Hi there! Im new to the Forum and puffers so forgive me if ive forgoten anything.
I picked my new figure 8 up on sunday afternoon, currently in FW. The tank is cycled due to a matured filter from a larger tank and all my water parameters are fine, so far i have fed him 5 ghost shrimp and 6 snails. The F8 seemed a bit stressed for the first couple of days but has settled down a bit now but still not completely settled. This evening i noticed two white dots on his head (sort of inbetween its eyes) that im sure were not there this morning. it does look like ick from what i can see but i cant see anymore spots on him, so could it be in the early stages?
Should i just acclimatise the tank to brackish? i already have bought some marine salt (its marine reef salt with increased calcium, magnesium and strontium) is that ok? how should i go about doing this as i only have experience in FW tanks. I understand salinity (i think) but i dont want to raise it too quickly to harm the bacteria in the filter.
Should this hopfully clear the ick? if that is what it is. do i need a refractometer or hydrometer to do it properly?
Any help is greatly appreciated so please correct me if im in the wrong about anything.
Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 NItrate: 5 PH: 7.2
50 litre (got a 120l in the loft for in a few months needs lighting)
Single Young Figure 8 Puffer
I change 20% every 2-3 days on all my tanks.
New figure 8 possible ick?
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Pufferpunk
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Re: New figure 8 possible ick?
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Sure, as long as the parameters are stable, start raising the SG by .002. You could also raise the temp to 85:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28113
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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defool89
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Re: New figure 8 possible ick?
yep and get a hydrometer to ensure accuracy.Pufferpunk wrote:
Sure, as long as the parameters are stable, start raising the SG by .002. You could also raise the temp to 85:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28113
You have the right to bear Puffers.
Re: New figure 8 possible ick?
Thanks for the advice i bought a refractometer and it seems that it has cleared up within two weeks, sg is now at 1.004. my heater only goes to 81 so i set it to that. so fingures crossed!
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32979
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: New figure 8 possible ick?
Glad he's doing well. 
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"