Sick Figure 8 Puffer?

[Brownbear88]

ok well i have had my figure 8 for about a month now and all has been great. He's in a 29 gallon tank with 4 bumblebee gobs. plenty of hiding and swimming places and the salinity is arou 1.008 and 1.010. Have up to this point had no issues with anyone in the tank. My figure 8 eats like a cow every time i feed and is always at the glass when i walk into the room and is always following me throughout the room.

Well recently this last week or so he has been hiding a lot only coming out to eat and only when i spread it into the corner he now hides in. He seems to have lost some of his coloration and looks like a sleeping fish would { kinda grayish } all of the time. Any time i come near the tank or near where he is hiding he flips out darting form one side to the other hitting the glass or sand until he tucks back into a corner. Now i haven't seen any type of growth on him and his belly is still white and he still is eating. My question is what could be wrong with this little guy? Im new to the forum and brackish. i have kept my saltwater reef for around 3 1/2 years and also have a red claw crab brackish beach tank i just set up. any information would be greatly appreciated in helping me help my little guy out.
 
 

 

[iliveinazoo]

Could be that he is settling down in your tank, my figure 8 is often hid under the leaves of my plants and will rarely come out into view unless I approach but it is worth checking your water parameters just to be sure; what is your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH readings?  How long has the tank been set up? Has anything been added to the tank recently?  Your SG is a little higher than mine, I keep mine at SG1.003.

 

[fm1978]

I always thought the fo8 puffer was from predominantly freshwater areas...every day's a school day...

 

[Brownbear88]

levels are all where they need to be. the only one i haven't checked was Ph put my 4 bumblebee gobs are all doing great. The only think i have added was a Ghost shrimp to see if they could live in Brackish waters, i was right lol. I think you may be right about him settling in seeing as now he will brighten up during feeding time and is very active once again once he has ate. Ill keep an eye on him and see what happens. The tank cycled for 2 weeks and has been up now since the end of june so still a relatively new tank.

 

[iliveinazoo]

Figure 8's are predominantly fresh hard water fish just like Bumblebee Gobies but both will fare better in low salinity brackish water systems.
 
You say that your parameters are fine and that may well be the case but It would not surprise me if your Gobies rode through an ammonia or nitrite issue much better than your puffer as puffers do tend to be the first fishes to show signs of illness under poor water conditions.  2 weeks is not long for a cycle I would have expected between 4&6 weeks if you were doing a standard fishless cycle so please make sure that you don't have a problem. 
 
When changing salinity are you keeping within the recommended +/- SG0.002 to maintain bacteria populations?

 

[Brownbear88]

yea when i do wc's i make sure the salinity levels are the same. You may be right with the 2 week cycle issue however after doing another wc he seems to be doing much much better. the place i bought him from was at 1.010 ( had them check infornt of me ) and mine is currently at 1.008. Since my first post he has really come back to life, color has returned and activity has also returned, most active right after feeding. you may be right with ammonia levels causing him to get sick in the begging. i did my cycle with one bumblebee goby because of their hairiness. Ill keep you all posted on his wellness but as for now he seems to be doing MUCH BETTER and i can sleep at night lol thanks for the help

 

[iliveinazoo]

That's good news, hope all goes well.

 

[Mads]

Figure8 eats snails and crush the hard shells with it's teeth in nature. But all too often they don't get to eat snails in aquariums which normally keep their teeth down. This means that if figure8s teeth aren't kept down naturally, they can actually die from it. Neal Monks recommends that the teeth are cut down. But you have to sedate the fish before you do it. This can be done with cloves oil (two drops per litre). I've done it successfully with my puffer who lives happily. 
 
So check if it's teeth looks too big and might keep it from eating.
 
Regards
Mads