I think I want a F8

[VanillaShake311]

Oh wow well I guess cross your fingers that I get a F8 that is mild tempered.

[VanillaShake311]

Guess what! So I decided to stick several filter medias into my cycling tank a few days ago. I just now took a water test and guess where Im at?!

Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0

WOW! So is it cycled? Should I take the media out now or leave it in a few more days? How long do you think I should wait to go pick out my puffer? Wow I had no idea how fast that worked cause here's where I was on Sunday.

Nitrate 5.0
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrites 2.0

But that was before I stuck the media in there.

SO what do you think?

[VanillaShake311]

Sorry really excited....... anyone know if my tank is puffer ready?

[Nick]

Test it again tomarow, and if it's holding at zero after the new ammonia addition, I'd say it's go time.

[Myaj]

You should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and a LOT of nitrAtes if the tank was cycled.

The 0 nitrates worries me. You have been "feeding" the tank with ammonia on a daily basis, correct?

[OraLacerta]

Vanillashake- I deleted your double-post.

Pertaining to Figure Eights and tankmates: Assuming your Figure Eight is 'docile' (not attacking tankmates, not sampling fins, not an aggressive feeder, etc) there are quite a few options for tankmates besides BBGs. There is the quicker and less risky choice of a molly or two, as well as the reclusive (but sometimes aggressive) Knight Goby. I am keeping a FW Flounder with my pair of Figure Eights, but he is quite risky because he buries in the sand and leaves his eyes vulnerable to sampling, and he can also be tricky to feed. So far no nips, but I am ready to remove him if a problem arises. There are also many other choices but they tend to need much more space than you have.

The thing that is most unfortunate is you will not know if your puffer will accept tankmates unless you try it. A docile Figure Eight may sample on a fin or two, or accidentally nip during feeding time if another tankmate is after the same morsel, and that puffer may also get more aggressive with time. My one Figure Eight I have had the longest is actually starting to become a bit testy, but used to be incredibly tolerant of the occasional rude behavior by her tankmates. I would suggest you try a molly first, and if that goes well it could always be returned and you could try something like a Goby.

As for the cycling, I am also a bit worried about you reading 0 nitrates. The benefical bacteria will convert ammonia into nitrite and then nitrite into nitrates, so the nitrates should not have disappeared. What type of test is it, and is there any other type of test laying around that you could check it against?

[VanillaShake311]

Oh wow really? Umm I just two weeks ago bought the API freshwater master test kit. And yes they went to 0? I have three daniods in there along with snails....... and filter media and i feed the fish food every day. What do you think I am doing wrong?

I almost got a puffer today I am glad they didn't have any healthy one's then I wouldn't wanna risk them dying for my ignorance.

[VanillaShake311]

I thought you didn't want Nitrites in your tank?

[Boxermom]

You don't want nitrites, but you should be showing nitrates in a cycled tank.

[VanillaShake311]

Hmmm yea I used my pond test kit and it showed the same thing? So what does this mean? Is it okay to put a puffer in there even though this is a bizarre event? Or what should I do?

[Nick]

It's very odd, thats for sure. I do have a 2.5 gallon heavily planted tank with just a betta which does not ever accumulate nitrates, however.

[VanillaShake311]

I talked to one of my friends that works at an extremely reputible fish store in Austin and told me that as long as I saw Nitrites in the tank then it has been cycled. It would bizarre if I hadn't... but it jumped as soon as I put the filter media from my other tanks in that one. And all cleared at 0.

So I plan to call the fish store near me Thursday when they get the new shipment of brackish water puffers in. I went and looked at the puffers yesterday and they looked unheathy and only had two tiny figure 8's and like 10 GSPs. All with white sore looking things on them and most of them were a darker green rather than lighter. The guy was straight up honest to me.... I asked him about it and he told me that sadly he wouldn't buy one of these for himself cause of how badly they came in. He told me they got a bad shipment of sickly puffers in and had told the supplier about it. So hopefully this next shipment will have healthier little guys for me to pick from.

I went to the store today and grabbed a hydrometer (can't afford a refractometer at the moment but plan on one in the future) and a big thing of Instant Ocean. So I am ready to go. Here is the diet I have ready for the guy as of right now.....

I have frozen.... clam meat, salad shrimp, scallops, brine shrimp. And an endless supply of snails....... I built 3 ponds in my back yard 11 years ago with tons of those (so called pesky snails.. which actually in a pond are EXTREMELY important)... so i have many... i have around 30 very small snails in there at the moment for the new little guy to pick at and hunt.

Super excited ..... !!!! Wish I already had the lil bugg'r. I'll definitely post pics when I get him.

[Nick]

Be sure to quarantine any snails meant for puffer use indoors in a tank for a month to make sure they are parasite free and otherwise healthy... seeing nitrites does not mean a tank has cycled, it means it has STARTED cycling, and bacteria converting ammonia to nitrite exist. It won't be actually cycled until ammonia and nitrite are zero, all of the material having been converted to nitrate.

[VanillaShake311]

Well i showed earlier in the post where my stats were at then I updated it. And I have checked every day since and its staying at 0 and pH 7.4.

The snails are bred from my 210 gallon... they like to breed on the filter media that happened to be the one's I stuck in the tank. And that 210 gallon has been up and running for almost 2 years now.