Puffer Help

[djmatthewblack]

My puffer didn't eat as much yesterday and didn't eat today. Now he is in the corner puffed up, never seen it puffed up before. I checked the water parameters and the nitrate is fine, I don't have any other testers though right now. It is a 10 gallon planted tank. Any ideas?

[alexarae]

what kind of puffer is he?

[djmatthewblack]

Green spotted. Still pretty young. I just did a large water change since that usually is the answer to most problems, thought maybe the nitrite or ammonia might be high since it is such a messy eater. I get alot of detrius from this fish.

[fishboyt]

They hate water changes. I THINK I heard that you can squeze them to get the air out, but don't do that until someone else says so also.

[fishboyt]

Imagirlgeek a puffer needs help!

[djmatthewblack]

It was puffed before the water changes. And the abnormal eating habits occurred yesterday. Normally it is extremely friendly and aggressive about eating. I had fed it a snail the day before the eating changes occurred, maybe there was something in the snail.

Water should be stable, and I turned off the light and hopefully it will stop puffing. It has been this way for almost 2 hours now.

[djmatthewblack]

It stopped puffing, though that normally doesn't happen. I will assume things are fine if it eats tomorrow.

[Nickintex]

If he puffed up, then he got stressed. What are his tankmates?

[djmatthewblack]

Oh man, it is only a 10 gallon, he is in there by himself/herself. It is a mystery what disturbed it cause it has become very comfortable with my presence, much like my angelfish that get excited when they see me cause they know I got food. It normally doesn't have a problem with my hand in the tank, and during water changes it is trying to attack empty snail snells in the vacuum tube.

[imagirlgeek]

How's his color? That's a really good sign that something is wrong. If he darkens, get's a gray tummy...that sort of thing. If he doesn't eat tomorrow, let us know and we can start researching possible problems.

edmlfc has a puffer who puffs up every few months. Sometimes it's because he's mad because 'his' food cup is being used, sometimes she doesn't know why, but it happens.

[djmatthewblack]

The coloring was fine. I had a really bad day so I was just worried cause a dead fish would have just been the perfect storm. It seems perfectly fine now but was puffed for about 2 hours and I've heard it isn't good for it. It seems normal now and I am thinking tomorrow it will be fine. Maybe it had a bad day too and was all puffed up about it.

[djmatthewblack]

...all puffed up this morning. The second time it was floating belly up at the top, but when I touched it, it got alarmed and started moving around like normal not puffed up. The coloring is normal, belly is white.

[fishlady]

sounds like he's practicing his/her puffing skills.....as long as the coloring is good and it's not acting sickly i wouldn't worry about it....but grab a pic of it puffing if you can....i love to see them doing that.....

[imagirlgeek]

...all puffed up this morning. The second time it was floating belly up at the top, but when I touched it, it got alarmed and started moving around like normal not puffed up. The coloring is normal, belly is white.

Let us know if he eats today.

[edmlfc]

You really need an amm. and nitrite test kit. Puffers are very sensitive to both. He could be puffing because there's amm and nitrite present in the tank. A gsp really needs at least 30 gallons for waste purposes. Unfortunately if the tank is too small the amm. levels can rise very quickly causing your puffer harm.
If he ever puffs up again and get's stuck that way, you can burp him.

Here's the link for the full article:

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/hospital/help-my-puffer-is-air-filled/

How to burp your puffer: (taken from the puffer forum library)
If your puffer takes in air or you find one that has, find either a glove or a net to hold the puffer. Take the puffer in your hand using a net or glove, to protect the puffer from oils and other undesirables. You want to position the puffer underwater with its head pointed toward the surface of the water. Carefully take hold of the puffer supporting its entire body. To do this and restrict the movement of the fish, hold the head and body, the bones of your hand parallel to the fish’s spine and along its back and the fingers wrapping the head , avoiding the eyes as much as possible. Use your other hand to gently nudge the stomach to help the puffer release the air. Throughout the process, the puffer may attempt to reinflate. This is okay because the puffer is underwater and will refill with water, further helping to expel the air. If you need to “burp” a puffer larger than 6 or 7 inches, it may be necessary to enlist the help of a few extra hands. Also, with a large puffer, gloves will work better than a net to hold the puffer.