The Puffer Forum

Myaj wrote:...I'm not familiar with Aquasafe really, I think its okay though... it is a dechlor right?

Yes, it's a dechlorinator, or "water conditioner". Amquel+ is a marvelous product, but at your stage I don't think you want to be using it because it removes ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates as well as chlorine and chloramines, which of course will interrupt your cycle. If your puffer starts to suffer and you're in danger of losing him, then large water changes would probably be more the route to go, rather than using Amquel+ or some such product.

I use AquaSafe whenever there's no ammonia in my tap water. It works fine, and it's got aloe and whatnot to help slime coats.

so i should use aquasafe while my tank is still cycling (or using "safestart"), then Prime after it has gone through the cycling stages??

Yes, that sounds good.

Amquel and Prime do not remove ammonia, they just make it less toxic, its still available for the bacteria to "eat", so it doesn't hurt the cycle at all. Products that remove ammonia are not a good idea, if you ever want your tank cycled

I would actually use the Prime now, if you can get it, as it will detoxify the ammonia you do have. If you can't easily get it, just keep using what you have and do frequent water changes (daily if you can) to keep all the "bad" levels down as much as possible.

So, if I treated my ammonia-y tap water with Prime, and then tested it, would it still show up on the readings?

Yes it would. But if you wait 24 hours and test it again it would show 0. The reason for that? Because your tank is established enough to convert the amm. to nitrite to nitrate.

Huh. That's good to know. If I get the readings, I won't freak out!

I know that my tank can probably deal just fine with it to a degree, but I'm still playing it safe.

k well i just did a 50% water change this morning and used aquasafe. Should I use prime right now or wait until next water change?

Also, is Safestart even sold in the US?? I went to PetCo, Pet Smart, Pet Club, Walmart, and Exotic Aquarium (LFS about the size of walmart) and no one had it, just some other brands that i have not heard of. Even ebay shows it's only available from international sellers.

One thing i did see was a bag of watery sand that supposedly already has bacteria in it, should i look further into this?

They have SafeStart here. I've seen it. Try DrsFosterSmith.com.

Live sand would be good if it's been packaged *recently* and it's at the same SG as your water.

The wet sands really I think are pointless. They are nice to use when setting up a tank, but I don't think there's really any live bacterial in there.. what would it be "eating"? There's no fish or other source of ammonia, and who knows how long its been on the shelf.

It won't hurt to add the Prime, so if you have it, I'd go ahead and use it.

Myaj wrote:Amquel and Prime do not remove ammonia, they just make it less toxic, its still available for the bacteria to "eat", so it doesn't hurt the cycle at all....

Thanks for the correction, Myaj - that's very good information to know.

I posted this for someone else.

1 bottle tetra safestart treats 30 gallons
1 large bottle dr tims treats 2oz treats 30 gallons, 4oz treats 60 gallons
http://www.thatpetplace.com
30G
Tetra safestart 100ml : $14.99
Shipping $ 8.99
Total $23.98

Drsfostersmith.com
30G 60G
Dr. Tims 2oz. $18.99 4oz. $28.49
Shipping $9.99 $9.99
Total $28.98 $38.48
Total w/Discount $27.84 $36.77

Just a little update on my puffer.

I transferred him into a 55 gallon tank with a partition to breed snails on the other side, so he has about 40 gallons to himself. I thought I ordered "Safestart" but I got "Aquasafe" so it will be a few more days till i get some of that. A few days in the tank he was colorful as can be, but now, not so much. The water params are Ammonia - .25, Nit's - 0. He almost always has dark areas and sunken belly after about 10 hours of a full feeding. I am going to the lfs to get some meds to treat for ip. Was thinking Melafix, metronidazole, or levimasole, whatever they have in stock.

I'd give him the whole tank & breed snails in a bucket or something.