The Puffer Forum

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here, although iv been lurking for some time. Basicaly my f8 is very stressed. Hes completley terrified of me and wont eat food untill iv moved away to the other side of the room. Sometimes he jumps out of the water when I get too close. His belly is white but a thick black line has appeared down each side and his cheeks have gone black. Iv had him about 5 weeks but he was fine for the first three weeks. Hes in a 40gallon with no other fish, And a nerite snail. I bought him in fresh but brought the salinity up by .002 a week until he was in 1.005. I followed the guide on here and did a fishless cycle for 4 weeks prior to getting the f8. Water paramaters are, ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10. Ph is 7.8. This started happening around a week after I started adding the marine salt, could that be the cause? I feed him mostly bladder snails that I breed. With an earthworm every now and then. His tank is heavily decorated with live plants and big slate rocks and caves. I realy dont know what im doing wrong

I"m not sure about your little F8 but sometimes when I approached my GSP's tank I could spook one or both puffers and they would swim away and usually bang into the canopy or the glass. I did feel bad for them but obviously I didn't do it on purpose and sometimes I was just walking by without even paying attention to the tank. I think that some puffers might just be easily spooked... haven't spooked the Fahaka yet tho...

GSP32 has it right, we all spook our wet pets occasionally. But we do try not to do so. I suspect an insufficiently decorated tank.

A 40 is a big tank for an F-8, but the fish should enjoy it and feel comfortable throughout the tank. Is there good current throughout the tank? Especially along the front glass for active swimming? There shold also be isolated rocks or (artificial) plants scattered around on the substrate (which really should be aragonite to provide good buffering)? There can be some spacing between these plants/rocks/decor so the fish can swim around them to explore for food.

Is there a background on the tank? If not, add one immediately, preferably to fully cover the back glass and also one end if possible.

Are there 2-3 "caves" or semi-shelters where the F-8 can rest with walls on at least two sides, plus an overhang/ceiling. That provides for reduced current and visual security for naps and/or sleeping. Thede should be where you can see into them fully, but the fish has a sense of security when resting there.

What are the water parameters? The nitrate should be 30ppm or below (best 15-20ppm or below). The ammonia and nitrite should be undetectable. The tank should be alkaline. The pH 7.5 - 8.0 or above with a high carbonate/bicarbonate hardness (alkalinity) should not decline over time (no commercial buffers should ever be used - they can play havoc with the tank's chemistry).

Strong lighting is not required or desirable. That could lead to algae and can also make fish feel exposed and insecure.

HTH

Thanks for the replys, yes the tank has a background and has good current from the large cannister filter. I posted the water paramaters in the original post. The tank has lots of live plants and many slate caves. I am going to try adding further decoration to the tank to see if this helps. The lighting is not too bright and is kept on a timer 8 hours a day

+1 to the background.

Maybe also on a side glass. I have on tank that sits right next to a tv that sits diagonally in the corner right next to the tank and I have a backgound on that side. I have two tanks that sit next to each other a foot apart and one of them has a background on the side. And for a while I had some mollies in my F8 tank and they would get spooked as I walked through the doorway right beside it so I sinstalled a background on that side. That background had about a 1 inch gap all around and my F8 would look around it for me.

Just cut the backgrounds smaller than the glass and apply it with plain water, that way it can be removed easily fo cleaning or any reason.


Are you feeding right at lights on time? Mybe that spooks him. Timers are best as the fish learns the cycle and is startled less when they come on and go off. Home Depot has good cheap timer for $5.

The tank is enclosed on all sides exept for the front. Lighting is one 20 watt fluoresent tube and it is set on a timer. I dont feed as soon as the lights are on, its usualy hours after. His colour has darkened more and today he actualy puffed up when I fed him, wich I know is quite rare for an f8. When I first got him I was worried about IPs as his belly seemed a little sunken. I orded some praziquantel but he seembed to get a bit fatter so I didnt end up using it. Could this stress be related to parasites?

Hey, banzai. Sorry to see that you haven't got a reply in a long time!
How is your puffer fish now?