# my puffafish is gasping for air



## raza (Mar 4, 2008)

hi all , i have a stars & stripes pufferfish , but he seem's to be gasping for air at the bottom of the tank , all my levels seem to be fine , it's a 75gallon FOWLR tank , can anyone help with this please .thankyou .


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

You posted this question at 5am. This is relevant, because puffers will often lay on the bottom of the tank in the morning hours. This is normal. How long have you had this fish? Is this behavior different than normal behavior, or did you just purchase this fish yesterday?

How are the other fish behaving? If there are other bad signs, do a complete run of tests and post the results. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Alkalinity, and salinity.


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## raza (Mar 4, 2008)

*puffafish gasping for air ......*

thanks for your speedy reply , i've had the puffa for three weeks now , he was quite actave up untill last week , he's now just lying at the bottom of the tank most of the day realy gasping for air ( quite heavy ) i olso haxe a snowdrop eel , he dose the same , but i asked the girl in the shop who i got the eel of, and she says thats normal for eel's to do this , as thats how they breath , im realy quite worried about both , any info will help , as i dont want to lose them . here's the info you asked for ................ nitite... 1.0 nitrate..... 0 p.h ..... 8.4 .....ammonia...... 0.50 ..... salt level .... 1.025 alkcalinty ? dont no what this is ? hope these help you , cheers , wee rab


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Sounds like your tank isn't cycled. A fully cycled tank should have zero ammonia and nitrites and some reading of nitrates.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

How long has your aquarium been set up? Describe your filtration system in detail.

As an immediate relief, you need to reduce the ammonia level with a large water change. I would change 50% of the water tonight and again tomorrow night. If you do not act quick you may not have these fish for long. 

Despite the urgency, take care to do a proper water change. It is probably best to change 5 gallons at a time, and then add 5 gallons back. (Doing this 10 times would result in a 50 gallon change.) The overall percentage of water changed is slightly less, but not enough to really matter. This is also less stressful on the fish, giving them an opportunity to adjust to the slight change in temperature, pH, salinity, and other unmeasurable variations. It also will be easier to ensure that the new water is well mixed prior to being added. 

For anyone who wonders about this. Take this example of a 100 gallon aquarium. If you change 1 gallon per day for 30 consecutive days, you will have replaced 26.5% of the water. Compare this to a single 30 gallon water change, which is 30%. The percentage difference is very small, yet the difference in stress on your livestock is tremendous. I am a huge believer in frequent small water changes on a marine system. If you plan to do a 5 gallon water change next weekend, try changing only 1/2 gallon at a time, 10 times. You will notice a considerable difference in the way the fish and corals react, as compared to a single 5 gallon change. Just mix up your 5 gallon bucket, and then slowly replace the water. It is beneficial and less strain on your back!


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## raza (Mar 4, 2008)

*puufa gaspinr for air*

hi , this is going to be hard to explain , i have a small 26 gallon tank up stairs where i kept my puffa & my eel , i new this was to small once i found out what size they grew , so i have a 75 gallon tank down stairs where i keep my malawi fish , so the guy in the shop said to do a change over keeping 50 percent of the malawi water and changing the filters , and adding 50 percent of aro water , he said make shore that all my levels where rigrt before adding my puffa & eel this should only take a couple of days because the tank down stairs was already mature , so thats what i've done , when i checked the levels after 4 days he was right they seem to be fine , so i added them , & as i siad they have been fine for the last three weeks , i do a 25 percent water change each week, the filter is a tetratec 700 ,and i also use a fluval filter insted of a powerhead as it's got an exra polyfiter inside wich helps get rid of any inpurites , i think the main problem is everyone i've asked in the shops tells me diferent , hope this helps , wee rab .


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Whoa there...is the 26g still setup and running properly? If so, I'd move the marine fish back to a marine aquarium a.s.a.p. I'm no expert, but you definitely can't switch a malawi cichlid tank to a marine tank with only a few minor conversions and a 50% water change. Keep the marine fish in the 26g until the 75g is properly set up for marine fish.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I'm sorry, but i am so lost that i am just going to move on to another post. If you are seriously mixing FW and SW setups, then I think this may be a bogus post.


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## raza (Mar 4, 2008)

*my puffa is gasping for air*

hi there , sorry if you thought this was bogus but it's not , im just a beginer at this , but i've just found out my problem , as i said im new to this and i was adding the cichlid ph buffer , i just thought it was to bring the ph up , it was'nt untill i told the guy in the shop what i was doing then he put me right , so he gave me alkalin8.3-p , kh buffer , i added it yesterday , and now my puffa is up and swiming about this morning and i ollso did the water change that you told me to do , thanks for your advice . wee rab .


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