The Puffer Forum

Basically it's the one that was never really eating, and he would always swim at the top of the tank, well he started doing that 2 days ago

Water Perimeter

Amonia - 0
Nitrate as of this morning - 5
Nitrite - 0
Hardness - 80
Alkaliniy - low
PH - 7

10 Gallon Tank

so i have no idea why he died, the water seems fine to me, cause the other Dwarf Puffer seems fine to me, swims around nicely, eats reguerly soo i gots no idea

anyone can give me any suggestion? cause i just feel really bad and walrus and might put off the idea of getting the 30 gallon tank, until i can atleast have the Dwarf puffers survive for a few month, cause i don't want to kill anymore fish, but i just have no idea what i've done wrong this time

The water params look good.

He could have had parasites or something affecting his appetite and he could have been on his way out for a while now. Sometimes it's just bad luck. Don't give up.

thank you, i just feel bad that all the fish i've had died, but the first time was my fault, didn't recyle the tank, but this time i totally read up my stuff, cycled the tank, bought alot more equipment, but one still died, but i'm not going to give up cause now that you've mentioned it, he never really ate from the time i brought him home which is about 1 week ago, and also what exactly does it mean when he just swims at the top of the water looking like he's gasping for air

Sounds like he was ailling to begin with. Most of the livestock in stores is pretty weak from harvesting, holding, transport, and finally being crammed into tiny often crowded tanks with little hiding places and questionable water quality. The stress of it all is worsened by the trip home when we buy them, and plopping them into new tanks again with different water chemistry.

Only the strong will survive the whole ordeal. The weak will likely parish. Best we can do is pick healthy stock from the store and try and make the transition as painless as possible by giving them excellent conditions when we get them home.

You've done your homework, keep it up, and you'll be rewarded.

Yes, like everyone said, shipping and being placed in a store is extrememly hard on fish, not to mention then being netted and introduced to yet another home. The little guy probably just wasn't strong enough to handle the stress. It happens to all of us, don't beat yourself up over it, you are doing a great job.

Thanks Guys ya'll are hella nice here, all i'm focusing on right now is to raise my other fella, and i think it might be a female so i'm pretty happy, i'm still debating rather if i should put 2 more Dwarf puffer in, cause i really want three, and honestly i think she's doing really well, she's peaceful when i had the other 2 in, never caused any trouble, so i think she might be okay with others

If you do, try your best to get another female and a male, not two males. That's the best ratio. Of course, they are often too young to tell at the store.

Myaj wrote:Yes, like everyone said, shipping and being placed in a store is extrememly hard on fish, not to mention then being netted and introduced to yet another home.

Sometimes, if you get lucky, you can special order them and grab the ones you want straight out of the shipping bag, avoiding at least a little bit of the stress on the fish.

Last few animals I've bought have been taken home that way. Can't say if it's a big help or anything, but it certainly doesn't seem to hurt.