The Puffer Forum

I haven't been stiring the sand well enough and in one corner of the tank some of the sand has gone gray and smelly when i sucked it from the bottom with a turkey baster. Nearly all the tank seems ok but some food must have been rotting right at the bottom. I sucked the gray bit up and cheaked all the rest. This is the corner the suvattii never buryed himself in and was only one small plant.

Should i just make sure theres no more gray bits and keep doing water changes over the next few days? Mabie cut down on food for now aswell. I hope the puffer is ok now i have disturbed this gray bit of sand.

Just put in what he eats. Remove any excess as soon as he stops. Syphon that area out well.

Ah follow up with a large water change after you disturb that area. Aim for about 80% this should reset you to your standard. Personally I would do another 50% change after that just to be safe, you don't know what gasses you have released into the water and in what quantity

Stagnant sand is your enemy. Is there a sand sifter you could get? I'm not too familiar with freshwater aquaria, but maybe there's something out there your arrowhead won't kill?

bertie 83 wrote:Ah follow up with a large water change after you disturb that area. Aim for about 80% this should reset you to your standard. Personally I would do another 50% change after that just to be safe, you don't know what gasses you have released into the water and in what quantity

Yeah i have cleaned up after him always, im thinking it could of been from awhile ago when i was not as carful. Just did about 75% change and will do a big one in the morning.
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Did you syphon deep in that area? If not you need to stick your syphon to the bottom

bertie 83 wrote:Did you syphon deep in that area? If not you need to stick your syphon to the bottom

Yeah i used a turkey baster then the syphon large pipe then turkey baster again, theres 100% none in the tank now.

Good job,

I use either my hand or a chopstick to stir down the the bottom of the tank.

Pufferpunk wrote:I use either my hand or a chopstick to stir down the the bottom of the tank.

Yeah good idea, i have took some of the sand out because the sand was 5 inches in some places, i have about 3 inches in most areas now and all the gray is gone. I done a second big water change today. I will make sure i stir propperly from now on.

This is how we gain experience and learn. Through mistakes. We all make them sometimes.

I use my siphon to stir my sand while water is being pulled out of the tank. Takes 1-2 minutes to stir all sand. I lose a pinch of sand along the process though.

Terrance wrote:I use my siphon to stir my sand while water is being pulled out of the tank. Takes 1-2 minutes to stir all sand. I lose a pinch of sand along the process though.

Yeah did today seems much easyer to stir every bit with 3" of sand instead of about 5" or 6"