The Puffer Forum

You can't keep that puffer in a 1G bag all night...you need to divide the tank with something solid that'll last overnight so you can return one or both in the morning (I'd strongly recommend both, so you can have a rethink and get things right a second time over). It won't last the night in a 1G bag, besides which it's really unfair on the puffer even if it can/does.

Your seeded filter won't work with a salinity increase to SW. Is this your first foray into marine? I'd recommend reading up on this forum and others, before giving it a go a second time around. You should never purchase livestock for a tank that isn't set up and ready for them to call home.

Measuring out salt by taste is also no way to go about it. You need a refractometer, or a hydrometer at the very least.

Sorry to seem so negative; you made the right call at least by coming here and asking for advice and hopefully down the line you will be able to give a lovely home to some very interesting and rewarding pet puffers and will be able to share your stories and photos of them with everybody here.

I agree with basically everything coldmachine said. Please consider returning the puffers back to the store tomorrow, even if that means that they will be sold to somebody else. I think it is the most responsible thing to do to your puffers for now, until you get yourself better informed about keeping marine puffers. I hope this experience doesn't turn you away from marine puffers or TPF though. We're all just trying to give you honest opinions and not trying to be mean or make you feel bad. I swear that I made almost all the mistakes when I started but with the help I got here I finally think that I know a thing or two about keeping puffers.

I killed four green-spotted puffers before I found this place and learned better. We really do want you to stick around. The answers we're offering sound harsh, I know, but we don't want to turn you off. We just want to help you out.

Personally, I'd be extremely surprised if either of those puffers made it to tomorrow. Please, please, please return them both ASAP!!! I believe it is now daylight where you are now? Take them back to the shop right immediately & then settle into doing some serious research about keeping SW systems & the species of puffer you are interested in.

These are wild-caught living creatures, taken out of the ocean, that need very specialized care! Not something you can toss into a tank you set up after you bought them. At minimum, you need a hydrometer to measure the salt, somewhere to mix the salt (along with something to mix it with, like a powerhead) for at least 24 hours before testing, sand & a good protein skimmer, along with enough decor (preferably live rock that is cured), so the puffer feels save in your tank.

How are the puffers?

puffers are fine, took the PP back now only have dogface and lionfish, got a large external filter too. Now the Dog face we ahve was grey color with black spots. Woke up today and found him at the top of tank but hes changed color to Brown!!!??? what does that mean

Black or dark color in puffers could mean different things, they usually become very dark when they are extremely stressed, on the verge of dying, but sometimes it just means they are moody or sleepy. I am inclined to think that that he's stressed out due to the water condition. Are you going to keep him in your uncycled aquarium?

Is the external filter a protein skimmer? If not, please return it for one. SW filtration is totally different than FW. What about cured, live rock? Have you gotten something to test the salinity?

recombinantrider wrote:Black or dark color in puffers could mean different things, they usually become very dark when they are extremely stressed, on the verge of dying, but sometimes it just means they are moody or sleepy. I am inclined to think that that he's stressed out due to the water condition. Are you going to keep him in your uncycled aquarium?

The dogface is really dark like off dark brown and his mouth is always open, before when we bought him he was grey and he would swim around with his jaws closed!!

He's stressed out & being poisoned by it's own waste in it's uncycled tank. His gills are burning from the ammonia. Please return it & the lionfish.

Pufferpunk wrote:He's stressed out & being poisoned by it's own waste in it's uncycled tank. His gills are burning from the ammonia. Please return it & the lionfish.

Nitrite and ammonia are decreasing just tested the levels today it has decreased from 1.6 mg / l to 0.65 mg / l plus got live Rock today to help Filtration with external Filter. Gonna get more LR 2moro Lion fish is Not gulping for Air! and seems relaxed telling me the water is not so Toxic! Manager in the LFs said its normal for a Dog face for the first few days or so to be stressed and turn Dark Brown Color. Apparently they get stressed when moved to a new Environment and turn dark!
Yesterday was weird though the light was off over the Tank, so I turned it on he Was Brown still! went toilet 5mins later came back and found him swimming around and he turned back to Grey Color again WOW!
So I dont think its all that bad he will settle in, the manager did say though not to interfere to much with the tank and let them Settle.

I read on a few forums that people who had Dog Puffers turn brown in the first few days of adding them to a Tank where all the levels of nitrite , nitrate and ammonia were 0 therefore his stress must be Home Sickness not Pollution!
Whenever any puffer takes a dump in the Tank that gets Swiped up straightaway aswell uneaten Food!! Im not gonna return them for now, Ill just keep topping UP R.O Water everyday while the Bio-Filter Matures and monitor Waste Levels!

I guarantee you that fish will be stressed in a tank which isn't cycled. As PP says, the water is toxic. Whether the levels are reducing, or fish typically get a little stressed when moved to a new home, is neither here nor there. Ammonia/nitrIte >0 = stress + harm to your fish.

Hope the LR and your daily RO water changes keep on top of things. Tanks can take a while to cycle (weeks) this way, so make sure you are keeping an eye on the pollutant levels.

I agree with ColdmachineUK and PufferPunk. They are suffering from the high ammonia and nitrite, do some huge water changes or take them back to the LFS until the tank is fully cycled. Also if you are adding LR, make sure it's cured or you get it directly from a friends tank and immediately put it in yours. If it's not cured or from an established tank it can add to your ammonia as the dead/dying critters decay.

As for the Lion fish not gulping for air, I liken that to a person getting trapped in a Port-A-Potty on a hot summer afternoon.....The smell doesn't bother them after a while but it doesn't mean the toxic gasses aren't doing damage to their lungs.

Any amount of ammonia/nitrite is extremely toxic & can cause permanent damage to your fish, greatly shortening their lifespans.

My porcupine puffer saw a ghost and got Puffed his pants
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEDJaTsQufA