Dp In Trouble?

[Squidward]

Hi,

I had a free 45L tank, so I went to my lfs and got 4 dwarf puffers for it.
Acclimatised them as usual, and then let them go.
Pretty soon after letting them go, one went to the bottom of the tank. Has gone quite dark and has clamped its fins. Clearly it's not happy.

Is this just a reaction to being in a new environment?
I covered half of the tank with a towel just to darken it a bit.

Any advice welcome.
Thanks
Squidward

 

[Shovelman]

Hi,

I had a free 45L tank, so I went to my lfs and got 4 dwarf puffers for it.
Acclimatised them as usual, and then let them go.
Pretty soon after letting them go, one went to the bottom of the tank. Has gone quite dark and has clamped its fins. Clearly it's not happy.

Is this just a reaction to being in a new environment?
I covered half of the tank with a towel just to darken it a bit.

Any advice welcome.
Thanks
Squidward

Is your tank heavily planted? and did you test your water recently? Are they shoing signs of aggression? 4 in a 10gallon tank is a bit more than id advise but can POSSIBLY (not a 100% leeway) work out i suppose if you have the proper set up. It important to remember that these are aggressive and territorial little buggers and usually 3 in a 10G would probably still not be 100% worry free either.. Heck, I had 2 in my 10 gallon and one of them hunted the other down and chased it all around till he couldnt take it anymore! (it was pretty densly planted as well) I'd advise first to post those anwsers to the first few questions so everyone could better evaluate the situation

 

[Squidward]

Here is more info:
Ammonina = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20
Ph = 7.6

Decor - sand substrate
fake plants
bogwood

No signs of aggression. They have been in the tank for 24 hours.

The fish has been moving around a bit more today. It seems to be pretty thin. Maybe I was just given a sickly one?

 

[capester]

Hi mate,
I have had this with a SA puffer. Do you know if they were wild caught? Mine eventually passed away and was told that it was most likely due to parasites.

 

[Squidward]

Hi mate,
I have had this with a SA puffer. Do you know if they were wild caught? Mine eventually passed away and was told that it was most likely due to parasites.

Not sure if it was wc.
Did you treat with Kusuri?
Perhaps me worth doing?

 

[divegirl]

Hi you could try worming...I worm all my puffers when I get them. But I would have to say you are over stocked! I have four Dwarfs in a 30 usg and they still bully each other....you need a bigger tank hun!

Lisa x

 

[england]

Did you remove the puffer from the water at any point? apparently puffers do not go well being removed from water, trapping air in there belly, when i was given mine, they were caught and placed in the bag all under water, same again when i released them into the water..

check this link DWARFZ

 

[chelseasmile]

It sounds like your puffer is in shock, did you take care to let him get used to your tank-water? Puffers are very sensitive to changes in water parameters when stressed

Luckily once they grow used to your tank they'll grow up to be very hardy and entertaining fish. I'd do some frequent water changes as to minimize the bioload on the little guy. I've also had succes treating parasites with a dose of aquarium salt (2 tablespoons per 25 litres.)Puffers don't have scales so I wouldn't use just any med. on them. Make sure they have plenty of plants and/or ornaments in their tank to keep them busy, else they'll cruise alongside the tank-wall all day long. Mine also have a love for floating plants, it's a real crawl through the roots if they want to reach the other side of the tank.

Good luck with your little puffers, I hope the stressed one made it!

 

[Squidward]

It sounds like your puffer is in shock, did you take care to let him get used to your tank-water? Puffers are very sensitive to changes in water parameters when stressed

Luckily once they grow used to your tank they'll grow up to be very hardy and entertaining fish. I'd do some frequent water changes as to minimize the bioload on the little guy. I've also had succes treating parasites with a dose of aquarium salt (2 tablespoons per 25 litres.)Puffers don't have scales so I wouldn't use just any med. on them. Make sure they have plenty of plants and/or ornaments in their tank to keep them busy, else they'll cruise alongside the tank-wall all day long. Mine also have a love for floating plants, it's a real crawl through the roots if they want to reach the other side of the tank.

Good luck with your little puffers, I hope the stressed one made it!

Yup, did my usual procedure as for all fish.
Floated bag in tank for 1/2 hour, adding about a teaspoon of tank water to the bag every 5 mins.

The fish died unfortunately, but the other 3 seem happy enough.