The Puffer Forum

Hi everyone. My GSP's color has been off today and I'm a little worried. He is also refusing live earthworms as well as snails which he usually gobbles up. He took a few nips at a live crab I put in today but then lost interest.

He's currently in my goby tank as he was a rescue from a freshwater tank. The tank is 10 gallons which I know is too small, he'll only be in there until his 30 gallon finishes cycling. I do 20% water changes daily to try and compensate for the tank size. There are currently three juvenile bumblebee gobies and a nickel sized red claw crab in there with him. He has a sand substrate, a piece of white coral rock, a moss ball, several different kinds of plants (mostly java fern and banana plants), and several terra cotta pots that serve as goby hiding spots.

pH:8
Ammonia:1.0 ppm
Nitrite:0 ppm
Nitrate:0 ppm

I know the ammonia is high so I did a partial water change and added some ammonia remover. The water here at school is also very hard. I'm not sure what to do about that. I tried driftwood but that seemed to poison my gobies. The tank has been fully cycled (although not for very long). I am moving back home from school in a few weeks and I just want to make him as comfortable as possible until I get him into his more suitable home.

Note: He's currently harassing the crab (which was the intention)

Ammonia of 1 is EXTREMELY toxic. No wonder he won't eat. At this point, since the 10g isn't cycled anyway, you might as well just put him into the 30g. Add Tetra's Safestart to the filter & it'll be cycled instantly.

That's what I thought and what I was afraid of. I've already moved him.

Good deal. The larger water volume will dilute any toxins in the water. Keep us posted.

He's in his new tank and the ammonia is hovering around .25. I would really like it to be 0 obviously but I tested the water straight from the tap and it tests at a .25. I use prime but it doesn't seem to be helping. The gobies seem to be doing fine but the GSP still refuses any food offered. He's looking kind of skinny and it glass surfing like a lunatic. I'm really not sure where to go from here.

He was also clenched up in a ball earlier for about fifteen minutes kind of bobbing near the plants. The water was a bit too warm I think so I dropped the temp and he seems fine other than the not eating and glass surfing

Give him time to get settled in and he will start eating and quick glass surfing. He is probably really stressed right now with all the changes taking place let alone water conditions not being ideal. Also if your water comes out of the tap with ammonia readings I would suggest not doing as many water changes since you're adding ammonia each time I would cut back to weekly 50% water changes to give the bacteria time to break down the ammonia and so you aren't overloading it.

Btw what do you use to test your water?

What foods are you offering him? Have you tried live? Soaked in garlic?

I am using the API master test kit for freshwater. I have been feeding him live earthworms which he readily ate before all this start and he used to beg. I also gave him small pond snails. He's also eaten a small red claw crab (yesterday). He won't touch the thawed bloodworms, never has. He sometimes would take a bite out of some thawed krill but would usually spit it out. Last thing he ate was the crab yesterday and now shows zero interest in the earthworms or anything else.

Sounds like he had a big meal yesterday. I wouldn't be too concerned if he isn't eating today

If you are using Seachem's Prime as instructed before tap water is added to the tank, there should be no ammonia in the make-up water. If you do weekly water changes at 50% partials per week, there is no valid reason to cut back on partials at all, and I very strongly disagree with any advice to the contrary. If the nitrification bacteria are not well established, daily or or frequent 50% partials may be done as needed. Advice to the contrary is more than 50 years out of date.

Ammonia reading is still coming in at .25ppm. He's still refusing the live earthworms, he just kind of eyeballs them and seems to be afraid of them which is new. His color is still off. He's not glass surfing as much. It looks like he might have a white film on his belly but it's hard to tell if that's just his sand sticking to his belly.

Probably just sand.

Still refusing food. His belly is looking sunken and a little lumpy. He's listless and his color is off. I've tried garlic soaked krill, earthworms, gut loaded ghost shrimp. Doesn't even seem interested. Ammonia is a .25. Still doing daily partials.

My understanding is that Prime renders the ammonia in the tap water harmless to the fish. It will still test but not harm your fish. However, once added to the tank you should see the ammonia level go down as your bacteria converts it (in a healthy tank).

He was moved 3 days ago right? I'd keep everything around him quiet and not disturb him other than for feeding and water changes and keep the lights dim. Give him some time to settle in. How heavily decorated is this tank? Does he have plenty of room to hide?