The Puffer Forum

I have set up a 20 gal tank for my new (very little) fig 8. I read the stickey about setting up brackish tanks, but didn't see mention of an aerator. Is it okay to have air with a bubble stone in there for him?
Thanks!

The tank is a 20 gallon tall with a Whisper power filter and aerator. I want to try some Tetra Safe Start of Turbo start, but i'm worried about the health of a figure 8 going in with the cycler. Is it safe for them, even though they are so sensitive? Also, there is not salt in the tank yet. The lfs ...

No live plants, just plastic.

I got him on Tuesday.

Isn't it odd that all readings are now 0?

I don't know what happened! Last night my fig 8 was fine and this morning he was dead. I had cycled the tank using gravel and the same filter as an established tank and got reading of no ammonia or nitrite and a nitrate level of 10 when I put him in. This morning after finding him dead, I expected t...

Great info- thanks so much!

Hi- Substrate is the gravel in the tank. You can put some gravel from an established tank in a piece of stocking and place it on the bottom of the new tank. It will help seed the new substrate with the bacteria that the new tank needs. Good luck!

Hi everyone, I'm new to this and I have a feeding question. I got some clams and put them in the freezer. I took one out to thaw and noticed that it's opening. Was it okay to freeze right in the shell like that? Also, I'm a bit afraid to put it in. If he (figure 8) eats that whole thing, yikes! His ...

I can't get a good pic of my fig 8 (zoom not good enough in my camera, I think), so I'll use a pic of my dog, Olive.

Went back to the lfs today to look at him again. I was very happy to see that his "twitch" was gone (although we still named him Twitchey). I brought him home and he adjusted to the tank nicely. He even ate 2 small snails and a small chunck of raw shrimp with no problems. I hope he continu...

They were closed today. Hopefully he is still there tomorrow!

While preparing my tank for a Fig 8, I went to my lfs to look at the fig 8's. Although there were about 8 of them in the tank, only one greated me lovingly. If I went to one side of the tank, he followed me. He seemed to wait while I looked at other tanks and actually seemed excited when I came back...

Well, I did it. I spent the day switching out my gravel for aragonite sand. Right now, it looks like a white, cloudy mess (even though I rinsed the sand, first). I did some water tests on the old water and it read no ammonia or nitrite and my nitrate level was 10. I'm hoping that by running the old ...

Thanks for the info. I do have a bristlenose pleco in the tank to help keep it cycled (which I will give away if I go brackish). There are a lot of different types of aragonite sand. Is any kind okay to use, or do I need a specific type?

Hi everyone, I am new to the boards and have a question. I currently have a 20 gallon freshwater tank that I am thinking of switching over to brackish so I can put a figure 8 into it (all inhabitants recently died due to our recent Northeast ice storm and several-day power outage, so this would be a...