The Puffer Forum

about a week ago i got a f8 puffer he did quite well the first few days i had him, he was very vibrant and seemed very happy and showed lots of personality. About 3 days later he started showing signs of fungus growth on his belly. i feed him blood worms everyday (around a glob the size of his eye) but he hasnt been eating them i did not feed him any more today because the ones he didnt eat yesterday are sitting at the bottom. to treat his fungal infection ive been putting in melafix and pimafix daily for 4 days now. his color seems darker and he seems very lethargic and just sits in the bottom of the tank under a fake plant.

nitrates: 0ppm
amonia: 0ppm
ph: 7.6
salinity: 1.002
20 gallon tank high
no tankmates
*note* ive cycled the aquarium twice since my puffer has moved in

Nitrate 0? What about nitrite? You should be showing nitrate in a cycled tank. How exactly was the tank cycled?

Are you defrosting, rinsing, draining the worms before feeding? Are you absolutely sure there are no worms rotting somewhere in the tank?

i havent checked nitrites i totally forgot and didnt buy the test kit. i havent rinsed my worms i didnt know i needed to. My tank was cycled with a siphon and i did 2 ten gallon changes

Unfortunately water changes don't cycle a tank, you need an ammonia source to cycle and it usually takes about a month to build up the necessary bacteria in your filter to convert ammonia to nitrite and then nitrite to nitrate.

You will need to change water daily at the moment until you can either return the puffer until the tank is cycled or until you get an instant cycling product. Tetra Safestart is known to work but unfortunately it may already be too late to save your puffer - I know that you have tested ammonia and it has read zero but if you haven't cycled properly then it may be a faulty kit or you may be doing it wrong.

OH! ok i thought you ment water cycles ok yeah i put startup bacteria before hand and i had it sit for a week before putting in my puffer. it did read ammonia levels when i first got him but i got rid of it

What "start up bacteria"? Most products are nothing more than dead bacteria in a bottle. Secondly, the bacteria needs ammonia (fish waste) to live & in a week, it would have all died off from starvation. Please DO check nitrite & buy Tetra's Safestart to add to the filter, after doing a 90% water change.