# Mbu puffer being wierd



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

my MBU is acting sluggish and wont eat for the last three days . anything i should check


----------



## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

your water parameter


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

GH 0
KH 0
PH 6.0
AMONIA 0
Nitrate 5
NITRITE 0

gonna boost my KH to 4 
any help would be great


----------



## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

Could just be in a mood, how does his belly look?


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

taureandragon76 said:


> Could just be in a mood, how does his belly look?


fine he looks healthy


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

im a little worried. leave town for 7 days now my puffer wont eat


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

anybody else have an opinion on this ???????????????????????????????


----------



## snow (Apr 21, 2010)

Maybe post up some pics or ask on the puffer forum.


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

i was gone for 7 days had a friend feed my puffer three times while i was gone. came back he was not himself and not eating. he had a poo the other day it was white and a bit long. when when on a prawn diet mostly the poo is white when i mix the food up its always been brown. im really worried . i week before. i went on vacation i added a few new swords but this did not seem to stress him out as ive had plants stress my puffer before .


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

puffer is pooing very little and its yellow . is this bad our good


----------



## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Johnny,
Your KH and GH are 0. Your pH is 6.0. That's a problem. Mbu puffers are in general hard water puffers, although they are found in the Congo River as well they can travel to what parameters they wish in a large river system. The conditions in your aquarium would rarely occur for this fish in the wild if at all. As mentioned a GH of 0 will cause osmotic shock and can kill any fish, let alone a sensitive puffer. Raising your KH will help as it will also bring up your pH which is dangerously low for that fish. You seem to be ignoring the uber low GH however. I recommend either aquarium salt or Equilibrium if you have plants, and I would add it yesterday.


----------



## Algae Beater (Apr 21, 2010)

agreed, these animals frequent lake Lake Tanganyika, at least the eastern coasts, even the congo and other river systems they are found it do have a certain level of GH (20-60 ppm typically) .. not to mention the violent pH swings that do occur in low hardness which easily stress fish.


----------



## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

what grant said above but, do it slowly, if you increase gh or kh too much too fast it'll possibly cause shock as well. i wouldnt increase anything more than 2 degrees every 2 days from personal experience. 1degree is around 17.8ppm i think.


----------



## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Tarobot said:


> what grant said above but, do it slowly, if you increase gh or kh too much too fast it'll possibly cause shock as well. i wouldnt increase anything more than 2 degrees every 2 days from personal experience. 1degree is around 17.8ppm i think.


Agreed, slowly. Sorry Tarobot, I have been constantly trying to get this across to a lot of members here for so long, I forgot to mention that. Johnny, there is a sticky about this on our sub forum. Honestly it is likely the most important water issue to know about having an aquarium in BC.


----------



## Johnnyfishtanks (Apr 21, 2010)

hey grant for my puffer my 
KH 
GH
should be at what ? i want the best for my puffer . he is now only eating snail which is awesome


----------



## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Mbu's are hardwater fish. GH and KH should be at least 10 IMO.


----------



## Algae Beater (Apr 21, 2010)

shoot for the bare minimum at least 

3 degrees GH
3 degrees KH 

but dont be afraid of going higher as these fish can tolerate extreme hardness as found in the rift lakes


----------

