The Puffer Forum

Hey there everyone!

I'm new to posting, although I have used the resources here numerous times to help me out with my little green spotted friend, so first of all a big thank you to all the contributors of this site! I will introduce myself properly soon in the newbies page, but for now I need your help!

I have had a wonderful GSP named Brutus for about 4 years now. He has always been a happy and easy going fish (as long as you don't put anyone else in there with him!) He has survived through me leaving him for 2 years to go to school, and being fed by my mom in my absence (bless her heart) with less than stellar water changes or tank cleanings. He is back in my care now, and we are working on getting him back to regular tank maintenance.

About a month ago, there was a huge flood in my city and my apartment got evacuated for just over a week. Our power was turned off, so I brought Brutus to our local fish store to be boarded until our power was restored. I keep Brutus in brackish water, but for that week he was in a tank with a bunch of other GSP's in freshwater... not so fun for him, but he would have died at my house. When our power came back on, I ran his heater and filter for 24 hours before returning him to his tank. He was fine for about a week, and then I started seeing problems. Over the course of a few weeks, he has become very lethargic. He lays in the bottom of his cave all day with a VERY black belly with only one small white patch under his mouth. Even his back is usually not his normal brilliant yellow/green and instead is very dark. He seems to be panting or gasping for air all the time. He often has one or both of his side fins pressed against his sides covering his gills. When he does come out, his movement seems erratic and jumpy. Not like him. He still eats ravenously, but the rest of his behaviour has me really concerned. I've read through most of the posts about sick GSP's, but nothing suggested so far has helped. I've done several large water changes, daily small water changes for about a week, as well as swapping out his gravel for nice fine sand.

When I tested his water a few weeks ago when problems started, I noticed his nitrate levels were through the roof, and that some nitrites were present as well. I got an ammonia testing kit, and while low, it is showing a bit of ammonia in the tank as well. Below are his current tank perimeters. Thanks for any advice or suggestions!

NO3 - 80
NO2 - 0
pH - 7.5
KH - 180
GH - 180
Ammonia - 0.25
Sanility - 0.008-0.010
Temp: 83 degrees F

Tank size: 15 gallons (He is just around 2 inches now so I have started the hunt for an "adult" 30g tank for him!) He's in there all alone, which he seems to prefer. He has an AuquaClear 20g filter, and a bubble rock. And of course a heater.

Feeding: I feed him usually every two days. I cycle between blood worms, mysis shrimp and brine shrimp, crushed mussels and small snails.

Water changes: He sadly hadn't had many water changes during the years I was gone, but I have started doing a weekly 50% and right now an almost daily 10%-20%

Products: Other than marine salt, I treat my tap water with Prime. I have also started adding some Nutrafin Cycle in the hopes of regulating any problems with bacteria that might be making him sick. His tank has been set up for about 4 years, but I'm wondering if being left without power and heat for a week messed it up?

Thanks again everyone for your time and advice! Let me know if you need any other info or pictures. I want to save this little guy... he's become pretty special to me!

If I read correctly could it be possible that your water supply is contaminated after the flood/outage?

Also Nutrafin Cycle does not work very well. (Dead Bacteria in a Bottle) Try to get some Tetra Safestart instead.

See here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32416

I have thought about water supply contamination... There was never a boil water advisory issued for the city, but I'm wondering if they changed the chemicals being used in the water during the weeks after flooding. Not sure how I could combat that. I will look into getting some different bacteria for the tank, thanks for the advice!

Stress from pet store + stress from coming home from pet store + too quick a change in water chemistry from pet store to your house + too small tank + uncycled tank + high nitrate, nitrite & ammonia = sick puffer.

Keep doing water changes, limit stress to the puffer (as little activity around the tank as possible). Add tetra safestart to filter (entire bottle) and he should improve with time. You could also add a bubbled to bump up oxygen .

Upgrade the tank asap.

Welcome btw!

I'm going to head to another pet store today to try and find some Safestart, thanks for the advice!

I noticed today he seemed a bit better... He was black, but when he saw me he came over to say hi and his belly got all white! I was noticing while he was out of his cave that the area between his left gill and his eye seems swollen compared with his right. Could this be the sign of some sort of infection?

Also, I am on the search for a bigger tank. Should I wait for his condition to become more stable before transporting him again?

Thanks for the help and the welcome purplecandle!

Thanks for the welcome!

I have continued with the water changes. He comes out sometimes now to say hi with a white belly, but still spends most of his time hiding and black. His belly stays quite large these days, even if I don't feed him for a few days in a row. Is it possible he's had a puffing malfunction or some kind of gastrointestinal issue? His belly is never flat anymore. My mom (who took care of him for a few years) was shocked to see how big his tummy was when she was here on a visit yesterday... What could that be?