The Puffer Forum

Hi, I just inherited a green puffer from my roommate who was moving! All it does is sit on the floor of the tank. The fish does not seem to want to eat and his(?) mouth is open all the time. I read that this might mean that their teeth are overgrown, but I can see the mouth opening and closing so I don't think it's the teeth. SHe told me that the water was fresh, so I am adding some salt (instant ocean) according to the directions to create a brackish tank on here. I am still in the process of doing that. The water has a very high PH, and zero ammonia. We do (well, will do) a 50% water change every 30 days. He/she eats frozen bloodworms, frozen krill and clams on the half shell. OH! And snails once a week. Gold ones.

I'm worried. I don't want him or her to die!!! Oh, and he or she is really small, and skinny! All of the pictures I have seen have fat fish in them. I know she took good care of him/ her. (How do I tell the gender so I can stop doing this.)

There doesn't look to be any sign of parasites, but the belly does have some grey on it's edges.

Please help.

First off, water changes should be 50% WEEKLY minimum... I know, when I first saw this, I thought it was crazy, but it's not really hard to do once a week, and will keep your fish healthier and happier. Whats the nitrite and nitrate levels? What size is the tank? etc. If you cant figure it out, your local fish store can usually test water for you, ask them for the numbers, don't accept "they're fine". Sounds like your puffer has IPs, or parasites.. You need to buy a medicine specifically for fish parasites, like Jungle Fizz tablets or Prazipro and soak the food in it for about an hour, preferably with some garlic juice for flavoring. Treat for about 5 days.
ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Brackish/T_Nigroviridis/
This is probably your puffer.
library/puffers-in-focus/an-introductio ... d-puffers/
library/hospital/internal-parasites-pre ... treatment/
This also really belongs in the hospital section, if you repost it there, and answer all the red questions that are asked, people can help you faster and easier.

Please answer ALL the questions above, in red.

Their is probably a lack of oxygen in the tank. But hard to tell without the questions being answered. Your nitrate levels might be higher than cheech and chong if you only change it once a month