Dont know whats wrong with my puffer

[pufferlovergirly14]

My puffer is having trouble swimming. It has trouble swimming and when it trys swimming to the bottom it struggles to stay under. Swim bladder problem?? i have no clue whats wrong with him and im worried about him
Anybody with a green spotted puffer fish or know what may be wrong with him?

 

[pamelarowley57]

I must embarrassingly admit that we just bought two of these adorable little fish on Sunday and this morning both of them were dead....

I don't know if I did anything wrong or if they were just not healthy (came from walmart) I was planning to do a slow drip conversion to brackish, but hadn't done that yet.

I think my problem was poor water quality. Unfortunately I just cleaned (overcleaned) the tank and filter and there is a lot of excess food laying about. I got too lazy!

I do wonder if there are things that are different about them that I need to read up on because I LOVED them! They are so cute and I want to try them again.

 

[KaylNeko]

Puffers aren't a good fish to cycle the tank with, so that would be my first instinct. If you seeded the filter with enough biomedia from your other tanks, I'd think weak livestock. Then again, if you really overcleaned, you may have kicked it into a mini-cycle, and puffers (again) don't deal well with cycling tanks from what I've found.

A slow acclimatization to brackish is a good idea for future reference--I think I read raise it so many degrees every week or two so it's a very slow change. Check into shifting fish from freshwater to brackish--there are a lot of articles online about it--and invest in a hyrometer.

 

[pufferlovergirly14]

Ive had my puffers for three years. Its swimming on its back too i dont know what to do. I dont want him to die:'(

 

[KaylNeko]

It's possible at 3 years he's reaching the end of his life cycle. Try a new thread? You might get more hits.

 

[Terrance]

Oh I just saw one of your post: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-in-my-green-spotted-puffers-cage-191334.html

Your fish is dying due to improper care. Read this for proper care: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f29/green-spotted-puffer-profile-174144.html

 

[Alyxx]

It's possible at 3 years he's reaching the end of his life cycle. Try a new thread? You might get more hits.

GSP's can live for way longer than that if cared for properly. They are fairly sensitive fish, partly due to being scaleless fish. They should never be in a cycling tank and they need clean water always. They are wonderful little fish if you take good care of them, though. I have three and they are my babies.

 

[KaylNeko]

Just a suggestion--I've read 5 years, so less than ideal conditions would probably shorten that. Considering I've been mixing up the puffers--too much research! *lol*---it wouldn't surprise me if I got that number fixed on the wrong puffer in my head, though.

 

[Alyxx]

Just a suggestion--I've read 5 years, so less than ideal conditions would probably shorten that. Considering I've been mixing up the puffers--too much research! *lol*---it wouldn't surprise me if I got that number fixed on the wrong puffer in my head, though.

GSP'S can live upwards of 10-15 years.

 

[KaylNeko]

Told ya I got it mixed up I shall file that one under the correct puffer information. Thanks ^_^

 

[Alyxx]

No problem!