The Puffer Forum

*UPDATE* He finally ate some bloodworms this morning!

1) pH - 8.3
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0.5ppm
Nitrates - 10-20ppm
Salinity - Not sure. Probably pretty low. Water change took out most of the salt and waiting for my flippin' refractometer from Drs. Foster and Smith. Should be here within 4-6 days.

2) 10gal at the moment. Didn't know a lot about him and he was an impulse buy (Yes, yes I know...). My LFS either lied or was misinformed about tank requirements.

3) Literally did a 90% water change yesterday. I was feeding him bloodworms, pond snails, thawed "human" shrimp twice a day. About four days ago I started only feeding him once a day.

4) Oh gosh... Everything. I wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He was laying on the bottom of the tank... Probably was going to die from the looks of it. Figured out it was a low pH (5.6)... He's doing much better, but won't eat. Water changes, MANY water changes. Added a piece of coral. Removed rocks I thought might be poisoning him. Added Seachem Prime, Seachem AM GUARD, Seachem Stability. Most of which was probably removed with the water changes. Prime was added again. Heater's been up and some table salt added for the Heat and Salt method for Ich. Stopped because he started looking worse. Temp. at around 80-82F right now. Went about a week or two without snails. He's pretty small. About an inch and 3/4... Can't tell if his teeth are too long?

5) About a month. I believe I cycled it? Again... I trusted my LFS and added the live bacteria to the filter and let it run fishless for a couple weeks.

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He has stopped eating completely for the last two-three days. Isn't interested in snails, shrimp, or bloodworms. Tried force-feeding him a snail. Nope. Tried a chunk of shrimp. Nope. Doesn't want anything to do with food. Please help!

Sorry your lfs lied to you, your tank isn't cycled. I would do another 50-70% wc right now, since your showing nitrites. You should start trying to look on craigslist for a bigger tank as in 30 gallons if possible. This way it will be his permanent home right away and you won't have to worry about upgrading again in the future, in a tank as small as a 10 gallon the water parameters are going to be really hard to keep in check because there isn't much water compared to how much waste the puffer is making. I would add in a lot more prime after each water change, each groove is 1ml which takes care of 10gallons and you can add up to 5x the dosage safely.

puffykid wrote:Sorry your lfs lied to you, your tank isn't cycled. I would do another 50-70% wc right now, since your showing nitrites. You should start trying to look on craigslist for a bigger tank as in 30 gallons if possible. This way it will be his permanent home right away and you won't have to worry about upgrading again in the future, in a tank as small as a 10 gallon the water parameters are going to be really hard to keep in check because there isn't much water compared to how much waste the puffer is making. I would add in a lot more prime after each water change, each groove is 1ml which takes care of 10gallons and you can add up to 5x the dosage safely.

He was also the one that had two GSPs in a tank the same size as mine. Said it was fine to keep him in a 10g. Told me that was the size he stayed... Nice, eh?

What are my nitrites supposed to be at? 0ppm?

I am looking, trust me. Problem is money... I dropped about $130 this week trying to figure out what was wrong with him after reading several articles online. Some said Ich (which he did have white spots from Ich). Some said pH. Some said ammonia. Etc. So, I tried everything pretty much.

So, about two capfuls of Prime with this water change? *EDIT* My cap has two marks inside. They are pretty close together though .... ?

I am sorry you spent that much, what made you think it was ich? Does he have any white spots on him? Its hard to say no when the store is telling you he is perfect and the puffer is dancing in front of the glass begging.

Good water parameters would be ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrates under 20 what sort of test kit are you using? liquid or strips? the notch near the bottom is 1ml and thats usually what I use to measure it out so that it stays consistent. I'd put in 3-4 1ml in and hopefully that will get him off the bottom, if you go on craigslist the tanks wont be that cheap and it'll make it cheaper for you in the long run. These guys also eventually need to be converted to brackish and recommended full marine to save money.

puffykid wrote:I am sorry you spent that much, what made you think it was ich? Does he have any white spots on him? Its hard to say no when the store is telling you he is perfect and the puffer is dancing in front of the glass begging.

Good water parameters would be ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrates under 20 what sort of test kit are you using? liquid or strips? the notch near the bottom is 1ml and thats usually what I use to measure it out so that it stays consistent. I'd put in 3-4 1ml in and hopefully that will get him off the bottom, if you go on craigslist the tanks wont be that cheap and it'll make it cheaper for you in the long run. These guys also eventually need to be converted to brackish and recommended full marine to save money.

He did have a couple white spots on him. One on his dorsal (I thought it was just a colored spot like the black ones on him because it was the only one for a little while), chin (which he scratched a lot), and just above his mouth. I started the Heat and Salt method that's on here and he started looking very ill, so I stopped. I DO have a bottle of Rid-Ich Plus by Kordon... But, I keep reading it will kill my puffer?

I am using strips. 6-in-1 by Tetra, I believe.

He's off the bottom right now, unless I turn the light off for a long time and then come back in later... Which he's sleeping. When he's sleeping his "stress line" goes away. That gray line is the "stress line", right? It's dim when he's awake... It used to be VERY dark and after I adjusted the pH it is much lighter now.

My main problem is that he won't eat. He absolutely refuses.

And yes. As soon as I get my refractometer (because my hydrometer was inaccurate) I will be gradually adding marine salt to bump it up to full marine. Which, by the way, it should be here in 1-2 days instead of 4-6. It's now about two hours away instead of 10. WOOHOO!

Fish are cold blooded and don't need to eat nearly as often as us warm blooded people do, he can go a few weeks without eating and right now since your tank is cycling he probably won't take any food. You should just keep doing 2 60% wcs a day 1 in the morning and one at night until you get your parameters in check and keep up the extra prime. I'm glad to hear that he is off the substrate too! woo hoo! its a start = p


I wouldn't use the ich medication, it doesn't sound like he has ich. Does he rub against the substrate a lot?
Also just have to say its suggested to get liquid test kits because they are more accurate and dependable then the test strips.

puffykid wrote:Fish are cold blooded and don't need to eat nearly as often as us warm blooded people do, he can go a few weeks without eating and right now since your tank is cycling he probably won't take any food. You can either keep up with the wcs or tomorrow get a bottle of tetra safe start and do a instant cycle on the tank then don't do a wc for 48 hours as you wait for the bacteria to settle in. I'm glad to hear that he is off the substrate too! woo hoo! its a start = p


I wouldn't use the ich medication, it doesn't sound like he has ich. Does he rub against the substrate a lot?

Oh wow... I thought he was going to starve to death! That's a relief! (How many times a week/day should I feed him once he gets stabilized, by the way?)

Would Bio-Spira be any good? Or is Tetra-Safe better? I've heard people referring to Bio-Spira as "dead bacteria in a can"... :S

Thank you! Me, too. Hopefully I can get him stabilized!

And yes. He kept rubbing his chin on the coral, substrate, and anything else that looked like he could scratch on. He did it a lot when I turned the temp. up to 84F like the Heat and Salt method says. He doesn't do it anymore, but that one spot on his dorsal is still there. The ones on his chin and upper lip are gone however.

I actually take it back, Idk if you would need to get the tetra safe start since you aren't showing any ammonia and only a bit of nitrites you can probably wc him through. 60% wcs twice a day morning and evening time use excess prime. He may have ich you should take a picture of him for us to see, but don't worry about that right now till the water parameters are in check. I suggest going to a lfs store and getting your water checked though, and don't just accept them saying good, ask for exact ammonia, nitrite, nitrates to make sure what your test strips are saying is accurate.

Alright. I'll start with the water changes. Also, I'll read up on cycling (I notice there is an article link above) and start that, too. I'll keep you updated on what's going on. Thank you for everything!

No problem! Glad to help, hopefully he will be feeling better soon.


ps I edited the previous post sorry. Best of luck!

puffykid wrote:I actually take it back, Idk if you would need to get the tetra safe start since you aren't showing any ammonia and only a bit of nitrites you can probably wc him through. 60% wcs twice a day morning and evening time use excess prime. He may have ich you should take a picture of him for us to see, but don't worry about that right now till the water parameters are in check. I suggest going to a lfs store and getting your water checked though, and don't just accept them saying good, ask for exact ammonia, nitrite, nitrates to make sure what your test strips are saying is accurate.

Problem is that they use the same strips I bought to test the sample.

Cycle, is dead bacteria in a bottle. Bio-Spira has live SW bacteria & Sarestart has live FW bacteria.

Kahuna ate some bloodworms this morning!

Pufferpunk... Is Seachem Stability not okay?
My refractometer should be here tomorrow afternoon. Should I just buy BioSpira?

Also, how much should I increase the salinity each day to raise him from somewhat-FW to brackish to SW?
Since he's only about an inch and a half, is he too young to go to full SW?

Stability has not been proven to contain the correct live bacteria. If your tank isn't cycled & stable for at least 2 weeks, leave it as FW & use the Safestart.

Pufferpunk wrote:Stability has not been proven to contain the correct live bacteria. If your tank isn't cycled & stable for at least 2 weeks, leave it as FW & use the Safestart.

Alright. Thank you so much for everything!

Also... Kahuna is eating normally and is no longer glass surfing. My refractometer got here this morning, too! So, I will be cycling my tank and slowly raising the salt level.