# Help me please spotted puffer ill?



## kacie5288 (Dec 3, 2006)

All my leves are good temp good to sp we went and got a green spotted puffer fish from our local pet store last night he had seemed to be doing well but just a few mins ago he was in one of the rocks kinda on his side with his tail bent all the way up by his side i thaught he was dying and he was there for a few mins and then swam out but he is wobbly and he had a potty string when he came out of the rock he looks very unstable i am new to these fish and dont know if this is normal please help me


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Need more information. Please answer the following:

Tank size:
Ammonia:
Nitrites:
Nitrates:
pH:
Temperature:
Salinity:
Tankmates:
Was the tank cycled and if so, how:
What chemicals if any are used (declorinator, etc.):


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## kacie5288 (Dec 3, 2006)

i just took these levels amonia.25-.5/nitrate.0/nitrite.0/hardness300/alkalinity300/ph8.4.... 29 gal tank contains 2 goldfish 1.5 inch/goldfish 1 inch/3 cichlids 1 inch/ cychlid .5 inch/ algea eater 1.5 inch...80 degress.... added some cycle last night. the fish is eating fine. the gold fish are going into a diff tank in the morn. the ammonia is it to high i have some ammonia tablets should i add some its 1 per 10 gal. also i have some fish salt i havent added any should i. i've been feading the puffer frozen brian shrimp. i did just add the cichlid babies about 3 hrs ago.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

You need to take the GSP back to the store. You do not have the appropriate home for it and its going to die if you keep it. Your tank is badly overstocked, a GSP requires 30g minimum all by itself. If it lives, it will maul and/or kill all of the other fish in that tank. It requires high end brackish water (using MARINE salt not aquarium salt), freshwater will shorten its livespan and cause all sorts of health problems, but none of your other fish can survive in the brackish water. Puffers are extremely sensitive to nitrites and ammonia and should ONLY be introduced into fully cycled tanks. DO NOT use ammonia tablets or you will definitely kill it.

Please take it back before it dies.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Did you listen to ANYTHING we told you? Take LL your fish back. They will die.


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## kacie5288 (Dec 3, 2006)

when i put the goldfish in the other tank in the morn that will only leave the 4 baby cichlids the puffer and the alge eater these cichlids full grown will only get about 2-3 inches they are dwarfs the puffer itself is only an inch. so the tank will not be over stocked it is in its means. however is my puffer acting like this cause he is not used to the tank or do they just do that or ill


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

It Is Not An Appropriate Home For The Puffer And Yes, It Is Badly Overstocked. As I Said, Gsps Require A Minimum Of 30 Gallons *alone*. And It Has Much Different Water Requirements Than The Other Fish You Have And Is Incompatible, And It Is Going To Attack Them If It Does Live. You Are Killing Them.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

As I said, they will die. First off, green spotted puffers are a saltwater fish. Second, BRING BACK ALL OF YOUR FISH. The tank is not cycled #1, #2 even if those cichlids do only get 2-3 inches (which I doubt since you said before you were going to get yellows and blues) then tank would still be overstocked and incompatible.

I dont mean to offend you... but you dont know what you are doing. You should bring the fish back before they die, then ask us for advice.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

I just really don't understand the thinking here. You wouldn't take a large dog and stuff it in a tiny crate, would you? Or put a known viscious dog in a crate with a passive dog? Fish should be given no less consideration than any other animal IMO. When we take responsibility for them, part of that responsibility is to give them the best home possible and not be selfish enough to stuff them into inappropriate environments that will be detrimental to them. If you can't care for something properly, you shouldn't have it.


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## Clauzilla (Dec 16, 2005)

you know i have been reading this and I thought spotted puffers where salkt or brackish water but my Walmart has been getting them in every week. They do not look like they are doing well and by the 2nd day they are biting each others fins and they have spots on them and any that don't sell die quickly after according to the fish guy, he said the main store orders and they just get what comes in the shipment....he said they were told they were fresh water, although they look just like the ones that they are selling as salt water in the pet store.


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## kacie5288 (Dec 3, 2006)

i have actually been reading on the internet this entire time and what my puffer is doing is normal and 87% of what i have read about people who have them in community tanks love them and have no probs out of one puffer they also say they are in the wiid brakish fish but if they are captive born in freshwater or low salt they will do fine too so i think i got it coverd but thanks for all the input it really helped


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Rather than reading a bunch of crap on the internet, why not go to www.thepufferforum.com and talk to the people who actually have experience in keeping GSPs for DECADES and who specialize in puffer care. If you truly want what is best for your fish, you will do what is right. Although its pretty obvious that you don't really want advice about any of your fish and don't really care how to responsibly care for them, you'll do whatever you want no matter what. Can't say we haven't tried to teach you though.

And fyi, GSPs are NOT captive born. There are few, if any, reports of GSPs being bred in aquaria. 99.9% of them are wild caught.


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## Guest (Dec 9, 2006)

Boxermom knows her stuff...I'd listen to her if I was you. 

You haven't really taken any of our advice that we have generously offered. Our concern is for the fish....


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## kacie5288 (Dec 3, 2006)

don't say i havent taken any advice all i did for weeks is read this forum and bought a bunch of stuff i prob didnt even need in the first place, i know the ammonia is a little high but it is a heck of alot lower than the tank it was in at the pet store and the pet store actully got his puffers from a local dealer who does breed them at his home it was not wild caught as well as the rest of his fish he only deals with the local breeders in his area and for that matter i had stopped by 2 pet shops before picking up my puffer and they both get them from the same person i chose the cheaper of the two. my question was never answered all i wanted to know is if the behavior it was displaying was normal or a sign he was unhealthy from the store so i went to other places(several) to get the answer i need but what i did get from here was few of you being aggresive towards me. all my levels are fine of corse the ammonia is a little high um new fish added but i did a 25% water change anyway. thanks for all the replys that did help but no thanks for the aggresion and if its all the same to you guys im just gonna take anymore of my ques elsewhere. thanks again for those of you who did not bite my head off.


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## kacie5288 (Dec 3, 2006)

don't say i havent taken any advice all i did for weeks is read this forum and bought a bunch of stuff i prob didnt even need in the first place, i know the ammonia is a little high but it is a heck of alot lower than the tank it was in at the pet store and the pet store actully got his puffers from a local dealer who does breed them at his home it was not wild caught as well as the rest of his fish he only deals with the local breeders in his area and for that matter i had stopped by 2 pet shops before picking up my puffer and they both get them from the same person i chose the cheaper of the two. my question was never answered all i wanted to know is if the behavior it was displaying was normal or a sign he was unhealthy from the store so i went to other places(several) to get the answer i need but what i did get from here was few of you being aggresive towards me. all my levels are fine of corse the ammonia is a little high um new fish added but i did a 25% water change anyway. thanks for all the replys that did help but no thanks for the aggresion and if its all the same to you guys im just gonna take anymore of my ques elsewhere. thanks again for those of you who did not bite my head off.


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

If you've been reading the forum for weeks, then you already know that goldfish require bigger tanks. You already know that you have totally incompatible fish both in regards to their temperments & water chemistry needs. You already know that your tank is overstocked and you already know that "ANY" ammonia is not "All my levels are good". Since you already know these things, should we assume this whole thread was just to bait people?

I don't usually jump on the bandwagon, but...

You aren't pulling the wool over anyone's eyes but your own.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

serioulsy. You dont need to get all defensive- you really HAVENT followed our advice. You have a brackish/saltwater fish in freshwater, the rest of your fish are incompatible, and your tank is not cycled.... What dont you get about that last part? The fish will die, for the third time. If you really do care about them, take them back. There is not such thang as ammonia being a little high, and If the people who you are listening too know their @$$ from their elbow, they will tell you the exact same thing we did. If they tell you something different, im afraid they are just telling you what you want to hear.

Just dont come crying back to us with dead fish.


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## Puffer Pita (Jun 16, 2006)

Christine said:


> I don't usually jump on the bandwagon, but...


I know, I feel bad on one hand, but on the other, I don't. I try to be patient, especially because I know the vast majority of time, people buy puffers without knowing anything about them (and unfortunately the LPS/LFS clerks don't know much either). So they end up getting a fish they learn have completely different requirements than they thought. Most people I've run into, though, are willing to learn what to do and will try to do all they can for their fish, even if it means finding another home for it. I've spent hours talking with someone on IM as we nursed his sick puffer to health. 

There's not much I won't do to help someone (or a fish) out if I can. I just got home from a 2 hour round trip drive where I went to pick up someone's sick GSP. It was in a 5g tank, unheated, freshwater, and not doing well at all. Knowing that she wasn't able to provide the proper conditions for it, she asked someone if they could take it off her hands and nurse it back to health (it has a skin issue from being in an inappropriate environment). So my husband and I drove out to get it and its currently in my hospital tank undergoing treatment with Pimafix and Melafix. I'm very hopeful that it will pull through nicely, at which point it will go into another temporary tank where the salinity will start being raised slowly so that it can go into my mature brackish tank.

I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, just saying that I'll go out of my way to help someone who truly wants help and truly has the best interest of their fish at heart. But I have little patience with someone who doesn't care what they are doing to their fish, just so long as they (the person) have what they want. Even if it means killing the fish. Its okay, its just a fish. They'll just go out and get another one to replace it. :-x


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

kacie5288 said:


> don't say i havent taken any advice all i did for weeks is read this forum and bought a bunch of stuff i prob didnt even need in the first place, i know the ammonia is a little high but it is a heck of alot lower than the tank it was in at the pet store and the pet store actully got his puffers from a local dealer who does breed them at his home it was not wild caught as well as the rest of his fish he only deals with the local breeders in his area and for that matter i had stopped by 2 pet shops before picking up my puffer and they both get them from the same person i chose the cheaper of the two. my question was never answered all i wanted to know is if the behavior it was displaying was normal or a sign he was unhealthy from the store so i went to other places(several) to get the answer i need but what i did get from here was few of you being aggresive towards me. all my levels are fine of corse the ammonia is a little high um new fish added but i did a 25% water change anyway. thanks for all the replys that did help but no thanks for the aggresion and if its all the same to you guys im just gonna take anymore of my ques elsewhere. thanks again for those of you who did not bite my head off.


Man, sounds like you are just the customer for this guys store. First he obviously doesn't know what he's doing if his ammonia levels are off, and then he feeds you some bull about the brackish puffer for you to buy it and stick it into your tank so it dies a few months/days later and you can buy from him again! He's stealing money from you the easy way, by making you purchase things you don't even need. Such as CYCLE. Cycle is totally useless and will not bring your levels down. 

Good luck in your future fish keeping... if you keep going down this road, it'll be a short dead end.


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