Help! Where's my Puffer?

[littletank]

Hello everyone!
Ok long story to short... Our Valentini Puffer is MIA.:hmm4: I noticed that he wasn't anywhere to be seen yesterday which he does hide in the rocks but normally swims around for a couple hours. Now today, he is MIA again. I know there is something wrong because i feed the tank to see if he would come out of hiding but he didn't. I am puzzled because from all 4 sides of the tank i can't find him. I don't know if he is dead and is in-between somewhere in the 300lb of LR or if our saltwater betta ate him or our "fat boy" carpet anemone ate him. I am worried that if he is dead and in-between the rocks that the water will spike which i don't want to happen due to saturday we bought 2 Snow Flake Clowns$$. I don't know what to do. Should i just assume that something ate him? Or, should i drain tank and locate him (would be a pain!!) and there be a possibility that he's not in tank. :eek1:What do you think? what should i do ? any clues anyone?? :hmm6:

 

[TriMax]

how big (gallons) is your tank? How big is the puffer. How long has you tank been cycled? Do you see any rise in ammonia or nitrites?

 

[littletank]

the tank is 200g. the puffer is about 2 1/2 inches. the tanks was set up almost two months now. and ammonia and nitrites are all 0 i am going to retest today tho i tested yesterday.

 

[planejane]

I'm not very experienced, but I would think if it's dead and you can't see it it may have been eaten. If it hasn't maybe the easiest thing is to keep monitering your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels and do a partial water change if they start to elevate.

 

[littletank]

i just check and the results were
ammonia --- .25
nitrites --- .25
nitrates --- 4.5
so from yesterday they were all zeros its gone up

 

[Quiet Tempest]

i just check and the results were
ammonia --- .25
nitrites --- .25
nitrates --- 4.5
so from yesterday they were all zeros its gone up

:sad2: Sounds like you may have a dead resident.. Sorry.

 

[EvilMel]

I'd go down to the LFS and have them check your readings too.

It's pretty common that if something that's fairly sizeable dies to get a bit of a cycle going. Your tank isn't THAT old that the bacterial population can handle something kinda big dying off.

Do those puffers emit toxins when they die? I know some do.

I'd be water changing like a mofo right now.

 

[littletank]

I'd go down to the LFS and have them check your readings too.

It's pretty common that if something that's fairly sizeable dies to get a bit of a cycle going. Your tank isn't THAT old that the bacterial population can handle something kinda big dying off.

Do those puffers emit toxins when they die? I know some do.

I'd be water changing like a mofo right now.

i am going tonight hopefully the *Store* is open. i cant do a water change not enough salt and we need to buy rock glue. i don't know about the puffer. do you think that its remains are still in the tank? I know we will be doing everything tonight because i know that it took us 2 months to decide to buy the SF Clowns and if then dead i think i will be heartbroken and my pocket will be hurting.

 

[digidana]

do you have a pretty good clean up crew? i know my hermits are pretty good at cleaning up anything that doesn't make it...maybe not if its toxic tho?

 

[planejane]

Good call by Mel. I'm not familiar with puffers, but if they do ommit a toxin a water change is definately needed. Also, when you are changing, blow junk off the rock, I use a small power head to do this, it might loosen up any dead carcass from behind, of course don't over do it and disturb the sand bed.

 

[planejane]

Ooops I ment Emit. How are things in the tank now? Sure hope none of the other inhabitants are MIA .

 

[Flavum]

Sorry to hear hes MIA fortunately puffers do not emit a toxin there cousins the boxfish can however.
Puffers are usually very social creatures I Hope he/she decides to come out of recluse. Nassarius snails are a wise investment for situation like this.

 

[acrodave]

Sorry to hear hes MIA fortunately puffers do not emit a toxin there cousins the boxfish can however.
.

thats my boy coming through. they are toxic when ate tho the toxin is in the gall badder or something like that


I would think that a 200 gal and 300 lb of rock would handle it. even know the tank is a few mths old... do you have a skimmer

and i would get some hermits and nassarius and some brittle or serpent stars

 

[EvilMel]

FYI the *store* is not open today but others might be.

If you call the *store* and express your issues they might let you in to grab a few things really quickly as a favor to you BUT no one is there past 4:30 or so today.

Thanks for the info Russell. Are you sure the spiny puffers don't emit a toxin? I thought some puffers DID emit a toxin when they die just that it's not as bad as a boxfish.

 

[Engloid]

Petsmart sells salt, but not the RO water. Not sure if you need it though. Worst case, if you need salt, let me know. I've got a full fox of the cheap stuff, and half a bag of some better brand.

 

[digidana]

Petsmart sells salt

i also discovered that if you take in a printed copy of the internet price, that the store will match it. i haven't tried it in a long time, but there used to be a really big price difference between net and shelf.

 

[macclellan]

i also discovered that if you take in a printed copy of the internet price, that the store will match it. i haven't tried it in a long time, but there used to be a really big price difference between net and shelf.

This holds for everything. It's quite nice getting the internet prices, not paying shipping, and getting it same day. I got a canister filter with a shelf price of $189 for $89 - can't beat that!

 

[digidana]

dang! that $100 could buy a nice coral.

 

[Flavum]

Mely
The family Diodontidae which contain the porcupine and burfish can have poisonous organs Like the Fugu....tasty. The boxfish will actually expel a toxin that is highly well....toxic Soo I guess kinda although ive never heard of a porcupine crashing a tank.

 

[Engloid]

With me must running a 29 gallon saltwater tank for now, I'm buying the RO/salt water from stores. Does anybody know which store uses the best salt for reef tanks? The prices are $1/gallon all over town, but I might as well pick based on who uses the best salt.