Sick Figure Puffer

[Pufftastic]

There are a couple of decent sellers of dwarf puffers on Aquabid, if you'd like fish that are truly freshwater. Think I saw some F8s listed there recently too, if you still want to do brackish.

[Iliveinazoo]

That's disappointing to hear about DFS. I had no idea....i will likely be washing everything out and starting anew soon. What are your opinions about either dead base rock that's been completely treated, or driftwood/plant setups in brackish tanks? I've read mixed information about both of those setups

Dead base rock is fine in Brackish tanks or alkaline freshwater tanks but would increase the pH in an acidic freshwater tank.

Driftwood is fine in an acidic freshwater tank but reduces pH so is at odds with what you want in a Brackish tank. But if you are running a low salinity brackish tank and have alkaline tap water and don't go crazy with the amount of driftwood you put in then you can use it. I have a small amount of driftwood in my brackish tank (SG1.003@25DegC) and even though my tank has been running for around 7 years it is still in one piece and doesn't appear to have degraded much, if at all.

I think where you do have to be careful if adding wood to a brackish tank is in sourcing it yourself, driftwood by definition is wood that has been 'drifting' around in water maybe for years and so much of the parts of the wood that would decay quickly, like the bark and outer layers has already decayed. Also a softwood would decay much quicker than a hardwood.

[Zeroboard]

Thank you everyone for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated. I've scoured the site--much information I already knew but learned quite a bit as well. I just want to make sure before wiping the slate clean and starting over that this will be a better setup than before, here's what I was thinking...

- Aragonite sand (previously used regular aquarium sand), and I read that the aragonite is a great natural buffer and will add to the overall ph and water quality for permanent use
- Up to 6-7 lb.s of treated dead base rock (safe)
- Some brackish growing plants that I will attach inside the base rock scattered about for hiding, aesthetics, and tank quality

I will cycle the tank as I cycled my freshwater a long time ago. Will use seachem stability for the recommended week, purchase the API liquid test kit and test after that. Might wind up cycling for an additional week or two to be safe, and once parameters drop to normal, will find a new puffer to consume my hobby with and, as before, raise the salinity .001-.002 per week.

P.S. I usually would wash new tanks/systems with white vinegar and rinse completely, and that's what I plan on using to refresh this tank back to new, any thoughts?

[Pufferpunk]

Tossing in Stability will not cycle a tank. Please read how to properly fishless cycle a tank, in our Library. Great article on F8s there, too.

Here's a great article about mixing BW: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19348

[Zeroboard]

That's misleading! I might put some in and use the fish flake method to cycle this time around then

[hadla]

Is this your only tank? If not, you can use gravel/sand from another one to "seed" it

[Zeroboard]

I do have another larger well established freshwater tank. So I can just scoop some up and mix with new sand and a newly cycling tank and that would help cycle?

[hadla]

Yes, using substrate from it and adding filter media from the old tank will help greatly! I started out with a 5g in 2006 and all my current tanks have been seeded from that original tank!

[Zeroboard]

The only last thing I was wondering about is my large tank has a big penguin filter in it with a large cartridge and my small tank is a Marina S10 slim, how do people go about using the old media in the new tank? Do you just kind of slip it in as far as it can go so long as water is running through it?

[hadla]

Hm I don't know on that one... Usually it's a bigger filter seeding a smaller one

[Pufftastic]

You can cut pieces from the old cartridge and stuff them in the new filter. The old cartridge is where all the goodness resides.

[Zeroboard]

Thanks for all the input guys. I spent some time yesterday and today talking to some fish people at the local pet shops. I actually showed up at pet supermarket right as they were getting a huge shipment in, and it included 4 TINY f8's. I'm still at arms with myself in terms of trying another f8 or moving to a freshwater species. The local wholesale supplier can get a wide variety, but for my sized tanks I think for now its between the f8, a red eyed puffer, or a south American. I plan on purchasing new filter medias tomorrow but am a bit paranoid about filling the bottom with aragonite as it will raise the PH, and without a definite species picked out. Or do the benefits outweigh any serious risk, and just fill the bottom with it?

[Pufferpunk]

Read our info here on the SAP. They prefer to live in groups.

[Zeroboard]

Ok, the tank is set up and is cycling! I think I'm going to opt for some dwarf puffers as they're a little easier than the larger breeds, and considering the tank size, it would be the best bet. I picked up a piece of mopani wood, and a few bags of the caribsea sand and washed, boiled the wood, and set it up last night creating a dramatic sand slope in the back using some lava rocks. Per the suggestion above I snipped some of the old penguin filter and threw it into the newly cycling tank. When it's cycled and I have them in the tank I'll snap a photo and post here =D

[Pufferpunk]

I wouldn't use Caribsea sand. It will raise the pH & make the water hard. Just go with normal sand.