Blue Spotted Puffer Not Behaving the Same

[nogli]

Hi. I have a 75 gallon tank with a blue spotted puffer, a pair of clownfish, a goby, and a starry blennie. My yellow tang recently passed. For about two weeks now, my puffer has been lethargic, not eating and hiding in the back of the tank. He used to always greet me and eat as soon as I put food in. He mostly stays a gray mottled color during the day and night. At night he sometimes is his brilliant self and swims some but quickly hides if I approach the tank. I'm really worried. I love this guy. Now, I'm useless with the tank. I've hired a company that comes to do the water changes every two weeks and give me advice on taking care of the fish. I've been feeding the puffer either a clam or mussel every other day. I feed frozen mysis or brine shrimp to the others and put in a sheet of seaweed each day for the the blennie (and previously for the tang). I've had the tank for about nine months now. Everything has been fine up until about 3 or 4 weeks ago. The tang apparently had fin rot. The guys came out on a Wednesday and did a water change and removed the carbon and I started treating with Melafix. The skimmer was going crazy so I unplugged. After the second dose the next day everyone had labored breathing. The tang and the wrasse died. I plugged the skimmer back in and it saved the rest of the fish. Apparently, they were not getting enough oxygen. I had the guys come back out on Friday and do another water change to get the Metaflix out as best as possible and put the carbon back in. I'm saying all this, but the fact remains that the puffer was acting out of sorts before all this happened. Any thoughts on what might be going on with my puffer? Constipation? Some kind of stress? Thanks.

 

[geridoc]

You are right - something less than good is going on in the tank, but exactly what is difficult to pinpoint. First thing I would do in my tank at home if I were having the same problem would be to measure ammonia, nitrite and pH in the water. It is especially concerning that it appears that your skimmer is so vital to your system - in a FOWLR tank this should not be! It means that there is inadequate circulation in the tank, and the water may have low dissolved oxygen, which is relieved when the skimmer is on. Do you have any powerheads in the tank? If so, be sure that they are causing surface turnover. If not, get one or two and set them to produce surface turbulence. This will maximize dissolution and distribution of oxygen in the water.

 

[nogli]

Thank you for your response. I went out and bought a test kit. The ammonia is .25 and the nitrate is 40 ppm; pH and nitrite are fine. I'm sure the nitrate is up because even though I've reduced the amount of food I'm putting in (1/2 cube twice a day) because the clown fish and goby are eating and I keep hoping the puffer and blennie will eat, I guess too much is still going uneaten. Maybe another water change? I'm looking into getting a powerhead.

 

[pegasus]

When it comes to Ammonia, anything above zero is not good. Fish can handle fairly high levels of Nitrate, but I'd flip out if mine got anywhere close to 40ppm. If the fish have been in the tank for a good while, and there is plenty of live sand and rocks, there should be no Ammonia present unless something is causing spikes... ie: overfeeding. Do you rinse the cubes before feeding? The gel that holds them together doesn't get consumed. I rinse my cubes in a net before feeding. Powerheads are crucial to keeping a tank healthy. Without them, food and waste settles on the substrate and between rocks and begins decaying almost immediately. This could account for the elevated Ammonia, which is the first stage of the Nitrogen cycle. Ammonia>Nitrite>Nitrate>Nitrogen. Most tanks get stuck at Nitrate, and require water changes to reduce levels. Deep sand beds can convert Nitrate into harmless Nitrogen gas that is released into the atmosphere, but that's a discussion for another day. For now, cut back on feedings and yes, do a water change to get the parameters back where they should be.

 

[pegasus]

1/2 cube twice a day for three fish is excessive, even if that's all they eat. I have 14 fish (yellow tang, two clowns, three gobies, etc.) that I feed Cobalt Mysis Spirulina Flakes twice daily... and ONLY what they can eat in three minutes or less. I supplement feedings with a SINGLE cube of frozen mysis once or twice a week. Did I mention that was for 14 fish? On even fewer occasions (once or twice a month), I feed two cubes. This is when I feed the fish AND corals. You may want to cut back on the frozen mysis and brine. As for the sheet of seaweed each day... how big is the sheet, and how long is it in tank?

 

[nogli]

I've never heard of rinsing the cubes first. I scoop water from the tank into a cup and swish the cube around until its defrosted then pour into the tank. Do you rinse the cube in a net until its defrosted? It doesn't leak through the net?

 

[pegasus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nogli http:///t/397796/blue-spotted-puffer-not-behaving-the-same#post_3547140
I've never heard of rinsing the cubes first. I scoop water from the tank into a cup and swish the cube around until its defrosted then pour into the tank. Do you rinse the cube in a net until its defrosted? It doesn't leak through the net?
You HAVE heard of rinsing the cubes first, because I just told you! LOL!!! Yes, I defrost the shrimp in a "fine-mesh" net to remove the packing gel by running warm tap water over the cube. The shrimp is large enough that I don't lose any of them. Since I use tap water, I make sure to remove as much water as possible before putting the shrimp in a cup of tank water and sucking them up into a turkey baster. The net I use is the blue Tetra net you find at Wal-Mart.

 

[huma2011]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegasus http:///t/397796/blue-spotted-puffer-not-behaving-the-same#post_3547142
You HAVE heard of rinsing the cubes first, because I just told you! LOL!!! Yes, I defrost the shrimp in a "fine-mesh" net to remove the packing gel by running warm tap water over the cube. The shrimp is large enough that I don't lose any of them. Since I use tap water, I make sure to remove as much water as possible before putting the shrimp in a cup of tank water and sucking them up into a turkey baster. The net I use is the blue Tetra net you find at Wal-Mart.
I do the same - rinse in the net, etc. - but I just put the net into the tank and swish it around until I get all the shrimp out. What is the need for the cup of tank water and the turkey baster?

 

[pegasus]

So I can spot-feed some of my corals at the same time I feed the fish.

 

[nogli]

Thank you all for your replies and advice. I've finally come up for air from meeting a deadline. I've taken your advice. I've put in a power head, and reduced the amount of food. After water changes, the ammonia level is zero. I'm testing the water regularly now. My fish are happy and doing well. I have a new yellow tang and will be getting a new fairy wrasse in a couple of days. Pegasus, 14 fish, wow. What size tank do you have? I'm thinking of getting a 150 gallon tank. Getting a bit addicted to the fish and want more.

 

[pegasus]

Glad to hear things are smoothing out. Yes, I have 14 fish... but there are a lot of smaller (2"+) fish in that number. I have a 125 gallon tank with a 30 gallon refugium, and I also tied a 40 gallon breeder tank into the system just recently. This would translate into 195 gallons of total water volume if it were strictly water, but sand and rocks displace a good bit of water, so it's probably closer to 175 gallons (total). That's just guess, so I'll include the disclaimer: +/- 20 gallons. A 150 gallon tank is a good size, but why stop there? LOL! JK... with 150 gallons, you won't be able to house "large" angels, but you will be able to house a wider and greater variety of (slightly smaller) fish. And yes, this hobby is extremely addictive... once the craving starts, you won't be happy until you get your fix.

I think a lot of us need counseling...