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Hey there,
So I just got this little guy a few days ago...Not sure if he had been eating, as I never physically saw him eat, but a few ghost shrimp disappeared...Anyways, yesterday he was just swimming around normally, nothing wrong at all. Right as Im about to go to bed, I notice him laying upside down on the bottom. He's still alive, and as I netted him I noticed he couldn't maintain balance at all, and would spin in circles, hit the ground, etc when he was let go. What the heck happened, any ideas???? I have 4 tiger barbs in there are they're healthy as can be. TIA

What species of puffer was it? What size is the tank and what are the water parameters?

Did the fish have any sort of physical symptoms (frayed fins, discoloration, etc)?

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

So sorry about your puffer dieing

edith

Hello There,
I Also Have A Leopard Puff In A 55 Gallon Tank That Is Loosing Color On Back Half Of The Body And The Front Half Is Darkening. It Doesn’t Want To Eat And Is Back Fins Are Barely Moving. Its Mouth Is Wide Open And Gasping Alot. Just Noticed This Behavior Today, And The Day Before It Was Lingering Around The Heater (Witch Is Set At About 78-79). All The Other Fish Are Doing Fine.
Does Anyone Have Any Ideas???????
Thanks Lynicas

Phone this number they will help you.
All consumers with urgent needs please contact Tetra Care Team at
1-800-423-6458.
I did and they are grate people to help a good company.

edith

thanks i will try and give them a call.

have a great day!!!

lynicas

Hi lynicas
Just wondering if you got ahold of tetra and how it turned out. I hope they were able to help plz let me no
Edith

edith

First thought that springs to my mind is this. Was your puffer by any chance Tetraodon nigroviridis?

Quite a few of these are sold in fresh water, but should, strictly speaking, be kept in brackish water of increasing strength as they grow older, until by the time they're around 5 years old, they're in fully marine water.

However, there ARE some dealers that know this, and actually sell their Tetraodon nigroviridis in brackish water!

If you picked up one of these, then put it in fresh water, chances are it wasn't very happy.

When buying Puffer Fishes, the key points are:

[1] ALWAYS research the species of interest in advance, and take special note of those species, such as tetraodon nigroviridis, that require specialised maintenance conditions;

[2] ALWAYS check the provenance of your specimens at the dealer's - is the species you're looking at one that needs brackish migration as described above, and if so, is the dealer selling it in fresh water, or has the fish come from a brackish tank at the dealer's?

If none of these issues apply, then the other likely possibility is that the fish suffered a swim bladder derangement. Two different kinds of swim bladder derangement are possible - one that can be alleviated with careful nursing and the feeding of laxative medicated foods (constipation in some fishes can result in swim bladder disorders, which if caught in time are treatable), and one that can't be alleviated because it's connected with central nervous ystem damage of some sort. Corydoras catfishes can sometimes fall foul of the former kind, and be brought round with a course of laxative medicated food. Puffers are something of an unknown quantity to me with respect to this, but I suspect that any Puffer Fish encountered with a swim bladder malfunction is a terminal case.

Having just delivered that discourse, another problem springs to mind. If a Puffer Fish is allowed to inflate itself with air instead of water during its defensive inflation reaction to stress or fright, then there is the possibility that it will be unable to deflate itself properly. Puffer Fishes require care and attention if they are being transferred from one aquarium to another, or being bagged for shipment. If the Puffer Fish was handled incompetently during bagging, and inflated itself with some air, this could contribute to it being unable to regain normal bouyancy and orientation control when it arrived at your home. Some older books mention how Puffers will inflate if placed on the hand and tickled (the venerable Innes book is one of these) but one should NEVER subject a Puffer Fish to this treatment, not only because stressing the fish to the point of triggering its defensive reaction purely for entertainment purposes is unspeakably cruel, but because the complications that can arise if the fish inflates itself with air can prove fatal. To get an idea of the kind of distress involved, imagine what would happen if someone stuck a hose down your throat and filled your stomach with 40 litres of water from the tap just for the fun of seeing what you'd look like when blown up ... if you survived the ordeal, you'd probably want whoever did that to you indicted and imprisoned.

Puffers have a host of specialist maintenance issue associated with them. The above is just a sample of what to expect when you take on these sometimes delightful, yet sometimes demanding, fishes.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002