The Puffer Forum

OK, I've just noticed that our SAP is swimming and behaving very strangely.

For the last few days he has been hanging around at the surface looking a bit listless, I put this down to him being bullied by a tankmate (who we removed yesterday). However, he is still hanging around at the surface, and just now he was swimming around on his side and sort of just drifting and flipping over. Just now he tried to swim to the bottom of the tank and rolled over onto his back and over and over again as he was heading down, it was quite disturbing


The tank stats are

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 10

When he's not rolling over and over he just seems..I dunno, tired. Like he can't be bothered to swim around anymore! He's just drifting almost vertically with his head at the surface right now.

Any advice? There is no sign of any parasites, fungus, damage to fins etc. If it wasn't for how he's acting I would think he is in perfect health! Is it possible he's swallowed air or has a swim bladder problem? Could he be constipated?

please help my boyfriend ("fella" off here) usually knows what to do but he's at work for another two hours and i thought the quicker i can figure out whats wrong with him, the more chance there is of saving him.

thanks in advance.

How bad was he bullied? I have found these puffers to be quite delicate. Do you have a cycled QT?

He was chased about quite a bit (only for a couple of days), never got physically harmed though. Until today he was just hanging about nearer the surface, it's only been since I got in (like an hour ago) that he's been swimming strangely

We do have a spare tank and a plenty of spare filter media so could just clone a filter if needs be.

Now I've looked at him really close up, he looks like he has something clear attached to the right side of his face, with a white bit attached to that hanging off

I'm going to give him a salt bath incase this is parasite related, would this be OK?

I wouldn't stress him out any further right now. Just QT him w/some melafix & observe.

Hello "missus" --

I've seen the same thing with SAPs, and I'm afraid to say the poor little guy didn't recover. He seemed to have thrown himself into the glass, developed some type of bruising behind his eye, and died a few days later.

The problem seems to be that when alarmed SAPs go into crazy fish mode, like halfbeaks and hatchetfish. I assume that's because they are open water fish, where hiding isn't an option. If they get scared, they either jump or swim away. And yes, I've seen them jump out of the water and into a filter.

Anyway, they're small, and I guess if bruised badly, the internal bleeding causes serious problems. Frankly, I doubt salt, melafix, or anything like that will make a blind bit of difference, but go for it if you want.

Bullying may be an issue with SAPs, too. I had three, but only two formed a "pack", the other one seemingly ostracized. He's gone now (my tank was getting too overstocked, so turned a failure into a solution). Anyway, in this regard they are exactly and precisely like any other schooling fish: easy in big groups, difficult in twos and threes. SAPs are so much more placid in groups that it seems cruel to keep them singly, but in twos and threes, you run the risk of aggression problems as the fish sort out their heirarchy.

Cheers,

Neale

nmonks wrote:Hello "missus" --

I've seen the same thing with SAPs, and I'm afraid to say the poor little guy didn't recover. He seemed to have thrown himself into the glass, developed some type of bruising behind his eye, and died a few days later.

The problem seems to be that when alarmed SAPs go into crazy fish mode, like halfbeaks and hatchetfish. I assume that's because they are open water fish, where hiding isn't an option. If they get scared, they either jump or swim away. And yes, I've seen them jump out of the water and into a filter.

Anyway, they're small, and I guess if bruised badly, the internal bleeding causes serious problems. Frankly, I doubt salt, melafix, or anything like that will make a blind bit of difference, but go for it if you want.

Bullying may be an issue with SAPs, too. I had three, but only two formed a "pack", the other one seemingly ostracized. He's gone now (my tank was getting too overstocked, so turned a failure into a solution). Anyway, in this regard they are exactly and precisely like any other schooling fish: easy in big groups, difficult in twos and threes. SAPs are so much more placid in groups that it seems cruel to keep them singly, but in twos and threes, you run the risk of aggression problems as the fish sort out their heirarchy.

Cheers,

Neale

hey neale,

I've just came home to this fish and gave the same diagnosis. it looks pink beneath the skin on it's head, it's using only 1 pectoral fin, and it is struggling to swim downward. I also presumed it was from bumping into the glass after being chased by another fish. I#ll monitor it for a few days but to be honest, I don't think he's going to survive, but at the moment it doesn't seem in pain, just unable to move properly.

Thanks for the input on this thread guys.

Craig

This morning he was just lying on his side at the bottom of the tank not breathing very much so we had to euthanise him RIP little fishy!

Sorry to hear he didnt make it.

So sorry... how was he euthanized?

Now, never having euthanized a fish mytself, what is the 'proper' way? I mean, when I was younger, forgive me everyone, but when everyone said flush em, I couldn't do it, it seemed... to inhumane... So, not that it was a WHOLE lot better, but I put em on the cutting block... One cleaver swing... I was young tho... It did seem like a fast way to let em go...

(Only did this on a fish that developed many open soars probably due to unfit living conditions... I took the advice of a local Petco... 10 gallons is SO not enough for as many fish as they say it is... )

Flushing is not a humane way of euthanizing. The most commonly recognized way is to overdose it with clove oil. Doesn't take much. Just put the fish in a container (I use a disposable plastic cup, others use Ziploc bags) with some tank water, add 5 or so drops of clove oil, and wait until it stops moving and keels over. Then I pop it into the freezer to make sure its dead. Defrost and then flush.

I saw someone today on another forum recommend someone put his betta in a baggie and run it over with his car or stomp on it with his shoe!!

The other way I saw recommended by the AVMA (sorry, don't have the link handy) is quickly piercing the brain with a sharp instrument like a knife. Cleaver severing the head would pretty much do the same thing I imagine.

Overdose on clove oil in a baggie & then freeze.

ok, now I know! lol. I take it clove oil comes from a convenient store?

I find it in the toothache isle of the drug store.

Drugstores, health food stores, online places like Amazon, etc. Its readily available and quite cheap.