The Puffer Forum

I just purchased 2 red eye puffers yesterday, I believe they are irrubesco. They are in a 30 gal US. When they first got into the tank they started exploring and whatever. The tank is pretty heavily planted but I have no décor in there. Within a few hours they began to glass surf, are they bored due to no décor or could it be the water?

(I just did a small water change to clean out their leftover foods. The tank has been cycled with other fish for about 2 weeks.)

nitrate-- about 5
nitrite--0
chlorine--0
hardness-- about 250-300 gh
ph--7.5 about
temp--80 F

Update:
The smaller one did a kind of barrel roll. she seems kind of clumsy and week and caught her up against the filter grate. I don't know if she was stuck or what.

Plus they seem none too interested in food. I have some snails and young glass shrimp in the tank. Plus I gave them blood worms and they didn't eat them. They ate eagerly yesterday, I don't know what could've changed.

What kind of test kit are you using? What is your ammonia level? Do you use dechlorinater to remove chlorine?

A tank doesn't cycle in 2 weeks without adding live bacteria. What was your bacteria source?

What were your numbers before the water change. What other fish are in the tank?

Any chance you can post a pic?
Sorry for all the questions...trying to help.

I e tetra easy strips, the parimeters of the water were pretty much the same before and after the change. ammonia is about 0, what I did for bacteria is I swished a used filter cartridge in the water before putting anything in it, long before. only other fish are a few young glass shrimp, cant post pic at this time.

As of now, one is looking health, yet glass surfing, and the other is dark in color and laying in the corner.

Get a liquid test kit, those strips are really inaccurate. You just added 2 puffers with high bioloads. That will shock your system and should change your water chemistry at least in the first few weeks.

It could be that they are stressed. You did just get them. My fangs puffer is still upset over his treatment at the pet store and I've had him awhile.

The barrel roll and clumsiness are classic symptoms of water quality issues. Without a liquid test kit I would assume there is a problem and would increase water changes. More water changes can't hurt..

Not eating is a really bad sign. They could be infested with parasites or they may prefer live food (try earth worms). Remember they are wild caught. A month ago they were in a river on the other side of the world...it's why they are so stressed.

And you may loose one or both for no reason. Puffers have a HIGH mortality rate. If I had to guess. Maybe 3 out of ten survive a few months.

So..best advice at this point. Increase water changes, limit activity around the tank, don't run the lights for a long time, try different foods, get a liquid test kit. And don't go to the pet store and let them talk you into a bunch of meds. Those meds likely will not work. Water changes are much more likely to work. You can also add coffee cups for caves untill you can buy more deco.

You can try soaking the food in garlic extract or juice. Sometimes it helps.

How are they doing now?

Happily my 2 red eye puffers are still alive, I moved them to one of my more established tanks. Their names are Sheena and Bruno!

That's good to hear.