Dogface Puffer Emergency - we have No experience, need help
Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:55 am
4 year old Dogface Puffer, REEF,just moved in with us. He is between 4-5 inches.
He is not moving much and we are so scared for him, we have have never had a salt water tank, and with no experience we don't know what to expect from him. He has eaten, but we feel like not enough, but we don't know what enough is.
We need you puffer lovers with experience and skills to please read and HELP US! PLEASE!
Thanks,
Dana, Bill, Sarah, Alannah, Connor, Merrek, and REEF.
1.) PH- I don't know
Ammonia - I don't know
Nitrites- idk
Nitrates - idk
Salinity - 1.018 (but we have a floaty type to measure and the former owner said the level always reads 0.002 lower than it really is)
Temp - 76
We are going to bring a water sample to the aquatics store today.
2.) 80 gal tank
There is a domino Damsel and nothing else (about 7 lbs of live rock)
But the damsel and he have been living together for 4 years.
The Damsel seems as happy as can be.
3.) He was moved across town yesterday so we pumped out all the water, but saved every gallon and placed it back in with the exception of about 12 gallons. 10 gal of which we replaced with premixed water from petsmart, and about two gallons of fresh water. We added about a half cap of Seachem Prime to the sump after having the pump and filter going for 6 hours.
4.) the sump and corner flow area and pipes and hoses were covered in sludge, so we wiped and wrinsed all of that down, we were careful not to mess with the bio balls at all, and we used nothing but water and clean towels for cleaning.
We took out a massive (3 lbs) amount of old clam, mussel, and oyster shells. There were also about 6 or 7 large ornaments that we did not like so we did not reintroduce them.
We introduced about 7 lbs of live rock, and 30 lbs of lace rock and 8 lbs of lava rock. We wrinsed the rock very well and had no significant cloudiness in the water from them.
5.) the above pretty much covers the water cycling and changes. It wasn't really a cycle because we added about 90% of the same water back to the tank, and added the premix for the rest.
So the questions and concerns:
- he seems to not have a lot of color, and we don't know what is normal.
- do we need to be fearful about anything we have done so far?
- what is a puffer's personality? Our Reef seems really sluggish, he spent most of the morning curled up in a ball under a rock. see picture. Is this normal?
- how much do we feed him? And how do we feed him? We have put in three cubes of Marine Cuisine but I would say the Damsel has eaten 2 of the 3 cubes maybe even more. How can we make sure food gets to the slower puffer?
- we want to introduce live plants, any recommendations? There is one midsize plant on a piece of the live rock and it has been left alone so far (a whopping 8 hours ) is there a waiting period we should have before adding anything?
- what have people found are the best corals or anemone to try? We know they might not make it with the puffer but want to try what has worked best for others.
- when can we add other fish? What are the best to try?
Anything and everything you can share or give insight into for us would be Soooo appreciated. We are worried about Reef.
THANK YOU for taking the time to read and help.
Thank you thank you thank you.
He is not moving much and we are so scared for him, we have have never had a salt water tank, and with no experience we don't know what to expect from him. He has eaten, but we feel like not enough, but we don't know what enough is.
We need you puffer lovers with experience and skills to please read and HELP US! PLEASE!
Thanks,
Dana, Bill, Sarah, Alannah, Connor, Merrek, and REEF.
1.) PH- I don't know
Ammonia - I don't know
Nitrites- idk
Nitrates - idk
Salinity - 1.018 (but we have a floaty type to measure and the former owner said the level always reads 0.002 lower than it really is)
Temp - 76
We are going to bring a water sample to the aquatics store today.
2.) 80 gal tank
There is a domino Damsel and nothing else (about 7 lbs of live rock)
But the damsel and he have been living together for 4 years.
The Damsel seems as happy as can be.
3.) He was moved across town yesterday so we pumped out all the water, but saved every gallon and placed it back in with the exception of about 12 gallons. 10 gal of which we replaced with premixed water from petsmart, and about two gallons of fresh water. We added about a half cap of Seachem Prime to the sump after having the pump and filter going for 6 hours.
4.) the sump and corner flow area and pipes and hoses were covered in sludge, so we wiped and wrinsed all of that down, we were careful not to mess with the bio balls at all, and we used nothing but water and clean towels for cleaning.
We took out a massive (3 lbs) amount of old clam, mussel, and oyster shells. There were also about 6 or 7 large ornaments that we did not like so we did not reintroduce them.
We introduced about 7 lbs of live rock, and 30 lbs of lace rock and 8 lbs of lava rock. We wrinsed the rock very well and had no significant cloudiness in the water from them.
5.) the above pretty much covers the water cycling and changes. It wasn't really a cycle because we added about 90% of the same water back to the tank, and added the premix for the rest.
So the questions and concerns:
- he seems to not have a lot of color, and we don't know what is normal.
- do we need to be fearful about anything we have done so far?
- what is a puffer's personality? Our Reef seems really sluggish, he spent most of the morning curled up in a ball under a rock. see picture. Is this normal?
- how much do we feed him? And how do we feed him? We have put in three cubes of Marine Cuisine but I would say the Damsel has eaten 2 of the 3 cubes maybe even more. How can we make sure food gets to the slower puffer?
- we want to introduce live plants, any recommendations? There is one midsize plant on a piece of the live rock and it has been left alone so far (a whopping 8 hours ) is there a waiting period we should have before adding anything?
- what have people found are the best corals or anemone to try? We know they might not make it with the puffer but want to try what has worked best for others.
- when can we add other fish? What are the best to try?
Anything and everything you can share or give insight into for us would be Soooo appreciated. We are worried about Reef.
THANK YOU for taking the time to read and help.
Thank you thank you thank you.