The Puffer Forum

I did a partial water change on my Fahakas tank today because I am having a nice algae bloom and wanted to dilute it some I am not using any chemicals in the tank I am filtering with regular cartridge filters filter floss and a product called Chemi-pure that is supposed to removed any phosphates in the water (according to my LFS) Ammonia Nitrites and Nitrates are all at 00000. My Fahaka is breathing really hard and he has turned really dark and starting to turn gray. I dont know what is going on or what to do. He also looks swollen not puffed but swollen. He has been sitting in the corner for a while now but swims occasionally. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Don't want PUDGE to die.

What sized tank is he in? What's his diet?

He is in a 46 gal bow front pudge is about 5 inches from head to tail. Diet is blood worms snails krill clams occasionally and soon to be squid if he makes it

He needs to be in at LEAST a 125 gallon tank. I recently upgraded my 17" Fahaka to a 210 gallon.

I know he does and when he gets bigger he will but for now he is quite happy where he is.

I'd probably stop using chemi-pure and just keep up with the water changes. Reduce your lighting time to help cut out the algae.

The problem with waiting until he gets bigger to get him a new tank is that he WON'T get bigger if his tank is too small. He'll just be stunted instead and have a premature death and increased illness. Being stunted means the body stops growing, but the organs keep going. 10 pounds of puffer in a 5 pound bag.

I understand the "stunting" problem and although I do not not very much about puffers I think that a 5 inch puffer in a 46 gallon aquarium is OK until it reaches about 7 or 8 inches. I am moving in 2 weeks where I will ave the room for a bigger aquarium. I plan on getting a 215 gallon for him when I he reaches 7 or 8 inches, if I am wrong about my theory please let me know, however the size of his current tank has nothing to do with the problem I am having now and the Chemi-pure has been in the tank for about 5 days now and I haven't had a problem if anyone has had a problem with this product I will definitely take it out but as far as I know it only absorbs phosphate and is not hurting my fish. I am not doubting any-ones credibility here I am just looking for a better answer than get a larger tank and do more water changes.

Well the sooner the better for a larger tank is all.

Unfortunately, there is no miracle cure. Without specific symptoms like stringy feces or overt physical wounds there isn't much you can do other than ensure excelent water quality and nutricious and varied food.

where does he look swollen? could it be he has a blockage? ive read that a pea will help with blockages. feel free to correct me if im wrong.



agreed with X0rtrunks, pristine water conditons is essential in times like these.

how long has the tank been set-up, and is it cycled? im assuming nitrAtes are just above 0, and its a established tank, because after a tank has cycled, its impossible to lower nitrAtes to 0. unless thats what the chemi-pure thing does. i havent a clue what chemi-pure is.

The tank has been up for about 2 months now not very long I know the Nitrates could be just above 0 but not enough to notice with my test kit. His whole body and head look bigger than normal and his belly is still white but his face has turned gray and his body is darker than normal. Still breathing very rapid has been for about 5 hours now but will swim around every now and then. When i approach the tank he will greet me at the glass as usual but I feel bad because its like hes trying to tell me something other than the water change the only thing that changed today was the removal of 3 other fish that my roommate left me with 7 months ago and finally returned to claim. thank you for your help and I will try the pea tomorrow although I don't think it is a blockage but anything safe is worth a shot. The chemi-pure package says "promote aerobic bacterial growth and nitrification and removes dissolved organics" if that helps at all the guy at my lfs recommended it and is the most knowledgeable person I have ever met when it come to fish or plants so I would hope that he would not sell me something that would harm my fish.

I don't doubt the knowledge and expertise of the person who sold you the product, but I'd still stop using the chemi-pure, at least for the time being. In most cases, additives end up doing more harm than good, or don't do anything at all. A healthy tank with no underlying issues shouldn't require any supplemental products or additives. For any problem that a product claims to resolve, there is probably an underlying issue that can be resolved without the product. Be sides, treating one thing at a time is probably a good idea anyway.

Algae can be gotten under control with water changes and reduced photo-period. Do you vacuum your substrate when you do water changes? There could be a build up of debris decomposing in the gravel. Algae needs light and food to grow. Limit both and it can't grow anymore. Water changes dilute the food supply, and a decreased photo-period deprive it of energy. Unless your tap water has abnormally high phosphates, a phosphate removing product shouldn't be necessary.

Also, at only 2 months old, the tank is still establishing. You can expect various outbreaks of various kinds of algae for a few months as things start to reach a balance. The important thing to do is just be vigilant with water changes and vacuuming to keep things from getting out of hand.

Now for some trouble-shooting questions:

What sort of filtration are you using? Have you changed it recently? Depending on what type of filtration you have, you might have lost a lot of bacteria with a media change.

What kind of substrate are you using and how deep is it?

Are your test kits fresh? Get your water double checked at the LFS. They can test your tap water for phosphates and all other sorts of things there too. Some places charge for it, but if they understand your situation they should just be glad to help a customer and do it free of charge.

What is your puffers diet? How is his appetite? How is his figure? What does he's feces look like?

Did any of the fish that were in the tank with the puffer until recently have any signs of illness? Where they aggressive towards the puffer? What kind were they?

When puffers are displaying signs of stress and illness such as those you describe, unless you can nail down the specific problem like internal parasites or a fungus, etc, there isn't much you can do. I'd suggest 50% water changes daily for a while.

I hope his condition improves. I know how helpless you can feel when they are breathing so hard and still manage to come and greet you. The same sort of thing happened to my first GSP despite no overt problems. He didn't last very long once his breathing got heavy. I hope your has better luck than mine did. Please keep us updated.

Foxnjaf wrote:I am just looking for a better answer than get a larger tank and do more water changes.

9 times out of 10, this IS the solution to the problem.

I personally don't think the tank is too small at the moment. I kept my 5" fahaka in a 40g, although that was about the time I upgraded it to a 55g. It certainly wasn't suffering in the 40g. At 7" he got upgraded again to a 125g. I do wonder how often & how much water you are changing in there.

If the tank has been set up for two months , how did you cycle it?

Well I will try to answer all of the questions just in case I'm doing something wrong but first let me say my Fahaka is doing great today color and breathing is back to normal. Now the filter is a tetratec 300 with four cartridges I changed the back 2 about 2 weeks ago. The substrate is a mixed gravel a little smaller than a pea. Yes I vacuum the gravel when doing water changes which was about every 2 weeks until this bloom started now its about every 3 days or so. His appetite is great I am feeding krill, snails, bloodworms and clams in that order with krill being the most often. When i can find ghost shrimp I feed those also. The fish that where with him were all healthy and none of them picked on him and he didn't pick on them there where 2 raphael cats and a redtail shark. I still have 2 tiger barbs in there with him and a 6 inch pleco. I am moving the tiger barbs to my planted tank today to be with the one that he did pick on. I also have 2 clams with him and an apple snail. I also have a 190 gph power head to help keep things moving and an air-stone since I keep the water right around 80 degrees. I would like to ask how fast they grow since I will be leaving for Iraq for 4 months and I need to know what the odds are that he will still be OK in this tank until I get back or should I get the new tank before I leave. Hope I got all the questions if not I will post again thank you all for your input. I guess I was worrying over nothing well for now at least.