The Puffer Forum

I just don't get it. I know that maybe I should have done more studying b4 I got these puffers, but my fish guy helps me out a lot. My last remaining puffer is acting all sick and stuff. It's normally got a black belly and is fairly dark compared to my previous puffers. So I don't go by the color. But he isn't moving around and he is curled into a ball. His tail is tightly tucked on his side and he just kind of bounces around and goes with the current from the filter. Why are these sweet little fish so complicated???

They really are not that complicated. They need plenty of room, plenty of filtration, appropriate salinity and, probably most importantly, lots of clean water, puffers are very sensitive to nitrates. Compared to most fish that are considered "delicate", they are pretty easy to take care of if you meet those standards.

Have you checked your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels yet? Bad water quality and internal parasites seem to be the two biggest things that kill off puffers, but with internal parasites they seem to get thinner and thinner, you haven't mentioned he's skinny at all? So get your water checked out and get actual numbers, not "its fine" from the store, better yet, buy your own test kits so you can check and make sure everything is looking good on a regular basis. Then you can go from there.

In the mean time, what size tank, what is the salinity, what kind of salt are you using, how long has it been set up, can you get pictures of the sick puffer?

Yes, please respond to all the questions listed at the top of the hospital forum in the announcement; then will may be able to help more.

You will need to change some water. Have you been doing so?

In another post she said that she never checks water parameters, so bad water'll be the culprit.
Rachel, you need to do a 50% water change asap, and get yourself a water test kit from your lfs, test the water, give us the results, and that might save your puffer.
Pami.

Oooh, the other thing is, keep all your posts in the Hospital section, as you're having a hard time with the fish, and most of your Q's are gonna be related to the probs.
It's harrd for us to keep track of what you're doing if your posts are scattered throughout the different sections...I looked in general discussion, and found you'd moved him!
Glad he's doing better, but you've got a way to go with him yet, and, for us to help you, we need to stick to the same thread.
Pami.