The Puffer Forum

Thanks everyone so much for your comments! I feel so much better now. I had trouble sleeping last night I was so worried about it. I can guarantee you all I won't make this mistake again anytime soon. I might make other mistakes, but not this one! Thanks again.

Hi! I have a 50 gallon medium medium planted with some large pieces of lava rock. I have had 4 dwarf puffers, 3 otos, and 6 loaches in the tank for about two months. They all have been doing great. Until now. I've been doing 50% water changes every 7-10 days. Last night I did a water change and forg...

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I decided to return the fish. This time I was very specific with the store staff about which puffer to catch. Thanks again-

I tried to take some pics, but my camera doesn't do well with the close ups. It is white and kind of fuzzy looking, in the affected spots the fin looks two or three times thicker than the healthy fin. It is not grainy. The fish are still active and seem to be swimming around okay. Do you think I sho...

:shock: I just got home from the pet store with 6 new dwarf puffers. They are still in the bag. Two of them have white thicker parts of their tail and their tails aren't able to open/fan like the others. Is this ich? Should I take all of them back? I don't want to infect my tank with anything. I hav...

jtbadco wrote: As for substrate,....I prefer sand because with sufficient water flow, it does not ever need to be cleaned or vacuumed.

Pool filter sand for FW,...sugar fine sand for BW and SW

Where does a person buy pool filter sand ? Sounds like the price is right!

Here's a couple pics of my pre-puffer tank

Where do you think I should go from here? Are there any ways for me to know if the tank has cycled?

At first I added 1/4 cup of ammonia to my 47 gallon tank. That might have been a bit too much as my reading was closer to 7 or 8 ppm. The ammonia started to drop after a few days, so I started adding 4 tsp ammonia each day to bring it up to 4-5 ppm each day. The nitrites spiked, and then dropped to ...

Yup- I've read the articles on fishless cycling. They have been very helpful. I actually started the cycle 2 weeks ago, and a few days ago I started getting the 0 nitrite readings. I then did a 75% water change, but still was getting a little nitrates showing up in my water tests, so yesterday I did...

:) I'll try to take some pics when I get home from work today. I did another water change yesterday and added 3 ottos. They seem to be doing well. How long do you think I should wait before I add dwarf puffers? Should I wait a couple of months to make sure that the tank is completely cycled and to g...

Thanks for your replies... you might be wondering why I haven't replied until now. Let me fill you in. My tank was completely overtaken by string algae... it was everywhere- even growing on the side of the tank and gravel. I tried my best to remove it, but finally out of frustration I moved my ottos...

Thanks you guys! Now I just have to wait for my local aquarium store to bring in some dwarf puffers.

I have tested it with a couple different kits (I was kind of obsessive about it at first!).

Thanks again!!

Hello- I just finished a fishless cycle on my new 47 gallon tank. I have a few live plants, some lava rock and I've added two ottos and they're doing fine. Should I be adding freshwater aquarium salt? I'm hoping to bring home a couple dwarf puffers in the new couple of weeks. and... I was also wonde...

I bought it at a Safeway in Saskatchewan, Canada. It's the Safeway brand. The label says "AMMONIA regular all purpose cleaner for kitchens and bathrooms phosphate free 1.8 L". The ingredients list "water, ammonium hydroxide".