The Puffer Forum

Seems awfully bare. Are you planning on adding substrate (I hope so!)? Puffers are intelligent, curious creature who need lots of decor to investigate.

I read an article about treating Ich on GSPs. And it says there it has to be bare due to the parasite's life cycle. It seems to work though Their Ichs are almost gone.

I do plan to put substrates and decor in it. Right now, my puffers are curious about the ladies in their room and seem to give them more attention than me, which is why I assumed that they're men. hahahaha

I don't honestly think your puffers are all that interested in those women .... I think they'd rather have some substrate, plants, and maybe a cave or two. I'm sure it is easier to get rid of ich without substrate, but at what cost to your puffers? As PufferPunk says, they need something to investigate and need to feel at home. I don't think you'd enjoy living in a room with 4 bare walls, even if the only thing you had on your walls were those two pictures of those women, you'd get bored after a while.

pufferpuggirl wrote:I don't honestly think your puffers are all that interested in those women .... I think they'd rather have some substrate, plants, and maybe a cave or two. I'm sure it is easier to get rid of ich without substrate, but at what cost to your puffers? As PufferPunk says, they need something to investigate and need to feel at home. I don't think you'd enjoy living in a room with 4 bare walls, even if the only thing you had on your walls were those two pictures of those women, you'd get bored after a while.

I wasn't serious about the women. hehe.

And I am going to put a substrate on them after the treatment, I already have a bag of Aragonite and those black gravels from my old 5 gallon tank ready for them. The Ich is almost gone, so I was thinking of putting them next week along with the other decors. Thank you for the concern though. ^^

Pufferpunk wrote:Seems awfully bare. Are you planning on adding substrate (I hope so!)? Puffers are intelligent, curious creature who need lots of decor to investigate.

That tank remainds of a thread that we recently talked about

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21052&start=0

Treatment in a hospital tank should be bare bottom. A a few weeks on a bare bottom for treatment of ich or other disease isn't going to destroy the puffer's psyche nor harm it physically, it can actually speed the treatment. Once the treatment is done clean the tank very well and then add substrate and the rest of the decor. I may suggest putting a few pieces of large diameter PVC pipe in there for cover until you are done with treatment.

An2n - I only had concern for your puffer in a long-term sense .... so it's good to know that you will be adding substrate soon. I also wasn't trying to offend you about the pictures of the women, mistakenly I thought you were serious (well you never know anymore). Sorry.

heh. Well the women are going to stay but for sure I'll fill them up with a lot of decor once the Ich is gone. Only a couple of dots left on them now and they're very active.

Keep treating for 21 days after the spots are completely gone.

The spots are all gone now. Now, I'm thinking if I put the substrates do I have to wash them? I am clearly aware that the water would get blurry white though.

What are you planning on putting in? If it's anything that needs to be rinsed, that should be done before you actually put it into the tank.

That is the mistake I made. My tank now is very cloudy. would u recommend an immediate water change? I'm using a Aragonite btw.

Dust from substrate isn't harmful to your fish. Add filter floss to your filter & change it when it get's clogged. It will quickly clear your water.

I'm planning my decor for my tank. Does color matter to GSPs? I mean they're not color blind like dogs right?

I'm thinking making it heavy on fake plants. I still have to do some research about live plants that can go with them.

Fish are not color blind.