philthefish
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi all,
Will try and give you a clear and concise history of my tank and my troubles and hopefully get to the bottom of the problem once and for all.
I have a 55g set up for around six months. About 40lb LR, Eheim 2215 canister, CPR Bakpak Skimmer. Amm 0, Trite 0, Trate 25ppm (just switched to RO), pH 8.1, temp 79, SG 1.023
After some initial cycling problems, the tank finished cycling a month or so ago and had one inhabitant (small picasso trigger). My troubles begin 3 weeks ago......
I wanted a porcupine puffer (I realise when fully grown I will need a bigger tank, but I have at least a 125 planned when I get my conservatory built early next year). The LFS advised there would be no compatibility problems with the Trigger.....A week after getting him he died. He'd never eaten, and in the last couple of days he was just hiding in the rocks breathing heavily. Advice from a different LFS was that because the trigger had been in there for nearly 3 months he had probably killed the puffer.
I left the tank for a week and went fish shopping at the weekend. My LFS had a medium dog faced puffer on offer which I bought. I got home and removed the trigger (who was traded in for a small Valentini at the same LFS). So I have two new fish in a fully cycled tank.....for 2 days anyway!.....The Dog Face took a couple of hours to settle in and then came out and was happy swimming round the tank....The Valentini settled in straight away and also appeared happy in his new home....
The dog face never ate on day 1 or 2 (which was not a huge concern, but I thought it a bit strange with a big puffer). The Valentini was picking at bits of the food though.
On day 3 (yesterday) I came down in the morning and noticed that the dog face was curled up on top of a rock and the rear of his body near the tail appeared to be 'caved in'. He didn't look happy at all (glazed eyes, not much movement). A couple of hours after that, he started to struggle swimming round the tank and started bobbing his head in and out of the water. This went on for 20 minutes and then he popped his head out of the water and puffed up a little bit. He deflated within a minute before falling to the bottom of the tank and dieing. At this point, the Valentini still appeared healthy.
A few hours later, the valentini had developed the same 'caved in' lower and rear body and a few hours after that was struggling on top of a rock (heavy breathing).
All water parameters are fine and have been double checked by my LFS. I have no idea what is doing this. Please somebody help!
I have a photo on my home PC (I'm currently in work) of the dog face and his abnormal body which I will post later.
Will try and give you a clear and concise history of my tank and my troubles and hopefully get to the bottom of the problem once and for all.
I have a 55g set up for around six months. About 40lb LR, Eheim 2215 canister, CPR Bakpak Skimmer. Amm 0, Trite 0, Trate 25ppm (just switched to RO), pH 8.1, temp 79, SG 1.023
After some initial cycling problems, the tank finished cycling a month or so ago and had one inhabitant (small picasso trigger). My troubles begin 3 weeks ago......
I wanted a porcupine puffer (I realise when fully grown I will need a bigger tank, but I have at least a 125 planned when I get my conservatory built early next year). The LFS advised there would be no compatibility problems with the Trigger.....A week after getting him he died. He'd never eaten, and in the last couple of days he was just hiding in the rocks breathing heavily. Advice from a different LFS was that because the trigger had been in there for nearly 3 months he had probably killed the puffer.
I left the tank for a week and went fish shopping at the weekend. My LFS had a medium dog faced puffer on offer which I bought. I got home and removed the trigger (who was traded in for a small Valentini at the same LFS). So I have two new fish in a fully cycled tank.....for 2 days anyway!.....The Dog Face took a couple of hours to settle in and then came out and was happy swimming round the tank....The Valentini settled in straight away and also appeared happy in his new home....
The dog face never ate on day 1 or 2 (which was not a huge concern, but I thought it a bit strange with a big puffer). The Valentini was picking at bits of the food though.
On day 3 (yesterday) I came down in the morning and noticed that the dog face was curled up on top of a rock and the rear of his body near the tail appeared to be 'caved in'. He didn't look happy at all (glazed eyes, not much movement). A couple of hours after that, he started to struggle swimming round the tank and started bobbing his head in and out of the water. This went on for 20 minutes and then he popped his head out of the water and puffed up a little bit. He deflated within a minute before falling to the bottom of the tank and dieing. At this point, the Valentini still appeared healthy.
A few hours later, the valentini had developed the same 'caved in' lower and rear body and a few hours after that was struggling on top of a rock (heavy breathing).
All water parameters are fine and have been double checked by my LFS. I have no idea what is doing this. Please somebody help!
I have a photo on my home PC (I'm currently in work) of the dog face and his abnormal body which I will post later.