My puffer died.....

[Swiftt5389]

So yea i think i might have screwed up. I put a little marine salt in my aqaurium today. She was fine before. But i didnt even put a lot in. And now she is on her side on the bottom..puffed up a bit. This sucks. Did the salt do it. She hadnt eaten in 2 days too. Idk people. Should i get another one in a couple weeks when they come in?

[PuffDaddyCurl]

Well sorry to hear about the loss...On the other hand, before you decide to go out and get another one, make sure your tank is in perfect working order. All your water levels should be good and just research a bit about the death so the same mistake wont be made again. I am still new to the hobby, but I keep a diary of every single little action down to days algae grows at a fast or slow rate. It helps to understand the time line of my tank and how the fish reacts to the different occurrences in the tank.

[Swiftt5389]

should i try again or return the salt and everything and stick to freshwater. Is it possible to house a salwater tank with just my whisper 30 filter. If i get the salinity perfect every water change. and withoiuta protein skimmer. Im talking housing like a damsel or two lol

[cobra1713]

well a protein skimmer is never mandatory, just sugggested, as long as there is a bunch of live rock and you do frequent water changes it will be fine, but i would definitly suggest a skimmer only because they will save you money in the long run, if you have a skimmer you dont have to do as many water changes, so less money for salt.

but i would never give up on saltwater, but at the same time starting with a marine puffer is not the easiest cus you cant have a clean up crew so IMO for your first marine i would suggest doing a tank with out a puffer so you can do all the really cool inverts that marine offers but thats just me.

i have one of each and i love both my marine GSP and my nano reef.

[cobra1713]

i just thaught about two reasons it could have dies, first did you raise the SG more than .002? if so you could have broken the cycle on your tank and caused and amonia spike.

second if you just switched to marine salt there could have been a slight PH increase but i doubt it would have been quick enough to cause shock but it might have.

[Pufferpunk]

I just looked ove all your previous posts, to try & catch up with your history. I'm a little confused...

Did you only have the 1 F8 puffer in a 10g tank?
How long after you transfered the old filter to this tank, did you add the puffer?
How much salt did you add?
Have you been testing the water parameters?
Did you get a hydrometer that starts at 1.000 yet?

[bazil323]

I did like Pufferpunk did, and I reviewed your posts. I also have some additional questions to the ons above.
How long was your puffer not eating?
Did its belly look sunken in or slightly rounded?
How was it's color? (did it have a black or grey belly?)
What was your ammonia, nitrite, and pH level?
How much salt did you add and did you premix it in a different container before adding to the tank?
What was the SG?

[Swiftt5389]

Alright these are the answers I have at the moment.
And sorry for the delayed response but im going through some rough times.
The belly was slightly rounded. I didnt mix it first...
I didnt check my SG because i had hardly put any salt in . I put 5 little scoops of salt with my perfect ph mix stuff. So maybe 1 tablespoon or so altogether.
I only have 1 F8 in the 10 gallon and had only had the filter going about a day or two.
i dont have a hydrometer yet that starts at 1.00 . I dont want to open my other one that starts higher on the SG scale..
Willl a freshwater test kit be ok to use for this water? Because i have a master test kit for freshwater.
His belly was certainly not black. It looked like how it did when i bought him.
And he had went 2 days without eating. and who knows how long at the store.

[StormySkiez]

I'm sorry your puffer died Swift.

One thing I see that you posted is the salt was not mixed w/ water first before adding? Salt will burn a fishes skin. I'm not saying this is what happened but the salt does have to be mixed very well before adding to the tank. Please do not add anymore fish until all is sorted and you can test the salt level in your tank. As long as the salt level is under .012 I believe your FW kit should be fine.