The Puffer Forum

hey guys new here and to puffers in general loving both tbh!!! however about 4 days ago i noticed one of my baby gsp's was turning black did some research found out they do that now and then then turn back in a couple hours.the next day he was covered in black head to tail i mean real black. so i hospital tanked him asap to avoid any thing to my other little guy.he doesnt swim alot or eat anything and thats what worries me most he was always first to the glass at 4 and 12 pm every day for his snails or shrimp.my other dude still appears healthy. so im wondering what this could be ive started them 2 months ago in a cycled (old 20g community about 6 months old when they went in) all levels are 0 (ammonia, nitrate, nitrites)at about 1.002-1.003 gravity Ph is good holding at around 8.0-8.2 respectivly my tap is a little hard around 200 ppm. i am VERY religious on my water changes 25% weekly every thursday night. thats all i got puffers are still pretty new for me, but i love em plz help i might cry thnx guys

Try to increase aeration with a diffusor or similar and slowly increase SG in your hospital tank to 1,005.
Good luck, hope he gets well again!

Have a look at the bottom of the hospital tank and see if you can see any Poop lying on the bottom, check if is looks stringy or like pellets? (if it is stringy then good chance he has internal parasites)

Have you noticed any of the following signs ?

* wasting away - often gradually
* frantic for food (more than usual of course)
* red or white worms being purged from the anus
* loss of appetite

Read the following under the Puffer library:

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... t/#more-75

Good Luck!

nah no worms the hospital tank is a 1.003. his poo is kinda stringy so im thinkin IP's of some form or another. you guys got a med thats good?i dont wanna ask the LFS because theyll just randomly throw me one. and should i treat my other buddy also???

Anyone that has been in a tank with him needs to be treated. Gel-Tek and Prazi-Pro work best IME. You need to soak their food in it, not just treat the water. They need to ingest the medication.

If you're in the UK then get some Flubenol for treating for internal parasites, you dont soak the food in treated water you treat the entire tank water, a 4 week course of that seems to have cured my puffer of his parasite problem.

started treating him yesterday but he didnt make it im still treating my other guy and will get him a new friend or 2 in a few weeks thanks for all the help any way guys

Sorry for your loss.