The Puffer Forum

I bought three little Pea Puffers about three weeks ago from a fish store and all seemed well until yesterday. One small guy became very dark colored, almost green, and he is usually a light brown with spots. He is very slow swimming, if he swims at all. He keeps sitting on the sand at the bottom most of the time and never eats. He appears to be breathing really hard. Especially when he swims across the tank. My tank water is at 78 degrees and the puffers live with two swordfish, three neons, two black angelfish and four suckers who are all doing fine. Please help! I feel so terrible looking at the poor thing! Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Thank you,
Cheyenne

What size tank is it? How long has it been set up? How did you cycle it? What are the current water parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates)?

Please read the sticky at the top of this forum & answer as many questions as you can, so we can help you better.

I have a 55 gallon tank which has been set up for about 1 month. I use two filters that suck through the sand and a layer of foam to clean up the water as well as one smaller charcoal filter. My water is ran through bleach since we get our water from a well so I use Chlorinex Complete to eliminate the amonia in the water. I havent checked nitrates and nitrites since I set it up. Im ashamed to say I dont know what they are!

I'd do a 50% water change right away, then get the water tested out as soon as possible. Many times fish health issues are water quality related.

I'd still like to know the answers to the questions above. We really can't help you without that.

I believe the Chlorinex Complete will get rid of chlorine/chloramines, but doesn't do anything for ammonia. You really need to read up on the nitrogen cycle of a tank.

As Nick said, do a very large water change right away. Get some Prime to declorinate the water, which will also detoxify the ammonia and nitrites that are most likely killing your fish. Try to find Biospira and add it to the tank. ONLY Biospira has the correct live bacteria needed to cycle the tank, nothing else in a bottle works so don't let them talk you into anything else.

Pea (dwarf) puffers do not make good community fish, as they tend to attack and bite fish much bigger than themselves. In addition, angels will eat anything that fits into their mouths, including neons and pea puffers, which can cause additional health/death issues.

Thank you guys.
I did the water change as soon as I saw the post but sadly, my buddy passed last night while I was asleep. The angels are so small yet that they keep to themselves in the back of the tank still and the puffers hang out together away from all the other fish, they just pick on eachother, nothing terrible though. I try to keep fish of the same temprement together. Thanks again and Ill keep you all posted!
Cheyenne

Sorry to hear that. Swords, neons, angels and puffers all have very different temperaments IMO. Don't let the cute little faces fool you, my DPs were more vicious than any of my other puffers and killed and ate fish much larger than themselves, and they get more aggressive and territorial as they age IME. I didn't listen to others here either and thought I could keep various puffers in various communities. I was proven wrong each time. With the exception of SAPs, I would never keep another puffer with any other fish.