Sick Puffer....Help!?

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venuskitty1.618

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 5, 2008
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:confused: I have had my Fahaka puffer for 5 or 6 months. Every so often he starts acting like he is about to die. I am very puzzled and at a loss as to what to do. The ammonia level fluctuates between 0-0.25. The highest I have seen it is 0.5. The PH level is steady at about 7.4-7.5. The nitrate and nitrite levels are zero and trace. The water temp. is about 76. I do water changes every 1.5 -2 weeks, more than that seems to stress him more.

Now on to the symptoms. He gets lethargic, but then he will zoom in small little circles and fly into the corner of the tank or under the bubble wall. He literally lays on the rocks. This time he seems pretty bad. He is barely fluttering his fins. I am very worried. He color gets dull when he is like this as well. Sometimes he seems almost disoriented, bumping into things or falling sideways. He has snapped out of this before, but I don't know if he will this time. Please help?:(
 
What's its diet like? How big is the tank? What kinda filtration? I'de up the waterchanges....A LOT. AT LEAST every week but bein the messy bastids they are I'de say twice a week. It might seemed "stressed" cause water chemistry is going to change drasticly when you go from 1/2 month old water to new. Up the changing schedule and the chemistry won't "dip" like it does now. I know mine is far from active all the time....... And I consider him layin around to be pretty normal...but it's your fish and you know it better than I do....
 
^^ I wouldn't up the water changes yet if you have no nitrites and limited interm ammonia (which is slightly weird considering you don't have any of the other stuff. .)

how large is your tank, water temperature?

have you tested the water your changing with? (i.e. the source of the water. dechlorinated?) except for ammonia and nitrites, their pretty hardy fish.

do you keep it with other fish?

and yes, diet. What are you feeding it?

Tank decoration is important also.
 
His diet is mostly krill, mussels, and bloodworms. He gets snails occasionally, but he doesn't seem to like them. I tried a crayfish before, but he was a little too small and the crayfish scared him. The tank is 75g. There are no other fish in with him because of his aggressive nature. The water temp stays between 76-78 F. The filtration is one Emperor 400 and one Emperor 280. The tank has rock on the bottom, some fake plants, and three rock formations. He likes to hide in the rock caves sometimes. He can be a pretty lazy fish, but he is acting like he is laboring to breathe. Right after I posted the original thread, he turned nearly white and stopped moving and breathing entirely. Then he seemed to snap out of it, but he is still on the bottom laboring to breathe. His color did darken back up. I am baffled.
 
I highly doubt that Nitrate is trace. If the water is only changed twice a month and you're properly feeding a Fahaka it is going to be way more than trace.
If it was mine it would have a fresh waterchange with salt @ 85. But like I said that was IF it was mine and mine was acting wierd.
 
Will the added salt stress him more? I am almost afraid the water change itself will kill him. Should I raise the temp any since he is ill?
 
I'm not sure what the salt is supposed to be for--not necessary. Start with doing 25% WC/day for a week & see if that helps him. Add several airstones or a long bar. What test kits are you using?
 
Pufferpunk;2033228; said:
I'm not sure what the salt is supposed to be for--not necessary. Start with doing 25% WC/day for a week & see if that helps him. Add several airstones or a long bar. What test kits are you using?
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I did a 50% water change last night. He seems to be better today. I am using ammonia test strips. I also have a strip that test nitrate, nitrite, PH, hardness, and alkalinity.

I did notice something, actually my boyfriend noticed it :). There was a orange colored algae on two of his rock formations. I don't know if it is a coincidence or not, but the last two times he has acted sick, it has been after I used the scrubber to knock it off in the tank. I am fairly new to aquariums, so I don't know alot, but could that be what made him sick?

I really appreciate all of the help! So does Edward the Puffer!;)
 
Test strips are crap. Get yourself a liquid test lit. Keep up with daily water changes for a week.
 
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