The Puffer Forum

I calibrated my Instant Ocean hydrometer last night with RO water and it was .001 off. That's not a lot, but just an additional stress put on the fish during a move.

A difference of .001 wouldn't have made much of a difference, assuming you drip-acclimated them. Dripping them for 1-2 hours is also good for allowing them to adjust to a different pH and water hardness. Often times, they get a much higher shock from the pH difference than they do from a slight salinity difference. Also, some fish just don't handle the stress of moving tanks very well.

It was probably a combination of a lot of things....the PH change, combined with the difference in salinity, along with a new home....could have all contributed to it. Plus these two puffers weren't looking very good at the LFS. I felt sorry because they were cramed into a 5 gal tank with about 10 of them. Half of them looked dead, but these two were moving around. After I brought them home I realized that even they weren't in the best of health and was hoping to nurse them back. I guess time will tell or not.

I hope they pull through!