Labored Breathing

[puffykid]

The water temp doesn't have to be exact but it should be similar. Also drain most of the water out of the tank that the puffer is currently in and then catch him with a small cup or tupperware container that has some of the tank water in it and move him over to the new tank.

[signnet]

PuffKid, with respect to your information, I was told to "Keep" the water and pour the water from the 10 gallon in the tank along with the media. I was also told that I had to be careful because they jump and that they cannot gulp air so putting him in a cup sounds a bit strange. How long have you had a puffer?

[puffykid]

I agree that you need to transfer the media and the water over but a 10 gallon tank with only water weighs over 100 pounds so i don't think pouring the fish is the best way and it also may damage the glass thats why i suggested the tupperware to make the transfer easier. I've only had a puffer for a few months.

[xrayjeeper83]

Use a net to corral the puffer into a cup of some kind underwater and then transfer it to the new tank

[xrayjeeper83]

oh And your tank looks great

[signnet]

Even with the cloudy water, still transfer him????

[puffykid]

Ya the cloudiness is just particles from the sand. As long as you washed the sand the cloudiness will just settle and not harm your fish.

[sevenyearnight]

Move media and puffer ASAP.
Charcoal isn't going to hurt anything, it's just only considered necessary when removing medication from the water.
Cloudy is normal, it may be like that for a bit.
The tank looks great!

[signnet]

Hi everyone,

Here's an update. My little one is in his new tank. He went swimming arund checking everything out. I poured most of the water frm the other tank into the new one. I did not put the sand into the new tank yet as there is some waste that I need to clean first from the sand. Sould I wash the sand?

Anyway, here's some pics. The only thing tha bothers me is that he keeps going to the corner and swimming up and down in the one corner. Why? Does he see his reflection or is he getting sick?

[chuckfriedrice]

If you wash the sand you will "kill" your live sand

[xrayjeeper83]

Pacing like that on the glass is usually a sign of stress, give him a few days to chill out

[Pufferpunk]

Keeping the dirt/bacteria in the old sand is a good thing. You can clean it in a week.

[katfemme89]

As you can see, I am new to the forum, and I am new to keeping puffers, but I am not new to fishkeeping (3+ years). And while you all have given good advice, I feel that you have all overlooked a critical piece of information to give this person (and ANYONE who is new to fishkeeping): information on the cycling/nitrification process (although pufferpunk's links may have contained information on this--but I didn't see any conversation about it so I'm assuming not). I think that would've made everything a lot easier for her to understand. So, I will explain it here:

"Cycling" is basically a term for the process of building up "nitrifying bacteria" in the tank. Nitrifying bacteria is what neutralizes the ammonia/nitrite (poisonous waste) that your fish (and any fish) naturally produces. There are really two types of bacteria (but I won't bore you with the names), the first type takes the ammonia (the immediate form of waste), metabolizes it and the result is NitrITE (not to be confused with NitrATE). NitrITE is still poisonous to fish, so we're not done yet. The second form of bacteria takes the Nitrite, metabolizes it, and produces NitrATE, which isn't harmful to fish in small amounts. (they can handle up to 20 ppm [parts per million]). So basically what everyone has been hinting at but not explicitly telling you to do is to gradually cycle your tank (it can take up to a month to build up all that bacteria). The water changes have delayed the process, but I've been in that position before (because no one explained the nitrification process to me, either!) so ya gotta do what ya gotta do to keep your babies alive. Now what I have to say is that all that "slime" you cleaned off the filters, etc. on the 45 gallon, contained quite a bit of your healthy bacteria that you needed. And I'm assuming you probably made the same mistake I made at the beginning of fishkeeping and you rinsed the filter media in chlorinated tap-water. Chlorine kills all nitrifying bacteria. Don't "clean" anything anymore. Let it gunk up. You can remove large pieces of waste using a siphon, but do not rinse ANYTHING under tapwater. Just do your water changes, and let that bacteria build up. You will know when it has because your water will be crystal clear, and your nitrite and ammonia readings will be zero and your nitrate readings will be steady (if you keep performing regular water changes).

And the whole process should be a lot easier on you and your fish now that he's in the 45 gallon (the water parameters in smaller tanks are notoriously hard to control). So you can start resting a lot easier now. I hope I helped. And I mean no offense to anyone who has been helping this whole time, you guys have been doing a great job, I just felt that something was missing from the advice so I had to throw my two cents in .

-Kat

[katfemme89]

Ok pufferpunk I just read the link you posted on cycling... so I take back what I said about no one telling her haha! Although that article didn't actually explain the process, it was still good. But I think it might be a little confusing to a beginner, so yeah. Anyway, I just hope my information and explanation helps. I've been in exactly the same place as you, signnet. And I've inadvertently killed a LOT of fish. So don't feel bad.

[Pufferpunk]

There are tons of resources available in our Library on cycling & the nitrification process: library/category/water-filtration/

all that "slime" you cleaned off the filters, etc. on the 45 gallon, contained quite a bit of your healthy bacteria that you needed

True, so how does this fit?

The water changes have delayed the process

Since most of our bacteria is not in the water column, WC shouldn't harm the cycle at all.