My puffer has something wrong & tank is red

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pipelinerswife

Guest
Hi all,
We have had a 150 gallon saltwater tank for almost 2 years now, we have 2 clowns, and one puffer. I am not sure of the type of puffer he is, he is very small (2"-3") and kind of a greyish green with speckles.. doesn't "puff" or look rounded like other puffers.
We bought him when he was healthy. Our clownfish are perfectly fine.
The puffer however, for a month now, is displaying serious problems. He sinks, stays rested on his side on the tank floor, can sometimes choose to get up and "swim", but his swimming consists of bobbing in the current, and getting blown around by the jet waves and then he settles back on the tank floor sideways. He also keeps his tail curled. Can puffers get swim bladder? I thought he'd be dead as soon as we found him this way, but its been over a month so I am assuming he still eats enough to stay alive, he just doesnt come up to the surface to eat anymore.
Our tank has developed a red algae like thing, the floor is covered in a thick red/brown coating, and our rocks too. What is it? Could it be the culprit?
It is my husbands tank, and with him rarely home it hasnt gotten the best care.. the water is line is probably 4 inches too low, so I am wondering if high levels could effect the puffer (but if so, wouldn't it effect the clownfish who seem happy?) What should we do to properly test the water, and should we do a water change since its gotten so low?
Anyway, would love input.
 
dethsight

dethsight

Member
well, im sure most of the more senior members would tell u to take some pictures if possible. helps alot. :)
as for the small puffer, if im correct, it could be like one that i have. a leopard puffer. mine is bright green on top with black spots and a white underbelly. if they aren't the same species, im sure they are closely related.
as for the algae, the one red algae that comes to mind is the Cyano or however its spelled. or, Red Slime. not sure what the best method to get rid of it is, though.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
The "red algae thing" definitely sounds like cyano or dinoflagellates. More likely, it's cyano, since you're saying that the tank is being neglected. A low water level means that the salinity has probably risen, as well as other unwanted things such as nitrates, and possibly phosphates, ammonia and nitrities. Siphon out as much as possible with a turkey baster.
Do you have any test kits? Can you get us some numbers?
As mentioned above, pictures do really help. Video of what the fish is doing would also be helpful.
What are you feeding and how often?
What type of filtration is on the tank?
 
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pipelinerswife

Guest
ill try and post pictures tonight! tank has a penguin biowheel 350 filter if thats what you are asking.. We also have 2 power heads but 1 broke so half the take doesnt have proper current. And Im sorry this tank is a 55 Gallon, I got confused because we have another SW tank that is 155gal
 
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pipelinerswife

Guest
OK here is a video of the fish. I never "bug" him like in this video, I am gently trying to get him to swim up with the tank cleaner thing.. his behavior is most noticeable when he swims and sinks down. As you can see he mostly stays on the bottom and is extremely hesitant to move, even with an object coming near him. (and he's a nice fish that is tamed to peoples hands while feeding, but he's never just sat there like this when we cleaned the tank)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpubGNvV98&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I can upload pics of the algae stuff, but this video shows some of it. It covers our rocks, and most of the tank floor.
Admittedly, we got this tank 2 years ago before having a baby, was all gung-ho but then baby was born and the tank kind of took back burner! We don't have near enough rock in it, and its very neglected. : The clownfish are extremely hardy, I will give them that! I want to get the tank NICE, or sell it so someone else can!
Selenity right now is at 1.024 and my husband said he recently tested the nitrates and ammonia a month ago and it was all good.
 
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pipelinerswife

Guest
Also I googled cyano/red slime and THAT IS IT, it looks exactly like whats all over our tank. What can we do?
 
dethsight

dethsight

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipelinerswife http:///forum/thread/386208/my-puffer-has-something-wrong-tank-is-red#post_3390846
Also I googled cyano/red slime and THAT IS IT, it looks exactly like whats all over our tank. What can we do?
as BTLDreef said, use a turkey baster and siphon out what u can. i know Fish Stores tend to carry different products that claim to "kill/eliminate" Cyano, but i have not tried them so i cant say how effective they would be.
not sure whats up with the puffer. and its not the kind i have lol. mine is technically a Brackish puffer. i know they do tend to "rest" on the bottom when they are tired and whatnot. my brackish one does that from time to time. usually after he manages to steal a piece of shrimp from the big Porcupine Puffer.
 
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pipelinerswife

Guest
Well mine isnt just resting... poor guy, when he gets caught in the current, he spins and spins, bumps into glass, hits rocks, etc......
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
It is my husbands tank, and with him rarely home it hasnt gotten the best care.. the water is line is probably 4 inches too low, so I am wondering if high levels could effect the puffer (but if so, wouldn't it effect the clownfish who seem happy?) What should we do to properly test the water, and should we do a water change since its gotten so low
Welcome to the site. Um first and foremost...put some fresh RO water in there and bring the SG back to normal by bringing the water level back where it should be. There is no way your SG is reading correct if the water line is 4 inches low. Your hydrometer may be off. The cayno isn't the real problem but a symptom. Clown fish can handle a neglected tank much better than most fish.
Your video does'nt show how much rock is in there. You can't trust a water test from a month ago, that is not recently. With all that cyano you have an abundance of phosphates. If you were to test for phosphates you would get a false negative because the cyano is feeding on it. You need to clear the cyano as best you can with the turkey baster and do water changes. But that is not why the puffer is sick.
Do you have the surface water moving?
How much rock?
When was your last water change?
Are you using tap water, your own RO (Reverse Osmoses) water or store bought water?
What type of power head do you have? If it is a maxijet I can talk you through a method of making a spray bar from PVC pipe, it will increase your water flow and still use just the one power head. I had my 2 PHs go bad on my 90g, so I did this with a spare utility pump I had. It may not look so good but it will save the tank in a pinch. I zip tied it up in the tank in this picture.
 
dethsight

dethsight

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anggawijaya http:///forum/thread/386208/my-puffer-has-something-wrong-tank-is-red#post_3390917
i have zebra fish... and i want to buy the female one... can any sugest me...
Regards
**Please don't spam with links to other sites**
welcome to the site
but i think ur in the wrong place for watning to trade/buy fish...u can start a topic if u want advice, but its a bit off-putting to jump into another post that has nothing to do with that, IMO.
 
cryptics

cryptics

Member
What do you feed the puffer? I learned the hard way if you feed them almost exclusively Krill they can develop lockjaw. When this happens they can inhale the food but can not move their mouths to chew it and usually spit it out. They will slowly starve to death.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
I had the same Blue Spotted puffer, and in the end, my died in exactly the same fashion. Just sort of floating around the tank.
I drew two possible conclusions. First is that there is possibly some missing link in their diet. Your puffer definitely looks underfeed and malnourished (in the vid). Mine was always feed great foods, and had a great body weight to him, up until about a 1 week before he dead. I really suspect some type of internal organ failure.
The other is that these Toby puffers (Canthigaster genus) have a shorter then normal life span. I had mine for 3 years and was purchased about the size he dead at. If you purchased yours large and lived for + years in your tank, he very possibly could have reached the end of his lifespan as well.
In the end, I believe it is most likely a combination of both. Aquarists probably aren't feeding something that they normally eat in the wild, leading to shorten lifespans.
 
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pipelinerswife

Guest
We feed the puffer fish the same thing we feed the clowns - Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 Flakes. The advice for this food was given by a fish store - NOT a petstore (we do NOT go to *****, petsland or anything) but an actual fish store that specializes in salt water fish. But since then, they closed, so I am not sure where to go now. If this is not right, what should we feed him?
Do you have the surface water moving? * Yes but with 1 power head but it reaches enough to move the opposite side of the tank..
How much rock? * 15lbs of reef rock, and the sand we have was bought live (50lbs)
When was your last water change? * We've never fully changed the water. He's taken 30% out before, but never 50% or more.
Are you using tap water, your own RO (Reverse Osmoses) water or store bought water? * Store bought now, distilled. He was buying RO but everytime he used RO from the store the levels would go SKY HIGH.
As for the age of my puffer, no clue, we haven't had him as long as these clowns. It's been less than a year. He was totally fine until a month ago. We used to have a Goby, but the Goby died a while back of unknown causes. And we had a cleaner shrimp (had him before the puffer knowing he might become dinner), and eventually, the puffer did get a midnight snack one night!
 
dethsight

dethsight

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipelinerswife http:///forum/thread/386208/my-puffer-has-something-wrong-tank-is-red#post_3391082
We feed the puffer fish the same thing we feed the clowns - Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 Flakes. The advice for this food was given by a fish store - NOT a petstore (we do NOT go to *****, petsland or anything) but an actual fish store that specializes in salt water fish. But since then, they closed, so I am not sure where to go now. If this is not right, what should we feed him?
Do you have the surface water moving? * Yes but with 1 power head but it reaches enough to move the opposite side of the tank..
How much rock? * 15lbs of reef rock, and the sand we have was bought live (50lbs)
When was your last water change? * We've never fully changed the water. He's taken 30% out before, but never 50% or more.
Are you using tap water, your own RO (Reverse Osmoses) water or store bought water? * Store bought now, distilled. He was buying RO but everytime he used RO from the store the levels would go SKY HIGH.
As for the age of my puffer, no clue, we haven't had him as long as these clowns. It's been less than a year. He was totally fine until a month ago. We used to have a Goby, but the Goby died a while back of unknown causes. And we had a cleaner shrimp (had him before the puffer knowing he might become dinner), and eventually, the puffer did get a midnight snack one night!
puffers prefer meaty foods. like chopped up shrimp/clam. they aren't much for flakes, although my puffer seems to eat anything i toss in, including Algae Wafers. the whole thing. lol.
but try giving your puffer some shrimp or clams. he might not accept it at first, but when he realizes what it is, he should dart after it.
 
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pipelinerswife

Guest
Going to be hard finding somewhere that carries it. He seems so sickly though.. We have these pinscher grasp things we had when we used to have an eel (by the way, just because an eel is tiny and a clownfish is huge does not mean the eel wont eat Nemo, lol) and I have dropped them down by him just to see if he was dead once, and he wont even move. He's so unresponsive, so I dont know if he would even try to eat if we offered him something. Surely he does eat somehow though, because he's stayed alive...
We do have frozen cubes of ocean nutrition formula 2 - isnt that more meaty? We gave that, and frozen fish to our eel who loved it.
 
dethsight

dethsight

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipelinerswife http:///forum/thread/386208/my-puffer-has-something-wrong-tank-is-red#post_3391089
Going to be hard finding somewhere that carries it. He seems so sickly though.. We have these pinscher grasp things we had when we used to have an eel (by the way, just because an eel is tiny and a clownfish is huge does not mean the eel wont eat Nemo, lol) and I have dropped them down by him just to see if he was dead once, and he wont even move. He's so unresponsive, so I dont know if he would even try to eat if we offered him something. Surely he does eat somehow though, because he's stayed alive...
We do have frozen cubes of ocean nutrition formula 2 - isnt that more meaty? We gave that, and frozen fish to our eel who loved it.
well, if hes that unresponsive, it may be a losing battle.
 
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cuccaro

Guest
You can go to ***** or petsmart and get brine shrimp mysis ext try that. There is no problem feeding them that the clowns will love it to
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
try fresh seafood from the grocery! They should have a fresh seafood area....maybe a sm piece of fish and mince it up!
 
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