The Puffer Forum

Today I bought a very sick puffer from a gardencentre. It was put in a cold tank with the plants to keep the snails down. I bought it and put it in a non-cycled tank beceause I didn't have a cycled one for it.

His belly is completely black and he's in poor condition. The 30 gallon he's in now will be his temporary home.

I hope I can save the poor guy.

But now the problem. Is he a green spotted puffer that needs brackish water? I bought seasalt to make it brackish if he needs that. I got enough salt to make it 20% pure seawater combined with 80% freshwater. I don't know another way to say this

I hope you can help me on this.

Here he is, he is still in the bag from the shop to get used to the water safely.

Now I released him and he just lays still in a corner He also has some fungus on his fins.

I do have some experience in keeping dwarfs and I did use old water from my 50 gallon dwarfpuffer tank.

He's very big by the way, almost 4 inches. Tomorrow I will try to feed him mysis and snails if he wants to eat

Thats a GSP. Brackish Water Puffer.

I would recommend going out to grab some Bio-Spira ASAP unless you can do multiple water changes per day. If you take a look at the Hospital forum you should be able to find all you need to clear up that fungus as well.

You will want to raise the salinity by no more than .002 per week. Any more than that will kill off your beneficial bacteria colony.

The name is of the species is Tetraodon nigroviridis, you can look it up in the pufferpedia. It needs brackish water.

Don't just throw the salt into the tank (its too aggressive while dissolving). Increase the salinity of your tank slowly to avoid an osmotic shock. Use a separate bucket for mixing and move the dissolving salt for at least several hours (optimum several days). I'd suggest to start with 5g per litre (20 g per gallon) in the bucket and do 1 to 5 waterchanges a day. Depending on the volume of your bucket you will achieve a salinity of about 20 g per gallon in your tank after about 15 waterchanges.

In future waterchanges you can use more salt per litre until an optimum density of about 1.01 is reached.

Your puffer also needs a lot of oxygen.

Good luck.

Amoore311 wrote:Thats a GSP. Brackish Water Puffer.

I would recommend going out to grab some Bio-Spira ASAP unless you can do multiple water changes per day. If you take a look at the Hospital forum you should be able to find all you need to clear up that fungus as well.

You will want to raise the salinity by no more than .002 per week. Any more than that will kill off your beneficial bacteria colony.

Thank you, he is swimming a bit now. I thought he was a GSP beceause of the yellow part on the head. I will read the Hospital forum tonight for his black belly and fungus . I work in a aquariumshop and my employer gave me a product for instant Nitrate removal. I think it's the product you mean but in the Netherlands it has a different name. I also can do daily waterchanges so I will

I have 600 grams (for the 30 gallon tank) of the seasalt but no means of measuring in .000

Here he is again:

Corvus wrote:The name is of the species is Tetraodon nigroviridis, you can look it up in the pufferpedia. It needs brackish water.

Don't just through the salt into the tank (its too aggressive while dissolving). Increase the salinity of your tank slowly to avoid an osmotic shock. Use a separate bucket for mixing and move the dissolving salt for at least several hours (optimum several days). I'd suggest to start with 5g per litre (20 g per gallon) in the bucket and do 1 to 5 waterchanges a day. Depending on the volume of your bucket you will achieve a salinity of about 20 g per gallon in your tank after about 15 waterchanges.

In future waterchanges you can use more salt per litre until an optimum density of about 1.01 is reached.

Your puffer also needs a lot of oxygen.

Good luck.

Thanx!

I'm on my way to the shop for an aerator

Check out this article on them
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library.php?p=27

Corvus wrote:In future waterchanges you can use more salt per litre until an optimum density of about 1.01 is reached.

I believe a GSP of that size should be in an SG of 1.018-22 for optimal health.

You'll need a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the SG or salinity, as well as test kits that work in saltwater. The black belly is usually a sign of stress, poor fella isn't doing very well is he? Also, because of the fungus on the tail, I would recommend treating him with Pimafix and Melafix asap.

Do not use products that instantly remove ammonia or nitrites. You'll screw up the tank for sure. If you are in the US, get some Biospira as soon as possible. It is the ONLY readily available product that has the correct bacteria needed for cycling. Having him in an uncycled tank is going to kill him, no doubt about that, not in the shape he's already in. Using water from another tank is worthless, there are only minute amounts of the bacteria needed in the water column. If you have another mature tank, use the filter media, some substrate, decor, etc., from that. The bacteria only lives on surfaces.

In the meantime, get some Prime water declorinator, which will detoxify the ammonia and nitrites so they won't kill him. You'll have to do large daily water changes until the tank cycles unless you can get ahold of some Biospira. Prime will detoxify the ammonia and nitrites but they will still be available for the cycle as needed. If you use a remover, they aren't available and your tank will never cycle.

He's eating very well!
I fed him snails and some clam and he ate that. I heard his teeth when he ate the clam.

Boxermom wrote:

Corvus wrote:In future waterchanges you can use more salt per litre until an optimum density of about 1.01 is reached.

I believe a GSP of that size should be in an SG of 1.018-22 for optimal health.

You'll need a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the SG or salinity, as well as test kits that work in saltwater. The black belly is usually a sign of stress, poor fella isn't doing very well is he? Also, because of the fungus on the tail, I would recommend treating him with Pimafix and Melafix asap.

Do not use products that instantly remove ammonia or nitrites. You'll screw up the tank for sure. If you are in the US, get some Biospira as soon as possible. It is the ONLY readily available product that has the correct bacteria needed for cycling. Having him in an uncycled tank is going to kill him, no doubt about that, not in the shape he's already in. Using water from another tank is worthless, there are only minute amounts of the bacteria needed in the water column. If you have another mature tank, use the filter media, some substrate, decor, etc., from that. The bacteria only lives on surfaces.

In the meantime, get some Prime water declorinator, which will detoxify the ammonia and nitrites so they won't kill him. You'll have to do large daily water changes until the tank cycles unless you can get ahold of some Biospira. Prime will detoxify the ammonia and nitrites but they will still be available for the cycle as needed. If you use a remover, they aren't available and your tank will never cycle.

Thanks for all the information. Tomorrow I have to work in the LFS so I will buy a hydrometer or refractometer to test the sallinity after adding salt.

Tonight I will ad some salt to start his better life. There is nothing in the tank only a rock with some anubia from the old tank. I also put in a Eheim filter from the big tank we have that is cycled in there, maybe that helps a bit.

I will do daily waterchanges and add salt then to get the right sallinity for him.

When you add the salt, make sure you mix it in a separate container of declorinated water BEFORE adding it to the tank, and make sure its thoroughly dissolved. NEVER add salt directly to the tank or you will burn the fish's gills.

I'd get that Bio-Spira today--don't wait till tomorrow. Then wait at least 4 days for the next water change, so the bacteria has time to settle on surfaces. don't be in a big hurry to raise the SG. Just .002/week.

Its not my intention to contradict the other posters, which certainly have more years of experience with T. nigroviridis, but I would go for increasing salinity with the highest priority for the following reasons:

1. The tank is not cycled, so there are basically no bacteria yet which could be killed by salt.

2. Main reason for the puffers bad condition is a lack of salt. So removing the limiting factor (too less salt) will improve its condition most effectively.

3. cycling first and then salting up is recommended by the other posters to avoid nitrite peak. Nitrite is much less dangerous (though not harmless) in brackish water (I'm citing reliable Schaefer, 2005: brackish water fishes), so the nitrite peak will less affect the puffer.

4. fungus will probably die in brackish conditions, so no additional medication, which possibly will kill your new bacteria have to be used.

As a result I'd recommend salting up with water changes and adding material from another long running filter each day (I guess working in an aquashop you can get old filter material). Bacteria will come automatically and an eventual nitrite peak will be less dangerous.

But that's just what I'd do and why.
The other method (first bacteria and in 4 day salt) may work, too.

Corvus wrote: 1. The tank is not cycled, so there are basically no bacteria yet which could be killed by salt.

Please read the whole post. Their is already a cycled filter on the tank:
"I also put in a Eheim filter from the big tank we have that is cycled in there, maybe that helps a bit."

1) Add the melafix and pimafix.
2) Raise the sg .002 per week (starting right away)
3) monitor water params closely. if you have any ammonia/nitrite, do large water changes and add prime


good luck!

Corvus wrote:2. Main reason for the puffers bad condition is a lack of salt. So removing the limiting factor (too less salt) will improve its condition most effectively.
...

4. fungus will probably die in brackish conditions, so no additional medication, which possibly will kill your new bacteria have to be used.

I'm wondering how you came to the conclusion that the main reason his puffer is sick is due to the lack of salt. There may be other factors going on as well. Yes, he should be in brackish water by now but I'd personally hate to jump to any conclusions and rush into stressing him even further.

Neither Pimafix nor Melafix will kill any of the cycling bacteria and, therefore, will not affect the cycling process. Funguses also occur in brackish and marine conditions so I personally wouldn't assume that merely raising the salinity will fix a fungal problem.