Spotted Puffer turning black

[TheDee7916]

Hello all! This is my first post...I've been having a lot of problems figuring out what is going on (lots of Googling and forum searching to no avail) and hoping that someone here can provide some insights.

I have 2 spotted puffer fish -- in 30 gal bowfront tanks (seperate). Have had them since October 2022. One is thriving, the other is turning black. I assumed it was a parameter issue, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Parameters are:
Temp = 80-81F
GH = 180 mg/L
KH = 0-40 mg/L
pH = 7.5-8.0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0
Ammonia = 0
Hydrometer Reading = 1.009

Feeding a combo of frozen shrimp and bloodworms, and live ghost shrimp and snails. Feeding every other day.

Water changes are weekly with about 25-50% water changed. Water conditioned with Prime.

The only thing I can think of is parasites, but I'm not sure what it would be or what to treat with. No white spots present, and belly looks skinny not distended. Puffer is eating, though I would say not as much as the other one who is normal coloration and swimming around. Mostly it hangs out either resting in a cave or on a rock, but will swim around (just again, not as active as my other one). At this point, the puffer is fully black, you cannot see any spots, and has been like this for a few weeks as I've tried to figure out what is going on.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Deadeye]

Welcome to the forum!

Could you post some pics - it would help a lot in figuring out what’s up.
Are the surroundings dark at all? Any recent changes to the environment?
I assume these are green spot puffers?

 

[TheDee7916]

Here you are. A few of the puff, and the tank set up. Sorry for the photo quality - I need to wash the outside of the tank lol.

There has been no changes to the environment - the tank is the same as when I set it up (just a little more algae since, no tank cleaner ).

You are correct - green spotted puffers

 

[The Morning]

How are you testing for nitrates? Very unusual to see them at zero.

 

[Deadeye]

Does it’s eye have a white patch like that or is it just the reflection?
I know that bichirs turn black if they are blind - could be the same for the puffer.
Is it always at the top like that?
The dark color is likely a stress coloration , not sure about internal parasites, unless you’ve been seeing white poop. It might not hurt to try treating though, as puffers are very susceptible to those problems.

 

[TheDee7916]

Test strips for the general parameters, and ammonia. Because I've been having this issue, I've been testing the water probably an overkill amount. NO2 and NO3 are just about white, maybe a tiny tinge of color when I took them this morning, but barely showing anything.

The puff does not have white on it's eye - the reflection / dirty outside of the tank thanks to kid fingers lol. It is not always at the top - it moves from top to bottom, and likes to rest inside the cave/plants or on the gravel.
I have not seen white poop.
I did just retest the water temp with a different thermometer (friend recommended to try it) and it is not the same as what my heater is reading (much lower), so I am going to go get a new heater after work today. Would the temp being too low cause that stress pattern?

 

[The Morning]

One thing that I have noticed in my tank is that the water starts to get the green tinge to it when I miss a water change. Generally when this happens the nitrates are also climbing. I have a 150 and do 75% water changes at least 1x per week often times 2x. I might suggest you get the API test kit as it seems to be more reliable than the test strips. Knowing what you are feeding the puffers might warrant more frequent and larger water changes.

 

[Deadeye]

Test strips for the general parameters, and ammonia. Because I've been having this issue, I've been testing the water probably an overkill amount. NO2 and NO3 are just about white, maybe a tiny tinge of color when I took them this morning, but barely showing anything.

The puff does not have white on it's eye - the reflection / dirty outside of the tank thanks to kid fingers lol. It is not always at the top - it moves from top to bottom, and likes to rest inside the cave/plants or on the gravel.
I have not seen white poop.
I did just retest the water temp with a different thermometer (friend recommended to try it) and it is not the same as what my heater is reading (much lower), so I am going to go get a new heater after work today. Would the temp being too low cause that stress pattern?

Temp may cause issues - depends on how big of a swing it is.
For now, treating it like a param issue seems to be the best bet. I’m not seeing any obvious signs of disease.

 

[tlindsey]

Hello all! This is my first post...I've been having a lot of problems figuring out what is going on (lots of Googling and forum searching to no avail) and hoping that someone here can provide some insights.

I have 2 spotted puffer fish -- in 30 gal bowfront tanks (seperate). Have had them since October 2022. One is thriving, the other is turning black. I assumed it was a parameter issue, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Parameters are:
Temp = 80-81F
GH = 180 mg/L
KH = 0-40 mg/L
pH = 7.5-8.0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 0
Ammonia = 0
Hydrometer Reading = 1.009

Feeding a combo of frozen shrimp and bloodworms, and live ghost shrimp and snails. Feeding every other day.

Water changes are weekly with about 25-50% water changed. Water conditioned with Prime.

The only thing I can think of is parasites, but I'm not sure what it would be or what to treat with. No white spots present, and belly looks skinny not distended. Puffer is eating, though I would say not as much as the other one who is normal coloration and swimming around. Mostly it hangs out either resting in a cave or on a rock, but will swim around (just again, not as active as my other one). At this point, the puffer is fully black, you cannot see any spots, and has been like this for a few weeks as I've tried to figure out what is going on.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Welcome aboard

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

Clamped fins and darker colors almost always indicate illness or stress in a lot of brackish puffers. I've personally never really seen puffers turn black from colder temps, but then again I haven't really had to deal with major temperature swings in a while. I would recommend gradually raising salinity and temperature; GSPs tend to fare better health-wise in salt levels of around 1.015 SG in my experience, especially as they age. What sort of hygrometer do you use? Hygrometers tend to be somewhat hit-or-miss, and oftentimes different products will display different salinity levels for the same water. I've used refractometers, and although they're a bit confusing and delicate, they seem to be more consistent in their readings. Have to agree with the others that it might be a nitrate issue; from what I can see, there appears to be some decaying plant matter. Stepping up water change efforts might help. Test strips can expire or get contaminated; might be best to check water params a different way. If nothing seems to improve within a couple weeks, try medicating for parasites.