Please help save Gus Gus

[boalgf]

I don't know what is wrong with my puffer. Overnight his eyes got extremely cloudy. Now he is laying at the bottom of the tank not eating (very unnatural for him) and only moving in quick bursts of energy between comotose states. He doesn't appear to have ich or any disease or discoloration. Water is fine, other tank mates are fine. No ammonia, no nitrites, 10 nitrates, 8.1 ph (but it is very constant), 1.024 salinity. I keep the temp a little high at 81. Please help, I love this puffer. I've had him the longest. I'll try and get a good pic of him now. Until then, here is a cute pic of him to motivate responses!

 

[fishmamma]

Oh, I am so sorry to hear you think Gus Gus is sick. What a beatufil fish! I hope someone can give you some insight as to what may be going on soon. Good luck with him.

 

[who dey]

what are you feeding gus. you need to feed him crunchy food I used to feed mine live gold fish which had bones to file down his teeth or else the fish will not be able to eat and will gain stressfull symptoms like the ones your describ

 

[boalgf]

I feed him live ghost shimp. shrimp from the store that are still in the shell, silversides, and squid. There doesn't appear to be any problem with his beak. God he is doing horrible, hopefully he can kiick whatever is bothering him. Since I am out of ideas.
Is there ever anything else that can be wrong with water, other than things that tests can read??

 

[nicetry]

Sometimes, a large water change is all it takes to turn things around, in spite of your readings. Do a 25-30% wc using aged, aerated saltwater. Was this fish ill at all recently, as in exposed to ich?

 

[boalgf]

How aged does the saltwater need to be? I normally let mine sit around for at least a day before a water change. I did one two days ago. But I'll do eight more if need be.

 

[nicetry]

Originally Posted by boalgf
How aged does the saltwater need to be? I normally let mine sit around for at least a day before a water change. I did one two days ago. But I'll do eight more if need be.
24 hours is recommended minimum. Do you have a quarantine tank available? If, after a substantial watr change you don't see improvement, antibiotic therapy might be your next line of defense. I'd suggest setting up a Q tank now.

 

[boalgf]

Gus gus has passed on. =( I've never had a fish's health deteriorate this fast. I still have no clue what the problem was, everything else in the tank is fine! Damn this hobby!
I do appreciate the help given though.

 

[805puffer]

Sorry to hear. My puffer did the same exact thing. One day he was swimming and happy, then the next he was lying on the ground and swimming quick burst. He also died. Good luck in the future.

 

[beth]

So to hear the bad news. By chance did Gus inflate for any reason? Or was he removed from the water at all?
How are the other fish doing? What do you have in the tank? Have you noticed any aggression?
Did you just feed Gus before you noticed this problem?
BTW, feeding pufferfish goldfish is a bad idea and really has little nutritional value for any marine animal.

 

[boalgf]

Hey beth, he hasn't inflated since I put him in the tank 6 months back. I fed him some ghost shrimp and regular shrimp that had been soaked in zoe also. There is a lion, foxface, zebra eel, emporer angel. There was some slight aggression between the emporer and the foxface but it ended after the first week. I never feed any of my fish goldfish. I noticed the problem the morning after his normal feeding. I feed him once every 2 days. I didn't introduce anything new in to his diet though. All of the other fish are fine and healthy.

 

[fishmamma]

That is upsetting. I am sorry you lost Gus Gus.

 

[porcpuf]

Sorry for the loss.