Looking After A Gsp

[BobRivers]

Hi

I have my GSP in a 15g tank it is just under 2" and will move to my vision 260 when I re-house my other fish. I have kept tropical for over 2 years and have learned quite a bit but seem to be struggling with Brackish water. As in previous postings I found that I have killed my good bacteria with adding to much salt to my water changes(learning curve) ,I was using a hydrometer which wasen't the most accurate.

I have done 50% water changes for the past two weeks (its a pain but it was my fault) my nitrite is slowly coming down I have not been adding salt just trying to get my tank cycled. I am hoping to add salt soon but will do it very slowly

My GSP hangs at the back all day and goes up and down the glass it is starting to annoy me as I belive this is a sign of boredom.

I have even tried moving the decor about to try and change its behavior.

The tank has plenty of bogwood,plastic plants rocks ect but he just goes up and down the back I thought they would be more exploring can this be becuse of the stats in the tank nit is down to 0.15 amm 0.8 Ph 7.2

I know what the stats are not good but better than I have had.


The colouring on the fish is good no brown patches on the belly its nice and white it also feeds very well with snails, prawns mussels, bloodworms. It also feeds most items from my fingers although I think it would like my fingers more.

Is there anything more I can do to get the fish to use the whole of the tank?

Help appreciated.

 

[groovitudedude]

It's good that he's feeding. Do you plan on eventually having him in complete marine conditions?

 

[BobRivers]

It's good that he's feeding. Do you plan on eventually having him in complete marine conditions?

Maybe when I gain more experience as they are high end Brackish fish and also do well in marine conditions when they mature.

Do you have any Ideas as to why it swims up and down the glass all day?

Is this normal behaviour?

 

[Mr._Fishy]

Yes, pacing the glass is a sign of boredom. I would add more decor to the tank and maybe more current (not sure if gsps will appreciate the current but I know saps do).

 

[geo7x]

Puffers are very intelligent (as far as fish intelligence goes anyway) so they need lots of decorations and plants etc in the tank to interact with.

Puffers are also very sensitive to bad water quality so it is essential that the ammonia and nitrite is kept at 0 asap. Once this is done he may swim around more happily.

I was using a hydrometer which wasen't the most accurate.

You do not need an accurate hydrometer for brackish aquariums, the cheap bog standard one in your lfs is fine, there is no need to pay out to get an expensive hydrometer or refractometer or anything like that, they are a waste of money for brackish.

The reason for this is because brackish fish can cope fine with swings and unstabilities in salinity, as in their natural habitat in mouths of rivers (for example) the salinty of the water varies alot and obviously fish dont stay still, they will swim around the more freshwater currents as well as venturing out towards more salty water constantly.

Bacteria in filters can be killed by sudden changes in salinity however it would take a large jump to do them any harm, far more than the effect of an innaccurate hydrometer.

 

[BobRivers]

I,m just about to give up with my GSP I don,t know what else to do. I am still getting readings of 0.50 Nitrite after doing 50% water changes every day for over two weeks I am now sick of them. Last night i done an 80% water change and put water from my 260 vision into my 15G thinking this would help to re-cycle Tested my 260 Nitrite was 0 I have just done a test on my 15G and it is now reading 0.50 where is the nitrite coming from?

What else can be causing the reading ? What am I missing?

 

[BobRivers]

Bump

For my water changes, I am now going to take 30L from my vision 260(change every day) and use that will this be okay for the water changes to try and reduce the Nitrite quicker?

 

[ac106]

Bump

For my water changes, I am now going to take 30L from my vision 260(change every day) and use that will this be okay for the water changes to try and reduce the Nitrite quicker?

It will be ok in that it won't do any damage but no, it won't help reduce nitrite. There is little bacteria in the water. It is mainly in the filter media & substrate


I would do basically a 100% water change. Make sure the pH and temp are the same and then drip acclimate the puffer back into the tank with the new water. This will get your ammonia and nitrites to zero. Then do daily water changes until it cycles.

The puffer is acting weird because of the bad water.

The only way to speed up the process is Bio-Spira or a cloned filter.

If you don't do something, the puffer is going to die.

Wish there was a better answer for you.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Best thing I can suggest as you'll be knackering yourself with the water changes is to get hold of some Bactinettes - I've heard a couple of not-so-good reports, but mainly it gets a big thumbs-up from most people. Just in case you're not familiar with it, it's a live bacteria that seeds the filter and gets readings of ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates <10 in about 48 hours. It seems to be particularly popular with people who have tanks that've been running for a while and still have high nitrites.

It's available in the UK - down this end of the country it's available at Maidenhead Aquatics, but I'm not sure if you have those in Scotland. If you do get some, you must make sure it's been refridgerated wherever you buy it from - all the other 'fast cycle' products around that're just kept on shelves are pointless, just junk to add to your tank with no live bacteria whatsoever.

I'm literally going to buy some more tomorrow in preparation for my new congo puffer tank I think you can order it online if you can't get it from an lfs, but make sure it's been kept in the fridge.

Hope this helps!

 

[BobRivers]

Puffer not looking good today underbelly and body is very dark and it is refusing food.

The nitrite is now reading 0.25 so it is coming down but it may be to late(constant water changes for 2+ weeks)

I am thinking of moving the puffer to my community vision 260 for a little while with the other fish as the stats are good
would this be good idea or bad idea?

I don't think I have any option left

Help really appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

It depends how much you care about your community fish. If the puffer's ill it may well leave everything alone for as long as it takes you to get the tank fully cycled.....but it might not.

Remember that the GSP needs brackish and moving it in FW might just make things worse for the puff, even though that tank's cycled. How long have you had the puffer and what water was it kept in previously?

What's the SG of the puffer's tank at the moment?

Have you tried the Bactinettes?

 

[BobRivers]

It depends how much you care about your community fish. If the puffer's ill it may well leave everything alone for as long as it takes you to get the tank fully cycled.....but it might not.

Remember that the GSP needs brackish and moving it in FW might just make things worse for the puff, even though that tank's cycled. How long have you had the puffer and what water was it kept in previously?

had it for 3 months

What's the SG of the puffer's tank at the moment?

There is no salt as i was trying to get the stats correct as previosly Instructed as the salt was not a major Issue at the moment

Have you tried the Bactinettes?

Have not tried it yet.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

Best thing I can suggest then, as before, is to try the Bactinettes. Cycle the tank as quickly as possible - in 48 hours you should be reading 0 nitrites and 0 ammonia. For whatever reason the water changes aren't stabilising the tank quickly enough, so you need to try something else as well.

There's no doubt the parameters are harming your puff to some extent, but out of interest what diet is it on?

 

[BobRivers]

but out of interest what diet is it on?

He gets snails every other day I have MTs that I crush the shell first.
He eats prawns,Mussels,Bloodworms, earthworms and i have gave it crabs legs.

I think I will try Bactinettes although I don't really like adding chemicals to the water.

 

[Bonsai_girl]

I asked about the diet as myself and many others seem to have found a parasitic problem with some live foods, particularly bloodworm for some reason. I no longer feed bloodworm as a result, and thought this info might help in case your puff has caught something nasty on top of the water parameters.

FYI, Bactinettes isn't added to the water....they're little balls of live aquarium bacteria that you add to your filter. I've added mine to a new tank today, and used a filter net to keep them in the filter without being blown out into the water (not that it would matter so much in mine, they're not harmful, but your puff might try to eat them). Even if they don't help your water parameters, they certainly won't harm them....it's not a chemical product in the way we usually think of them, think of it as Actimel or Yakult for your filter.

If I were in your position I'd get some Bactinettes asap and do another large water change each day for the next 48 hours to reduce as much of the nitrite in the water as poss while waiting for the Bactinettes to do its thing.