Hello - I have (2) fangs puffer and a (1) takifugu oscellatus in a 20gallon long with a tons of decors/plants for over 2 months now. Ive been feeding them on shrimp and krill.
However for about a week now the larger fangs puffer have not been very active at all. I have not seen it swim to the top of the tank, begging for food like it used to. What I did notice is this puffer looks kind of bloated (eventhough it has not eaten in a week).
It just kind of stay on one spot, but aggressively tried to fight another puffer that gets close to his hideout. I tried feeding it close to its mouth and it tried to nib at the food but not open its mouth (very little interest).
The other puffers are activng normal and still eat like a pig.
BTW, All 3 fishes have no body damage, no fins damage. They just kind of stay out of each others way.
I changed the water once a week at about 80% - 90% removed with declorinator. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates at under 10 ppm.
Im new to puffers, so I have no clue what is wrong with the fish?
fangs puffer
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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Pufferpunk
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I agree--stress from crowding. Even the 2 fangs should be seperated from each other, IMO. The T oscellatus, will grow quite large & requires colder temps & much saltier water than your FW puffers. Things will not stay stable for long in that tank.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
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sicklid-holic
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There is a member here (Opia) that has the same symptoms as my fangs puffer, blaoted, not eating close to a week and not moving much.
And several members said it sounds like a bloated problem and Ill try the remedy.
I know its a bit overcrowded, but they seem to get along well. I will separate the fish once they get some size on them, as of now they are just about an inch big and minimal aggression so far.
And several members said it sounds like a bloated problem and Ill try the remedy.
I know its a bit overcrowded, but they seem to get along well. I will separate the fish once they get some size on them, as of now they are just about an inch big and minimal aggression so far.