Puffer dies...But WHY?!?!

that ph is a little too high for dwarf puffers, they prefer a neutral ph. I suspect that is the reason for the loss of fish, puffers are sensitive to water conditions and a ph of 8.0 is a little bit of a problem.

It is very possible that your puffer had internal parasites that he contracted not in the store but in the wild. I love puffers and keep some and read a lot about them from different sources. There is one reason why these fish slowly waste away that is mentioned way more often with puffers than with any other fish. It is the internal parasite(s). Puffers are mostly wild cought and lots of them come with that problem. It is very hard to actually spot healthy puffers in the stores. When you go in most of them are nearly dead and close to starvation. This is not only noticed by me but by many aquarists I have spoke to. I am not saying that I am 100% sure this was the cause of your puffer's death, I am only suggesting that this might have been what killed him. Often times when everything is perfect in the tank, it is those internal parasites that kill our lovely fish, so don't blame it on yourself.

When shopping for puffers I use this as a rule. I look around the tank for any healthy individuals (no signs of the usual pests, visible with naked eye) with round bellys without any bulges (irregularities) on them. I pick active ones rather than those hanging on the water current. It is also a good idea to ask the store clerk to feed them to see if the accept the food. If they readily accept dry pellets , you're off to a better start. Sometimes even if they don't I will still buy them just to save their @ss. If they don't eat at home I would start with live adult brine shrimp and then slowly change to dry/frozen/live mix on regular basis.

Oh, by the way, make sure that when you introduce them to your tank you don't expose them to air much as some may be freightened and "blow up". If that happenes they will gulp air and look bloated. This will not allow your puffer to swim about the tank but would force him to swim near the surface. If the fish is unable to get rid of the air you may have to artificially "burp it".

Dwarf puffer's water in the wild is up to pH 8.3. A tank pH of 8.0 is just fine for them.

??? I was under the impression a neutral to 6.5 was ideal for dwarfs?

you learn something new everyday...

Puffers will do fine in 8,0.

Possibly...

MyShrimpDied said:

Is it possible he contracted a disease while he was at that hellhole Petsmart and then only survived for about a month after I bought him? It makes me more mad than anything else.

Click to expand...

I know my figure 8 had parasites when I brought him home from Petco almost 2 years ago. I had to quarantine and treat him with Hex-A-Mit. So yeah, always quarantine a new puff just to be sure.

How are the others? All still doing ok?