Puffer Prob

[puddle_inc]

I dont know exactly whats wrong, but my new puffer did great the first day and the second day was pretty good. Now today he has been just kinda floating at the top. Not dead, but like he is justkinda hanin out and floatin. If i touch him he will go down and lots of bubbles will come from his gills.

Is he just getting some air? Is he just hangin out at the top on purpose? Is this normal? Is something wrong? Could he die? What do i do?

I'm real worried i have done something wrong. I have had many fish, and i breed guppies and snails but this is the first puffer i have ever had. He is a green spotted puffer.

He has some foggy looking egg type thing or something on his tail fin. I have a freshwater flat clam in there with him, they are very helpful in my tanks. Anyway, i have heard that the freshwater clams like that cann attract a fish with it's foot or tongue (some people call it different things) and then shoot eggs to the fishes back end. Could he just be hosting some eggs and just be hangin around at the top? Whats going on!?

Sorry if i sound annoying on this post but i'm real worried something is wrong!

 

[DarkEntity]

How big is the tank, what other things are in the tank. What are your water stats and how long has the tank been running?

 

[puddle_inc]

i started cycling the tank and getting it ready about a week before the puffer was put in. it's a very young one in a 10 gallon. everywhere i have read a 10 gallon is fine for a small one. he is only maby a couple inches long with his tale.

the water stats are good, i don't remember exactly what everything was but the water was fine. he has some fin tears because of walmart having other fish with him but his torn parts of his fins are starting to grow back.

his diet so far has been pond snails, and ghost shrimp, plus if he ate any of the pellets or flakes i feed the ghost shrimp and snails.

it seems everythign is normal but he has just been going to the top today. once he was on the bottom for a while, he started to swim to the top and just kinda floated around. he is alive and everythign and he will swim if you touch him (very carefully).

is this normal? or could it be a problem?

 

[Flumpus]

I may have missed it, but I don't think you said what kind of puffer it was. You posted in the brackish forum, so I would assume it's one of the brackish puffers.

 

[Fella]

We really need the exact stats for the water, including salinity if available.

Also, cycling for one week for a puffer typically isn't sufficient. he sounds like he is suffering from ammonia poisoning.

Change out 75% of the water, add new, clean water. For now, I would avoid salt. Try and get hold of some filter bacteria and add that to your filter. You can get these from media from established filter, or bio-spira if you're in the US.

Check the water stats again. You'll need to fully cycle. Don't feed within this time.

Once the parameters are normal, and he is no longer swimming in the dirty water, then consider changing the salt level and upgrading the tank.

 

[puddle_inc]

Ok, thanks alot for the help! I'll try to get water stats as soon as i can. One last question, can this be fatal?

I may have missed it, but I don't think you said what kind of puffer it was. You posted in the brackish forum, so I would assume it's one of the brackish puffers.

I'm real worried i have done something wrong. I have had many fish, and i breed guppies and snails but this is the first puffer i have ever had. He is a green spotted puffer.
^
|
thats his type---------------------------- (bad arrow)

 

[Flumpus]

Oh, you did say green spotted puffer, my bad...

Ya, I agree with Fella. If you have any friends with fish, get some mature media for them (part of a sponge, or some filter media they're changing out, anything like that), otherwise maybe go to a fish store and see if you can get anything from them, even if it's just some gravel in a stocking or something.

 

[DarkEntity]

i started cycling the tank and getting it ready about a week before the puffer was put in. it's a very young one in a 10 gallon. everywhere i have read a 10 gallon is fine for a small one. he is only maby a couple inches long with his tale.

the water stats are good, i don't remember exactly what everything was but the water was fine. he has some fin tears because of walmart having other fish with him but his torn parts of his fins are starting to grow back.

his diet so far has been pond snails, and ghost shrimp, plus if he ate any of the pellets or flakes i feed the ghost shrimp and snails.

it seems everythign is normal but he has just been going to the top today. once he was on the bottom for a while, he started to swim to the top and just kinda floated around. he is alive and everythign and he will swim if you touch him (very carefully).

is this normal? or could it be a problem?

You never cycled the tank prior to adding the fish, so basically your fish is suffering ammonia poisoning. my 125litre tank too 3-4 weeks to cycle and thats a comminuty tank. Puffer from what i understand need the best water conditions of most fish. Have a read of the Cycling Sticky's.

you will need to take daily water readings imo and try to control it from there. Try get some mature filter material to help the process.

 

[puddle_inc]

i started cycling the tank and getting it ready about a week before the puffer was put in. it's a very young one in a 10 gallon. everywhere i have read a 10 gallon is fine for a small one. he is only maby a couple inches long with his tale.

the water stats are good, i don't remember exactly what everything was but the water was fine. he has some fin tears because of walmart having other fish with him but his torn parts of his fins are starting to grow back.

his diet so far has been pond snails, and ghost shrimp, plus if he ate any of the pellets or flakes i feed the ghost shrimp and snails.

it seems everythign is normal but he has just been going to the top today. once he was on the bottom for a while, he started to swim to the top and just kinda floated around. he is alive and everythign and he will swim if you touch him (very carefully).

is this normal? or could it be a problem?

You never cycled the tank prior to adding the fish, so basically your fish is suffering ammonia poisoning. my 125litre tank too 3-4 weeks to cycle and thats a comminuty tank. Puffer from what i understand need the best water conditions of most fish. Have a read of the Cycling Sticky's.

you will need to take daily water readings imo and try to control it from there. Try get some mature filter material to help the process.

i cycled it, but not long enough...


he has passed away now....




i'm gonna throughly clean the tank and start cycling with some more equipment. how long do i cycle? 3 weeks?



after the tank is perfect for him i'm getting another. he will be the happiest puffer that ever came from walmart! wait.... could buying him from walamrt be part of the problem? shuld i go to petco or petsmart instead?

 

[Flumpus]

A few things...

First, you cycle until you're done. There is no set time period.

Second, while a 10g may be fine for a small puffer, it is only fine for a very short period of time. I got my GSP when it was about an inch long. It's now over two inches, and it's been a little over two months I think. Anyway, he's in a 75g, and he swims around a lot. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting him in anything smaller than a 30g at this point.

Finally, do you have any plans for raising the salinity? If you got something like a Figure 8, you'd have a little more flexibility, but with a GSP, especially one already 2" long, it needs some salt pretty quickly.

It's good that you're doing your research, but please make sure you have what you need, or at least have plans to get it in the near future before you get the fish.

 

[Zafirah]

What are you feeding him...he could jsut be stressed from moving

 

[kev350d]

What are you feeding him...he could jsut be stressed from moving

his diet so far has been pond snails, and ghost shrimp, plus if he ate any of the pellets or flakes i feed the ghost shrimp and snails.

But like he said his puffer has died, better luck with your next one and im positive you will be more aware of their needs this time, my wife nearly bought two a couple weeks ago as the lfs assistant informed her they were an exellent addition to our community tank and were fun to watch happily bobbin around... Im so glad she didnt take her word for it

 

[Flumpus]

Not sure if you were trying to quote me or not, but I didn't say what you quoted.