The Puffer Forum

Ok, here is an idea. First, you will need a test kit to test the nitrite and nitrate.
*Super simplified nitrogen cycle*
Fish: Excrete ammonia constantly, not just poop
Bacteria: The kind in the aquarium clings to surfaces, a negligible amount only is in the water collumn.
Even though fish excrete ammonia, it is still toxic. The first set of.bacteria break down the ammonia into nitrite, it takes time for the bacteria to propagate.
Nitrite is still toxic; there is a second set of bacteria that breaks the nitrite into nitrate, which is much less toxic.
The tank is cycled when your ammonia and nitrite stay at 0, but you show a reading of nitrate.

It is very difficult for bacteria to propagate with salt present, and that is why it is suggested to cycle a tank at fw, and raise it no more than .002 per week, anything greater will kill off the bacteria. Since you raised the salt too quickly, your tank is basically back to square one, and it would be better IMO to drop the sg back to fw, so it is easier for the bacteria to reestablish itself, monitor your water parameters, when the tank reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but some reading nitrate, *then* raise your sg by .002. With figure 8, you can have the sg at 1.003, but still spread this out over 2 weeks at least.

So when you get your figure 8, your water should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but show a nitrate reading preferably below 10 ppm, but definitely below 20, and your sg at 1.003-1.005.

Meanwhile, read and learn. Don't rush anything, at best you will have a nightmare of daily huge water changes, at worse, your puffer may not survive.

and how should i do that... 50% wc of fw? then another 50% of fw the next day?

sevenyearnight wrote:Ok, here is an idea. First, you will need a test kit to test the nitrite and nitrate.
*Super simplified nitrogen cycle*
Fish: Excrete ammonia constantly, not just poop
Bacteria: The kind in the aquarium clings to surfaces, a negligible amount only is in the water collumn.
Even though fish excrete ammonia, it is still toxic. The first set of.bacteria break down the ammonia into nitrite, it takes time for the bacteria to propagate.
Nitrite is still toxic; there is a second set of bacteria that breaks the nitrite into nitrate, which is much less toxic.
The tank is cycled when your ammonia and nitrite stay at 0, but you show a reading of nitrate.

It is very difficult for bacteria to propagate with salt present, and that is why it is suggested to cycle a tank at fw, and raise it no more than .002 per week, anything greater will kill off the bacteria. Since you raised the salt too quickly, your tank is basically back to square one, and it would be better IMO to drop the sg back to fw, so it is easier for the bacteria to reestablish itself, monitor your water parameters, when the tank reads 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but some reading nitrate, *then* raise your sg by .002. With figure 8, you can have the sg at 1.003, but still spread this out over 2 weeks at least.

So when you get your figure 8, your water should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but show a nitrate reading preferably below 10 ppm, but definitely below 20, and your sg at 1.003-1.005.

Meanwhile, read and learn. Don't rush anything, at best you will have a nightmare of daily huge water changes, at worse, your puffer may not survive.

This is good advice! Can I add though, that you can cycle a tank in Brackish or marine SG rather cycling in FW and raising the SG up slowly.
But for e.g. cycling in Marine SG can take longer upto a month before a tank is fully cycled as supposed to two weeks for a FW tank to cycle as the presence of salt slows the growth of Nitrifying Bacteria in your tank.

p.s. When a tank has 0 Ammonia and 0 NITRITE then it is fully cycled

HD, since your parents gave you the if you go freshwater, no tank at all ultimatum, do your normal water changes, but use this calculator to determine how much, how quickly
http://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calc ... linity.php

At this point i am willing to go back down to FW, but not having FW puffers... atleast not right now because i really wanna get my hands on some F8's... BUT should I get my water tested for everything AGAIN and just make sure that my water is crap. Saying that it is crap, ill go back to fw... but how will i do that? also how long will I have to wait to SEMI re cycle it because my filter pad still has some good bacteria on it... And i will still have my tiger barbs if i am going back to FW... so will that be okay? just tell me how to put it to fw without a 100% wc.. i dont want that

Walrus Head wrote:p.s. When a tank has 0 Ammonia and 0 NITRITE then it is fully cycled

0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, but there needs to be a reading of nitrate. An uncycled tank can read 0 ammonia 0 nitrite.

PST.... ANSWER MY QUESTION!

Use that calculator to drop the sg back to fw by .002 a week then.

I did, scroll up.

Ahhh 2 things about that... are those weekly or daily WC? cuz i can do em daily... also its saying like have a 1.00039 or something... can i just add tap water?

You can do daily, but you still don't want to excede that .002 per week, so daily could kind of just be like adding straight freshwater in the smaller amounts. It's just up to you.

FW daily, let it cycle for how long? then 1.001 FIRST WEEK then a 1.002 then a 1.002

The "how long" will be determined by your test results. There is no set time, that is one of the reasons why it is important to monitor your water parameters.

ahh