View Full Version : my puffer dying!
PufferNewbie
05-04-2003, 5:40 PM
i just went home for 9 days but left my puffers in my room... I talked to my LFS and apparently they dont have any snails or ghost shrimp so i ended up getting 3 feeder fish instead..
i just came back yesterday and ****.. all 3 feeders alive and kicking... my puffers been starving all these time ( one figure 8 + one green spotted) and worst of all, the tank is FULL of ich!!
my figure 8 barely moves around now with ALOT of salt-like spot!
i quickly clean did a water change using a gravel cleaner and added some maracide...
what else can i do?
( i live in campus so i dont have any " hospital tank" ) :(
Pufferpunk
05-04-2003, 6:04 PM
Goldfish? Baaaad idea!!! :rolleyes: They are full of diseases, as you can tell. Maybe having fish in a place you can't care for full time is a bad idea too. What are you going to do in the summer? Ok, enough of the berating. ;) Raise the temp to 86-87 degrees & add a tbsp of salt/5gal (if there's no salt in there already). Do an 80% water change every other day. You don't need a hospital tank, the parasite has affected all the fish & is living in the water column. Be carful with all meds, as puffers are scaleless fish. Use at 1/2 recommended dose. How large is the tank?
PufferNewbie
05-04-2003, 6:43 PM
im moving my tank back home for the summer for good :P but i got 9 days break between my winter and spring term so :P yeh
its a 20gallon
Pufferpunk
05-04-2003, 7:01 PM
Are you sticking your tounge out at me? I'm not the one that left my precious puffers for nine days with 3 disease-ridden goldfish. I was trying to help you.
cdawson
05-04-2003, 7:34 PM
Originally posted by PufferNewbie
i just went home for 9 days but left my puffers in my room... I talked to my LFS and apparently they dont have any snails or ghost shrimp so i ended up getting 3 feeder fish instead..
i just came back yesterday and ****.. all 3 feeders alive and kicking... my puffers been starving all these time ( one figure 8 + one green spotted) and worst of all, the tank is FULL of ich!!
my figure 8 barely moves around now with ALOT of salt-like spot!
i quickly clean did a water change using a gravel cleaner and added some maracide...
what else can i do?
( i live in campus so i dont have any " hospital tank" ) :(
you fed feeder fish to puffers...baaaaaaad idea. =(
rjl420
05-04-2003, 10:21 PM
yea, not really a good choice feeding em the feeders, would have been better off feeding em real good and just letting them fast for the 9 days (especially since they didn't eat the feeders). fish can naturally go a pretty good amount of time between meals. I guess the auto feeder never panned out?
all you can really do now is ride out the ich life cycle. doing what pufferpunk suggested is your best option, but you must be rigourous in your water changes to remove the free swiming cysts. what is your current salinity? is there any salt in the system to start with? I assume there has to be some kind of salt since this is the brackish forum, but we need to know a little more specifics.
MELAFIX! MELAFIX! MELAFIX!
That is the only kind of meds I have ever used on any of my fish.
I agree about the goldfish. NOT GOOD!
If any feeders are used guppies or silversides (silversides rare to find live at LFS). Of course Silverside are way to big for puffers unless you have a full grown puffer (4+ inches)
What is the salt level?
What I would have done is bought some crabs, shrimp, and snails.
The shrimp would have been eaten first. then when they were all gone the puffers would eat the crabs or snails which are a little hard to get into, plus the crabs are a little smarter, they hide and can some what protect themselves for a little while.
Loading a tank with live food for fish such as puffers is not the best idea just prior to a vacation. It has happened all too often that the puffer goes on a rampage and kills much or all the live food without eating it, then the decaying "food" overwhelms the biofilter and fouls the tank. Just the addition of significant live food itself can do the same - such as three goldfish of any size added to a 20 gallon tank previously housing only a puffer.
Pufferpunk
05-05-2003, 9:20 AM
Robert, I thought the same thing. I just realized this is the same guy that we had a long thread with about what to do when he went on vacation. We all tried to help him with good answers & the conclusion was to get ghost shrimp & snails, or feed well & leave alone for 9 days, or get an automatic feeder. Goldfish wasn't even mentioined. Why even ask us?
PufferNewbie
05-06-2003, 2:39 AM
yeh i was trying to plan it out during my finals but since i dont have a car yet i didnt really had a chance to go around looking to buy an autofeeder and rig it .. i did say i would get a bunch of snails/shrimp.. but i end up only having time to go to one fish store ( wrote my last exams on 2 pm, done packing at 5pm, bus at 6:30pm, my orginal plan was my mom coming up to pick me up *3 hours away*, and she would drive me around the different LFS looking for some snails or shrimp or what, but we ended up having a snow storm here so i had to rush to take the bus home while i still could * 47cm worth of snow mine you. .. and its stilll snowing now, yes in May* )
and as i said on my first post i asked for snails and shirmp and they had neither, and the LFS suggested the feeder. ( since im still new in the fish business.. and when i asked him if my puffer will actually kill it.. he said he would demonstrate and threw a feeder into a tank of 3 green spotted thats about half the size of mine. and they chased after that feeder immediately)
so as desperated as i am i had to grab the feeder and hope for the best.. and now im trying to deal w/ the consequence of my poor decision
PufferNewbie
05-06-2003, 2:44 AM
i dont have one of those salt-meter, but im adding ~ 1 teaspoon ( 5ml) for every 5 gallon of water change ( as suggested by my LFS)
OrionGirl
05-06-2003, 8:22 AM
This the same LFS that suggested putting the feeders in there?
Pufferpunk
05-06-2003, 3:34 PM
I was just wondering the same thing. You absolutely need a hydrometer. You can get one from the same place we recomended you order the autofeeder from, www.bigalsonline.com. I use a SeaTest, by Aquarium Systems. 1 tsp/5gal isn't nearly enough salt for these fish. What kind of salt are you using? You need to raise the specific gravity in that tank to at least 1.008 & higher as they get larger. To acheive that, it takes around a cup/5gal, but you need a hydrometer to be sure. You will also have to raise the SG over a matter of several weeks/months. Just because the puffers were chasing the feeder, doesn't mean they ate it. I'm sure you now realise the consiquences of the diseases they carry. I hope you are also learning how much your lfs knows about puffers...NOT!
PufferNewbie
05-06-2003, 6:09 PM
Thanks for the advice, my fishs are as active as before i leave now and the white spots are disappearing fast. 2 more days left on the Maracide treatment, and as you guys recommanded i cutted the dosage in half
to answer some questions:
Im using " instant ocean" salt.. i was at first told to use Aquarium salt.. then i was told that it doesnt do anything.. then i was told to use normal table salt... never did that.. then i was told any yet another LFS to use the instant ocean and thats what im using right now. I'll defintly go pick up a hydrometer when i get home in a few weeks.
they are different LFS if u wondering.
What should i do w/ the feeder? should i just flush it down the toilet alive?
Pufferpunk
05-06-2003, 6:17 PM
I think the best way to euthanize a fish is take the fish & tankwater & put into a baggie into the freezer. The fish goes to sleep & then freezes.
Take the feeders back and get some frozen or freeze-dried food that is made to feed your puffer.
Throwing them into the toilet and flushing them is adding to the problem.
Fish that aren't naturally found here cause problems dead or alive. Live they compete for food and live or dead have bacteria and foreign diseases that can spread to native fish wiping out hole population or species of fish
Example:
The Europeans bringing carp over to North America as a source of food in the colonial days. Carp eat trout eggs and disturb other fishes breeding beds.
GET INFORMED is the only advice.
You have made the first step by asking the questions.
Second follow the advice.
Third be prepared before taking the responsibility, i.e. books and/or other research.
Fourth have a back-up plan.
We as fish owner have a responsibility to take care of these fish, to give them a good home, with clean water, the right food, and the right conditions so they can live a good life.