The Puffer Forum

My brand new congo puffer who I've only had for a day has unfortunately had some problems. His color has gone from red to brown, and he seems to have trouble breathing. Also, I tried feeding him a shrimp and he didn't eat. What should I do? Will he be alright?

1. pH is 8.2, Ammonia is 0, Nitrites are 0, Nitrates are 1
2. 20 gallons, only tankmate is a snail.
3. I have added Tetra aqua safe plus.
4. I recently replaced the gravel with a mixture of sand and small gravel.
5. It has been running/cyclying for four weeks.

Heavy breathing may be a water quality issue, or stress.
Are you using liquid test kits or strips?
How (specifically) did you cycle the tank?
I wouldn't necessarily expect a new fish to eat after 1 day (but I suspect some kind of water issue that could also keep him from feeding).
Try different foods.
Picture of tank?

He's probably used to being fed goldfish. That's what most shops feed them.
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... g/feeders/

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... ur-puffer/

on October 11th @ 9:07 pm you posted that you got this fish earlier that day
now you say you've only had it "for a day"
what gives?

From your Oct 11th "My New Puffer" thread.............http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/vie ... =4&t=35325

pufferjw wrote:Earlier today, I got my brand new red congo puffer, Demon! He's really cute, and so far he's eaten some live shrimp and frozen bloodworms. He lives in a 20 gallon long with driftwood and a few different types of live plants.

PS
The image is upside-down for some reason and I can't fix it, sorry.

To eieio
1. I'm using a liquid test kit
2. I cycled the tank by putting fish flakes and some live shrimp inside
3. Last night, I technically would have had him for about 30 hours

To pufferpunk
1. My LFS said that they fed the puffer live bloodworms and frozen people shrimp


Also, this morning I checked on my puffer and his breathing was back to normal, but he is still a faded brown even though he was initially red and he lives in a tank with white sand and orangish red gravel. I didn't try feeding him.

Congos are the best of all puffer species at camouflage. So unless you have really RED substrate for him to match, he's gonna be a lighter orange.

I cycled the tank by putting fish flakes and some live shrimp inside

We need more info than this. Were you testing the water & did it go thru an ammonia/nitrite spike? Even if you were to toss in flakes for 4 weeks, this will not create the same bioload as your puffer, which means there would not be enough bacteria to support it.

The ammonia and nitrites did spike and then go down. I have some water treatment that adds the bacteria to the water, so I will add some of that when I get home. I will also buy some red sand to see if it restores his color, which will determine if he's sick or just camouflaging.

What is this bacteria product? 99% of them are nothing but dead bacteria in a bottle.

The product is API Stress Zyme.

I prefer Tetra Safestart.

pufferjw wrote:To eieio
1. I'm using a liquid test kit
2. I cycled the tank by putting fish flakes and some live shrimp inside
3. Last night, I technically would have had him for about 30 hours

To pufferpunk
1. My LFS said that they fed the puffer live bloodworms and frozen people shrimp


Also, this morning I checked on my puffer and his breathing was back to normal, but he is still a faded brown even though he was initially red and he lives in a tank with white sand and orangish red gravel. I didn't try feeding him.

my apologies pufferjw, I got my dates/calendar screwed up and thought you had gotten him much earlier, sorry!
now, on the the issue at hand
I'm not convinced that your tank is really properly cycled, and that there may be water quality issues
this is easy to figure out
run a complete set of tests and post your figures
be SURE to SHAKE THE HECK out of the test chemicals AND the water in the test tubes EXACTLY as the instructions say to on the nitrate test
if you don't, the test will not be accurate - this is imperative!
my Congo eats 3-4 times a week, they aren't very active and don't need a lot of food
yours is stressed from the move(s), change of tanks, change of water, change of environments, change of foods offered
don't worry about his color right now, and don't change the substrate again (for now)
he needs the stability of clean water and a non-stressed environment
there are almost no chemicals in a bottle that are beneficial in a healthy environment, with the exception of Tetra Safe Start, which is ONLY used to get the tank cycled
any other stuff you pour in there may create additional stress
let's see what his tank looks like
does he have sufficient cover to hide in to feel comfortable?
is his sand soft and deep enough for him to burrow?
we can help, if you're willing to fill in the details

Got it. The sand is definitely soft and deep enough for him. I'm still not home, but at 6:00 or so I can post a pic of the tank. Also, just out of curiosity, if I take out the orange gravel will he turn white from the sand?

pufferjw wrote:Got it. The sand is definitely soft and deep enough for him. I'm still not home, but at 6:00 or so I can post a pic of the tank. Also, just out of curiosity, if I take out the orange gravel will he turn white from the sand?

you can experiment with that - LATER!
meanwhile, for now, make sure he is un-stressed and in a healthy environment

Got it, I will add some beneficial bacteria and see if that helps. Thank you to both eieio and pufferpunk for all of the help.

.......glad to be of help