The Puffer Forum

Yes, you can discontinue the Epsom. What test kit are you using?

*Sorry for the double post, my phone be actin a fool again...

I'd say at this point just focus on keeping the water changes going. I'd add nothing but clean water and prime.

I'm not sure how to word this properly, so forgive me if it sounds off. Since aquarium salt is basically just rock salt that the pet store industry has falsely betrothed magical properties upon, it doesn't matter if he was used to it, it's still basically worthless, especially without a break down of its composition.
I am also fairly certain that whatever amount they added, would be trivial.

Just keep his water clean, and add prime. I'm pretty sure you can take more than 25% out at a time considering your ammonia level hasn't changed.

Pufferpunk, the kit I am using is made by API Ammoia NH3/NH4+ Test Kit it's for Fresh Water and Salt Water

Is this the wrong kind? I put sme snails in the tank and now my other Puffer isn't eating them. He has been eating all along. God this is just killing me.

Are you using Prime to dechlorinate the water?

Yes I put Prime in everytime I take the water out

sorry for your loss. The test kits will read ammonia in the tank but the Prime renders it harmless.

Is #2 still hanging in there?

Yes, Puffer #2 is still hanging in. I put some snails in today and he wasn't interested. Now I just looked and I still see a few in there. He had to have eaten some. Usually he gobbles them up right away. He was putting his nose close to the glass and going up and down....would swim away and then come back and do it again. Is that normal? Now he is just sitting in the sand. I find that since I put the sand in, they like to sit on the bottom.

I am about to do another water change, but I was going to check the ammonia level first.

He could be sad from the lose of his friend, give him a few days to get over it.

PufferPunk, I am 4 days changing the water 50% twice a day. The ammonia level does not change, Why? It seems to stay at .25 no matter if I take 50% or 75% of the water out. Even with putting only "Prime" in today, it's still at .25

One would think with as much water as I have changed it would be at 0

Can you post a pic of your test?

Have you tested the tap water? They add ammonia to our city water and depending on the time of year it will test .25 and even as high as 1.0, maybe they do that there too.

While it's a reassuring gauge of how well the puff is doing, feeding more than the smallest amount will keep popping up your ammonia levels during this time while the bacteria are establishing. If you're worried that the puff is suffering from elevated ammonia/nitrite, then I would only feed one snail every two days (for example). Also, it helps to vacuum out the poop as soon as you see it. Along with the (intensely frequent, i know!) water changes you've been doing, I think that's pretty much all you can do until the levels stabilize. Dosing Prime in large amounts (I think you can get away with 5x the suggested amount) might help neutralize the toxins, but from what I could gather from reading some tidbits from the Prime people, the binding/neutralizing effect wears off in 48 hours, so you would need to keep up the extra dosing until you're sure the water is balanced.

Ok upon a suggestion, I tested the tap Water. It came out to .0 fr the ammonia. At 7:30 tonight I retested the tank again. Still at .25 level. My little guy is just sitting in the sand on the bottom of the tank.

I have included pictures: Tap Water Test to see where the ammonia leels are in my tap water

I have included the most recent Tank Tests (Tank Test1 and TankTest2)

Now the unerside of his belly is turning grey