I'm beginning to get desperate here.
I've posted on reefcentral, but figured posting here might also be helpful.
My spiny box has not eaten in about 9-10 days.
my water tests, (I even had the local fish store verify).
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <20
pH : 7.0 (I know it's low, I hadn't tested this regularly, and the LFS said this was low)
all my other fish and inverts are fine, no new additions to the tank in the last 4-6 months.. no one is missing, Tank has been up and running for 2 years.
typically, when my puffer hasn't eaten in a day or two his stomach is concave or indented.. during the last week it's be puffed out and he looks bloated
he's also pale and uninterested in anything including food. He's been my favorite fish since day one, I hand feed him every other day with Krill.
I've done one 5 minute fresh water dip, I don't know what else to do... I've had him for 2 years and would really hate to lose him.
any advice is greatly appreciated
I've taken him to the LFS and they can't find anything externally wrong, nor can they offer any real advice.
Need Immediate Help - Spiny Box 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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Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
-
Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
I can't get him to eat anything or even attempt to eat.Nick wrote:Perhaps he is constipated - try feeding him a cooked skinless pea, if you can get him to take it. If not, you can quarentine him and use an epsom salt treatment, which may be effective, a tablespoon or two per gallon is the dose if I remember.
Can constipation last that long?
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
No reason to QT. Add 1 tbsp Epsom salt/5g. Look out for a might big poop! I am just going to continue to post here for this, so I don't have to post 2x, for every response, OK?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
he swims fine, though he tends to stay at the bottomo in one spot.Nick wrote:Constipation lasts until the impacted fish either clears its bowels or dies. Since your fish is not dead, it's up to you to get him to clear his bowles before he is. I'd try the epsom at this point, if he will eat nothing. Can he swim normally?
how do I administer the epsom salt treatment?
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Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
So I add the Epsom in main tank?Pufferpunk wrote:No reason to QT. Add 1 tbsp Epsom salt/5g. Look out for a might big poop! I am just going to continue to post here for this, so I don't have to post 2x, for every response, OK?
should I be concerned about my other fish, LR, etc?
luckily I have a couple of fresh bags of Epsom, (wife is pregnant and uses it for soaking)
-
Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
This is more of a soak than a dip. I believe it should be safe for all the other inhabitants & LR. How big is the puffer? Adding it to a small uncycled tank, may do it more harm that good.
I'd still read the feeding articles on our Library. No need to panic just yet. Your puffer can go quite some time w/o eating.
I'd still read the feeding articles on our Library. No need to panic just yet. Your puffer can go quite some time w/o eating.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
Pufferpunk wrote:This is more of a soak than a dip. I believe it should be safe for all the other inhabitants & LR. How big is the puffer? Adding it to a small uncycled tank, may do it more harm that good.
I'd still read the feeding articles on our Library. No need to panic just yet. Your puffer can go quite some time w/o eating.
The puffer is about the size of my fist, maybe sluightly larger... I'd guess somewhere between 5-6 inches
I'll add the Epsom to the tank right now and see what happens
-
Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
How long have you had him? I don't think it's IPs. He'd be really skinny, even after eating a lot the day before. Give the salt a day or so to work.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Yeah, I'll betcha it's constipated, from all that krill. After his giant poo, this would be an excellent time to start introducing new foods to him. He'll be nice & hungry!
Also, what about your substrate? What are you using? Why is the pH so low?
Also, what about your substrate? What are you using? Why is the pH so low?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
Cobra Jack
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:16 am
- Location: Chicago
substrate is crushed coralPufferpunk wrote:Yeah, I'll betcha it's constipated, from all that krill. After his giant poo, this would be an excellent time to start introducing new foods to him. He'll be nice & hungry!
Also, what about your substrate? What are you using? Why is the pH so low?
PH is low because I haven't checked it or used a PH buffer in a very long time