water unnecessarily.

ya i removed alot of guppies and cleaned the bottom, i dont wanna put the net inside anymore he might get stressed more. all left in the tank is a few guppy fry. man i hope hes gonna be ok:/

he seems to be breathing heavy

He must have swallowed some air. You'll need to burp him. Net him & grab him by tail, with his head up & shake him back & froth, until the air comes out. Keep his head underwater.

ok heres the scoops, puffs looks like hes about to burrow then he flips on his back it looks like hes staring at the ground with his back arched. any ideas on what this could be?

Air in his belly.

Do as PP said. When you put him in the tank did you expose him to air?

i didnt expose him to air at all. theres about half of in of air at the top of the tank, he seems to be doing better. now hes just putting his nose in the sand and tail in the air.

IHe will not be able to expel this on his own. You MUST burp him.

He will not be able to expel this on his own. You MUST burp him.