Deadeye’s Amazon Puffer Thread

[Deadeye]

Had a good fishy weekend…
First off, my aponogeton had all been wiped out when I treated for ich. Well over the past few weeks it’s been steadily coming back, and on Friday treated me to having a flower bloom:

Got some more Val and 2 new ludwigia super red:

Also I found a population of snails and what I think are copepods surviving in my planted tank.
And then the icing on the cake, molly fry! Really hard to get pics of them, but I’m super excited that they bred…I knew my hunch that one was pregnant paid off!

 

[Deadeye]

Finally got a pic of the two molly fry!
The bugs I found I believe are actually daphnia.

 

[Deadeye]

Realize it’s been a while since updating. Really not much developments. They’ve been growing still very slow, about 2 inches or so. Haven’t clipped teeth yet, still not long enough to need to yet.
All are extremely calm and barely glass surf.
Lost the adult molly last month to an internal worm, luckily I stopped it before it spread to anyone else.

 

[Deadeye]

Well I’ve made a really big mistake.
I decided to dose chemiclean for some cyano that was beginning to get out of control. Me being stupid said “I don’t need to drain the water or add an airstone, it can’t be that bad.”
Well turns out it can. This morning one of my puffers was belly up, listless on the plants. Quickly time for a water change to get the chemiclean out, and moved him into a bucket with an airstone. Water change completed, no sign on one of them (likely died overnight and was eaten by the loaches). The other two are in the bucket, as the remaining one started acting bad. The first guy isn’t looking so hot but may recover, but I’m not confident. The latest one to look sick is improving and I think he will make it.
My advice, follow the directions - they are there for a reason…

 

[Deadeye]

They don’t seem to like the bucket…but appear to be making a good recovery!

 

[Deadeye]

Back home!


They are still a little out of it, moving slowly and a little listlessly. I figured the tank is better than the bucket though. They seem to be slowly coming back to their senses. My biggest worry is that the oxygen deprivation could have caused lasting effects. I’ll continue to monitor.
I thought about clipping teeth while I had them, but they had a rough enough day.

 

[Deadeye]

Sorry for the roller coaster:
The two quickly went back to how they were this morning. I’m pretty sure my theory about brain damage is correct. Both are back in their bucket, I’d call it a hospital tank, but I think hospice is the right word. I’m not confident they will make it to morning.
I found the last puffer, dead under a rock.

 

[xenacanth9]

Woah, haven't checked this thread in a while. Bummer of the year. Really sorry to hear. Wishing the best

 

[Deadeye]

Woah, haven't checked this thread in a while. Bummer of the year. Really sorry to hear. Wishing the best

Thanks. They seem to be doing better in the bucket…perhaps the only fish do do better in a bucket rather than a tank…they are actually starting to move around. But once they go into the tank they started getting bad. Maybe another water change tomorrow will do it…
I’m really hoping they make it. I tried to think of other things I could do with the tank and none of them excited me as much as the puffers.

 

[Deadeye]

So back in the bucket…the fish are doing great…
So something is up in the tank…I’ll never not follow instructions again.
Lost a tetra or 2, moved one of them to the bucket.
Looks like another wc + carbon.
I’ll post test results in a minute. Is there a test for dissolved O2?