help with a mbu puffer

[n2csb]

Hi i have just got myself a mbu puffer after saving up for a nice tank to put him in , this is the first puffer that i have kept although i have kept tropical fish for a long time. When he was in the lfs he was swimming about all over the place and would follow your finger if u put it on the glass. He has been in his new tank now for 3 days but i have not seen him swim once he just lays on the sand at the bottom. the only time he moves is if u put food in the tank for him , is this normal ?
Also today he seems to be breathing abit heavy i.e not just his giles moving but his whole body ? Any idears would be very welcome. many thanx

 

[LadyMinion]

It seems like your little guy is stressed in some way. It's not unusual for puffers to sit and "heave" on the substrate, but 3 days is a bit worrying.

Sorry if these seem like overly basic questions (you mention you already have fishkeeping experience) but I must ask:

Has the tank been cycled?
What are your water parameters?
Is their enough oxygen movement?
What size tank and filtration do you have?
Has the mbu eaten anything? What foods have you offered?

These things will really help members here get a clearer picture of your puffer's situation.

 

[Puffer_freak]

I'm sorry if I insult you by saying this, but, you're not keeping him in brackish are you? Good luck.

 

[n2csb]

Many thanx for the replys.
The tank is a 3 foot tank with a Fluval 4 plus filter. The Mbu puffer is about 2 inches not including the tail ( i know it will have to have a bigger tank in a while saving up for one all ready ). The guy from the lfs saw the tank when he delivered a tank for my dad and he was happy with it and the set up of it. the Puffer has been eating cockall and has definatly not lost his appatite ! When i said i have kept tropical fish befor please treat me as a beginner as i am still learning all the time about this wonderful hobby. many thanx once again.
P.s no not brackish

 

[Puffer_freak]

O.K, ummm, puffers will tolerate absoloutely no nitrites or amonia. He may just be stressed anyway. I know that some mbus like company and will tolerate other fish. But I spose it may be better if you didn't get more fish right now, and concentrate on your mbu!

 

[n2csb]

many thanx. I will get the lfs guy round tomorrow and see what he thinks . the belly of the pufferfish is nice and white and i did read somewhere that it turns dark gray black when it is stressed ?. prehaps it is just taking longer to get used to its new surroundings i will let the expert take a look tomorrow and keep u all posted.
thanx for your time

 

[appleblossom]

hi n2csb!

congratulations on deciding to get a puffer, I am a little concerned that you class yourself as a newbie as puffers arent the most hardy fish and the mbu will need a lot of care and attention.

That said if you do your research and make sure you do all you can for your puffer I'm sure you will have great success with him. I have also recently bought a mbu puffer (just over a month ago), my fifth puffer, put my first mbu. I have been talking to Clare, our resident mbu expert, she has a full grown mbu called Hamish so she knows her stuff.

Please check all your water parameters and post them. Did your lfs test your water or do you have your own test kits? (if you dont, go get some!!! you will need them)

as puffer_freak explained, any nitrites or ammonia in your water will definitely explain this stressed behaviour. Also my mbu has never gotten a dark belly, even the time he puffed up which must have been very very stressful for him, so dont take having a white belly as a good sign necessarily.

How much have you been feeding and are you syphoning out any left over food as soon as your puffer has finished eating? Rotting food wont be doing your water quality any good at all.

How long has the tank been cycled? That is up and running with fish living in it and an established bacteria colony?

are there any other fish in with your mbu? Have you tried doing a water change, adding stress coat, stress zyme, tea tree oil or melafix to the water?

if you do know your water parameters, what are they? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph)

pm me if you like, and I'm sure Clare will help you out with anything you need to know

 

[LadyMinion]

Basically what appleblossom said.

Puffers need perfect water quality. They will not be happy in an uncycled tank and yes, uneaten food needs to be removed immediately.

Some puffers do go dark when stressed and some do not. I believe it is the ambush types that do more so.

Good luck tomorrow, I'm sure you're well on the way to becoming a happy mbu keeper.

 

[Clare]

To anyone out there thinking of getting any puffer, they can not take cycling of a tank. They need a tank which has been cycled for around 6 months (preferably).
If it is just a 6 week cycled tank then you must do twice as many water changes for 5 months.

We do 300 litres a week for our mbu in his 8ft tank.

AppleBlossom covered just about everything i know. If your mbu is coming out for food then that is definately a good sign. A white belly is BAD. Ours has a lovely yellow belly. One time it did go shock white when the water boeard decided to add copper to the water for cleaning out the pipes.

Hamish nearly died but was saved by us adding a Poly Filter which removes harmful metals ( could be worth a try).

Then i would recommend getting the little guy some tank mates, Hamish was laying down a lot because swimming on his own was boring, however, he now swims all day with the Florida Gars. If you add the tank mates while he is young then he will be okay with them as he grows up.

There are always cases where some fish will not tolerate any tank mates, this may be the case with yours but either he will or won`t.There is usually no inbetween, if he does, he always will, if he doesn`t, he never will.

You need large tankmates but not necessrily ones as big as the mbu. Your mbu will need a tank at least 8ft x 3ft x 2ft, within 2 years.
Good Luck

 

[n2csb]

Hi Many thanx for all your replys . the lfs man has come and said that the puffer is fine and so is the tank. He has been moving around for the first time today and lfs guy said he has proberly just been sulking at moving homes. he said the puffer was like it when he first had it in the fish shop. He said if i want to get a couple of tank mates for it i.e a couple of oscors ? i will look into it.
Thanx once again for all your help , and hope to see u all in more discussions soon.

 

[Clare]

Hi,
Not sure that a couple of oscars would be the best tank mates for him!! I am glad he is looking better though! We keep ours in with Perruno Catfish and Florida Gars. The catfish stays on the bottom but the Gars make great mates for him to swim with.
The main thing to watch for is that most puffers don`t like whitebait or sprats so if you get fish like i have in with them which mainly eat fish then there is no competition for food. I have known mbus to accidentally kill other fish when going for food.

Just a bit of advice but the decision is yours. Others that were recommended are Lemur Shovelnose cats (which are beautiful fish and can be kept in groups), silver dollars, large eels and other peaceful cats, although they need fish which swim around to stimulate them. The Lemur Shovelnose do swim around a lot but some cats are very lazy.
Clare