The Puffer Forum

UPDATE!!!!

Thanks for articles and thanks for pufferpuggirls offer of media. Sadly I live a very long way away from you in a village just outside Brighton in Sussex but your offer was much appreciated.

I have dosed the tank with multi vits and mins and melafix and they are starting to show signs of slight improvement. The abcesses are less angry looking and I put a couple of live shrimp in the tank which were successfully hunted down and demolished with great precision and determination. One of them is still looking very weak but the melafix said to treat for 7 days so we shall see what happens over the next week.

Could anyone clarify whether I should do water changes every day while they are being treated? and what percentage?

I have put some filter start in today so a good dose of live bacteria should hopefully start colonizing, I am just not sure with the melafix treatment what to do with water changes as effectively I now have an uncycled tank!

I tried to get a test kit today but the LFS ran out, can anyone suggest a good test kit which will work on brackish and tropical freshwater? Hagen has been suggested to me.

Thanks to all you amazingly knowledgeable folk.

In regards to a test kit, I would try and get one by API, they are pretty good. I'm sorry you live so far, but yes, Sussex is quite a way's away from me!
Because your tank is basically an uncycled tank, I think you're going to need to be doing daily water changes to keep your fish alive and healthy (I would be doing 40-50%). Let's hope that the bacteria you put in there today actually start doing their job and then you will be better off. You should have asked the LFS if they would sell you a piece of sponge from one of their filters to get you on your way. Obviously once you get a test kit you will know more accurately what state your tank is in, so keep trying to get that kit. But at least you're on the right track !

I have put some filter start in today so a good dose of live bacteria should hopefully start colonizing

If you carefully read that article about Emergency Cycling, it suggests instant cycling products & warns not to use any other products. All the rest contain nothing but dead bacteria (waste). Last thing you need in there is more waste! Do 50% water changes every day before you dose again with the Melafix & add an airstone.

NEW PROBLEM!!!!

I have managed to get a test kit for salinity. The kit is by Pondcare and says my salt content is at 0.28%. This was after a 50% water change. I obviously added way too much salt to the tank to begin with thanks to the LFS.

I believe this is too high and needs to be soughted asap but I am not sure just how serious it is. Could this be the cause of their illness? My plants are beginning to die off too. Shall I do another 50% change today? Will this level of bacteria have killed off the live bacteria I put in the other day? I have another very big tropical tank so have put a couple of filter media pellets from this tank in with the puffers but will this salt level have killed all this bacteria too?

The fish themselves are looking better, I have an airstone and have been adding the medicine for a few days now so things are improving slowly.

Sorry about all these questions!

Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Don't panic, I think you have it about right

Is this a swing arm or floaty thing? Sounds like it was designed for koi carp when you dose them with salt in a pond - 'Pond Care'. I could easily be wrong

So that's 0.28% which is 0.28 parts per hundred or 2.8 parts per thousand. Or 2.8g of salt dissolved in a litre of water - it's gram for gram. That's why I like the ppt scale instead of sg which I think is plain weird because it (sg) depends on density and temperature. And it's not linear. But that's just me!

You should really use sg and a hydrometer, BTW, then we all know what we are on about

As a comparison, I use 30g of marine salt per litre of water in my marine tanks, that gives me an sg (specific gravity) of about 1.022 at 25C. My 30g of salt would give you a reading of 30 parts per thousand or 3 parts per hundred - 3% I'm ten times higher in terms of concentration of salt.

In sg terms, that's tiny - 1g of salt in a litre of water at 25C might have an sg of 1.001. You can change the sg by 0.002 units per week without destroying the filter. Don't worry about the fish, they can take a huge salinity change in a day as long as it's done incredibly slowly - dropwise.

You might have got to 1.003 in specific gravity

Most 'normal' aquatic plants will not survive in brackish water unless you read items by Dr. Monks who points out many plants that will. I think I'm going to buy his book, if I can find it

Please keep up with the daily 50% changes, keep the salt level the same, loads of air and try to feed as varied a diet as you can.

Good luck

What "live bacteria" are you adding? There are very few products that are actually live. IMO, you need to start doing huge water changes on there, until the tank is cycled. Don't worry about salt right now.

+1, find somewhere that keeps their bacteria in a fridge.

Just as PP says, water changes are more important.

I was just trying to help with salinity measurements, PP

And a great job you did, too! I'm terrible at math.

Your all stars!

The bacteria came out of the fridge and was called filter start. I have used it in all my tropical tanks and its worked a treat but I have no experience of this live bacteria in brackish water.

Am so glad the salt is not a biggy. The pondcare is for koi and general ponds and recommends the levels be at about 0.10 - 0.12%. Will have to try to get my head around the other method of salinity testing!

So the plan is to continue with 50% water changes, medication and not to stress about salinity too much.

What would I do without thepufferforum!!!!!!!!

Thanks a million and have a wonderfull Christmas!

Hi all,

Just to let you all know one of my puffers died yesterday

He ended up with a huge open wound on his side just below his gill. The poor little thing just couldnt carry on. Very upsetting but the other one is still alive. He still has a sunken side but no nasty abcess or wounds so theres still hope for him. Am carrying on with the treatment so will let you all know how he gets on.

Thanks!

I'm really sorry for the loss of your puffer, but I think it's better for him to be at peace than to be suffering, as it sounded like he wasn't in very good condition.
I am happy that you still have a puffer that doesn't have any wounds, so that's a good thing. I sincerely hope that everything turns out right and your little remaining puffer makes a full recovery.