Figure 8 Puffer throwing up bloodworms

[borgey]

I purchased a Figure 8 Puffer today. Got him home and started to acclimate him. While he was acclimating I figured I would give him some food. He ate it without hesitating for one second. I acclimated him for about 45 minutes and put him in his new home. All of a sudden as soon as he hit the water he started to throw up all the blood worms I just gave him. I have NEVER seen any of my puffers do this so it's starting to worry me a little. The salt levels are different from my tank to the stores tank by the way. Mine is at 1.002 and the stores is 1.010 could this be why? I read that they can adapt to different salt levels very well with proper acclimation so I figured it would not be an issue at all.

[jtbadco]

when u say u acclimated him do you mean that you floated the bag to adjust for temp or did u actually do a slow drip?

Going from a sg of 1.010 to 1.002 would be very stressful. To properly acclimate him you would have to slowly add tank water to his bag to allow him to adjust.

[borgey]

I drip acclimate all my fish. I never ever float them in the bag (which is absolutely useless). I set up a air line started a siphon tied a not in it and it dripped water into a bowl i had him in for 45 minutes.

[borgey]

Also what kind of Hydrometer does everyone suggest? I have an Instant Ocean one right now. It's alright but not great. It's the best one my LFS had tho. It goes in intervals of .004s and wish I could find one that went by .002s

[JRC3]

I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it happens again. Also keep in mind that they will suck out the guts and spit out the skins afterwards.

The hydrometer should be fine as long as it starts at zero. Just shoot for a point close to the middle between and 004 and 008, if you're off by .001 or so it won't hurt anything. Or get a permanent marker and give yourself a little dot to aim for.

[jtbadco]

better to invest in a good refractometer IMO....u can get one for about $50

[borgey]

Yeah I do want one. The thing is the only thing I could get immediately was a Hydrometer. Does anyone suggest a good one at all? Reason I needed it was because I am turning my freshwater community tank into a species only F8 brackish tank. He seems to be doing very good right now tho. At first he was sitting on the substrate and when he did swim it was with his tail fin closed. Now he is swimming all over the tank with his tail fin open as can be. I just fed him about 5 or so blood worms which he went after right away. I think he is going to be OK. I am going to try and get up the salt level ASAP tho.

[borgey]

I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it happens again. Also keep in mind that they will suck out the guts and spit out the skins afterwards.

The hydrometer should be fine as long as it starts at zero. Just shoot for a point close to the middle between and 004 and 008, if you're off by .001 or so it won't hurt anything. Or get a permanent marker and give yourself a little dot to aim for.

Yeah that's what I am going to do. What specific gravity is your F8 tank at?

[borgey]

http://www.marinedepot.com/thermometers ... er-ap.html that's the hydrometer I purchased today. That will be fine for now correct?

[JRC3]

I keep mine at .005-6. You probably already know but don't increase your SG more than .002 per week or you'll harm your bio-filter.

I found this a little interesting...I'm sure there are other tests out there and will look for them.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/9/lines
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/ ... ssions.htm

I wish a company made a BW only hydrometer.

[borgey]

Wow that's interesting I was thinking about grabbing one and was looking around Ebay and found them pretty cheap. Would this one be OK? It starts at 1.000 so I figured it should be. http://tinyurl.com/2dhjoa4 By the way thanks for the links, but now maybe I will hold off. But if I can get a decent one for cheap I figure why not for a second opinion type thing I guess. Something to think about....... I got my specific gravity at 1.002 right now. Next Monday I will bring it up to 1.004. I also want to treat him for IPs. He holds his weight when eating but want to treat it just in case. Before I got the F8 I had livebearers in the tank and switched filters about a week or two before adding him. The tank was very overstocked too. Well the filter is a Marineland Penguin 150 Bio-Wheel filter. It has the filter cartridge that came with it in it (that has activated carbon in it) and one from my previous filter that I put in there to "seed" the filter. I cut the carbon out of the older cartridge so I only need to remove the one that came with the Penguin 150. Well my question is this. Do you think removing the cartridge with the activated carbon inside of it will put my tank into a cycle? I need to remove it to treat him. I have two medicines that require the whole tank to be treated. They are Tetra Parasite Guard and PraziPro.

[ProPuffyFish]

Is it possible the puffer was still chewing on the bloodworms or had just swollowed them and when you moved the little guy he got scared and spit them out? Lots of animals do this when they are scared just after eating. As long as his belly is white I dont think he's sick, I've seen a figure eight that was kept in a freshwater tank and it's belly was a really dark brown. These are just things I've observed though and I could be wrong, better safe than sorry for sure.

[hazima]

that is the hydrometer that I have used for about 5 months now. ive never had a problem with it

[Pufferpunk]

When purchasing a refractometer, you must also purchase calibration solution.