puffers... not doing so hot
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
puffers... not doing so hot
my puffers go from good to great to walrus in a matter of days.... now they look foggy in color spots faded and cloudy its just strange i found them laying on the bottom of the tank just sitting there laying actually on the bottom.. when i feed them the perked up ate and then went back down and laiddown.. my levels are all where they should be... i dont get it.... tank mates are 4 glass eels 12 nerite snails and 2 pearl shrimp.. yes thats right my shrimp are not dinner yet and its been about 2 weeks... the puffers must be sick! SG is .015
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
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- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Puffers? I thought you only had one with a turbo snail in a 40g?
What exactly are your water parameters? Try answering all of the questions stickied at the top of the forum so you can get the best chance of figuring out what the problem is.
What exactly are your water parameters? Try answering all of the questions stickied at the top of the forum so you can get the best chance of figuring out what the problem is.
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
they are now in there new home... i was cycling a tank for them.. they were just hanging out in the 40 while things got working.. i was talking about that in one of my other posts how i ordered shrimp and snails from arizona aquatic gardens.. i ordered 2 bumble goobies as well but they were backordered.. nitrates and nitrites are 0 ph is 7.5 alk is 300 SG .015 temp presently is 76
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Ammonia?
Ugh, I've known too many people who have had issues with dead and diseased creatures from Arizona Aquatic Gardens that I'd never touch any of their livestock. Are those the shrimp and snails that are in the tank with them? Did you QT them first?
Ugh, I've known too many people who have had issues with dead and diseased creatures from Arizona Aquatic Gardens that I'd never touch any of their livestock. Are those the shrimp and snails that are in the tank with them? Did you QT them first?
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
wow i always heard good things.. but hey ya live ya learn.. and yes they are the ones in there now... and yes they were qt'd the puffers have been behaving this way for over a month... i dont think its to relavent to there new home... but i may be wrong... my wife was all up set today when we got home and they were laying on the bottom.. it was her idea to get the tank and the puffers... and they grew on me alot too... so i would like to do what i can to help them.. but i have exhausted tons of time and research and there good for a few days then back to faded white and lazy behavior... i dont know if its ich or what.. i have never seen the ich.. actually do you know where i can see a pic of a young gsp with the ich so i can compare?
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
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- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Ich looks like tiny round salt grains, not color faded and cloudy. It doesn't sound at all like ich to me.
How long ago did you move them into their new home? Did they acting like this before or after the move?
Do you know the ammonia levels?
How long ago did you move them into their new home? Did they acting like this before or after the move?
Do you know the ammonia levels?
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
How long did you QT the snails and shrimp for?
Also, I went back and read through your original thread as much as possible (hard to read your messages sometimes, they're all one huge run-on sentence). I'm a little confused about something. You said you slowly raised their salinity after you got them starting at 1.010, correct? Is that the salinity they were kept in before you got them, or is that what you put them in when you got them and then started to slowly raise it?
Also, I went back and read through your original thread as much as possible (hard to read your messages sometimes, they're all one huge run-on sentence). I'm a little confused about something. You said you slowly raised their salinity after you got them starting at 1.010, correct? Is that the salinity they were kept in before you got them, or is that what you put them in when you got them and then started to slowly raise it?
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
i dont know what they came in, and yes i do have run on sentences. most were typed at 3 am... pet store said there was salt in the tank they didnt know how much.. so i went from fresh to that over a 5 hour period then raised gradually over time from there... the fish are fine now... it seems they get depressed when were not home.. its so wierd one minute fine and the next bad.. the snails were in qt for about 11 or 12 days...
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
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Boxermom
- Former Staff Member
- Posts: 2182
- Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
I could be wrong but I believe that may be too fast for the puffer's health. Its definitely too fast for the bacteria. If you raised the salinity in the tank, as opposed to in a bucket, you probably killed off most, if not all, of the good bacteria and restarted a cycle.
I know you said you had a sick F8 in that tank that died, correct? Did you clean the tank out before adding the GSPs and if so, how?
Did you test your ammonia yet?
I know you said you had a sick F8 in that tank that died, correct? Did you clean the tank out before adding the GSPs and if so, how?
Did you test your ammonia yet?
Tina
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
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puff_puff_pass
- Dwarf Puffer
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:50 pm
as i re read your question no i didnt clean the tank between the puffers because they were together.... i cleaned the tank prior to ever puttin anything in them...... and my amonia just came back more than fine.. my fish seem to be ok at night when i am home.... but when i first arrive some times there just awful looking and behaving...