Dwarf Puffers In Bad Shape

[DanielAnderson]

I have/had 3 dwarf puffers in a nano aquarium. It has been set up for over a month now but i recently returned from holiday to find the tank covered in algae and the nitrite measuring 0.5!! I quickly did about a 50% water change and scrubbed off all the algae to find it was still high so on saturday i did another 50% change. Eventually the nitrites have gone down to 0.05 but the puffers seem really weak and i have seen them at the surface panting a few times. However, they have eaten so i don't know what's the matter.
the reason i say have/had is because my third puffer went missing after the first change. What could have happened to him??
Thanks

 

[This Old Spouse]

He may have succumbed to the nitrite poisoning and been consumed. What were your ammonia levels? 
 
I think it would have been best to have done a 90% water change right off. Doing 50% would have brought those levels to .25 which is still dangerous.
 
Do you have decorations in your tank? Could the third puffer be under something?

 

[dannyboi91]

how big is your tank?
from what i understand puffers are very messy fish so need very regular water changes depending on the size of the tank and how many you have.
have you checked everywhere like filters etc and around the tank its amazing where fish can get into.
. Its also possible that they could have had a fight and killed and eaten one of them if too cramped or reaching sexual maturity.
I believe it is recommended that you have around 20L (5Gal) per fish and to be careful with the genders.
im sure you already know all this.
 
 
if in doubt check out this website  http/www.dwarfpuffers.com/

 

[DanielAnderson]

i have a few polished rocks i got from my LFS and a fake plant and sand as my substrate. I looked under all decorations and dug around a bit but can't seem to find him. I don't have an ammonia test but nitrate is 5 if that helps


I have a fluval spec 10L (3 gal). the people at my LFS said 3 would be fine but i know now that i shouldn't really. They are all females but the one that is missing was kind of the runt of the group but how long would it take them to eat it? i mean it literally disappeared within 12 hours

that could also explain why they didn't eat much (but still did eat)

 

[This Old Spouse]

Could it have jumped out? 

 

[DanielAnderson]

it's possible but the only time i ever saw this puffer was hiding in the plant

 

[This Old Spouse]

Look all around the outside of your tank, behind the filter outflow, etc. Do you have any 4-legged pets?
 
I've had fish disappear, but only in my 55g. Gone without a single trace. But in a 5g? I suppose it's possible the other 2 ate it, but seems unlikely.

 

[DanielAnderson]

have looked everywhere around the tank. It's species only but there is a second identical tank next to it that's heavily planted with loads of hiding places. Could it be in there?

 

[dannyboi91]

In a tank that size i think you are going to be looking at a lot of water changes very often and I would recommend getting tester kits for all the nasties asap as you need to keep an eye on your water quality very closely in a tank of that size with puffers.
personally i would try to get a bigger tank as soon as possible as  they may well become aggressive towards each other and you may end up losing all of them. 
 
in my experience never trust your LFS they are there to sell. I always research heavily into my next fish after joining this forum and discovering there were many problems with the set up I had.

 

[DanielAnderson]

thanks for all your help, that just might be the solution

 

[colleen0309]

have looked everywhere around the tank. It's species only but there is a second identical tank next to it that's heavily planted with loads of hiding places. Could it be in there?

It most certianly could be in the other tank! I have lost guppies and swordtails and found them in the next tank or the one below it.