The Puffer Forum

Well, all I have to say is, God bless my fiance's big heart! Last night, he came home with 2 dalmation mollies, 1 angel fish, 1 dwarf goruami, and some kind of pleco. Before my last puffer died is was telling him how I was going to start a FW community tank with the above fish and he came home with them! I was so shocked, yet very happy because he felt so bad for me about the puffers. I wasn't quite ready to get anymore but just the fact that he was thinking of me, and actually remembered some of what I wanted, makes me feel a lot better! I still do miss my puffers though.

What a cool guy you have there -- sounds like one to hang on to!

Awww thanx Pufferpuggirl, you are sooo sweet!! Yea he really is a nice guy lol. And really knows his fish too. I'm going to send you a PM to ask you some questions about the new fish, just because Im really not in the mood for disappointing comments due to the loss of my puffers.

I totally understand.

Thanx . Oh and to others who read this...I'm not dissing anyones advice at all, and I'm not trying to be rude whatsoever. It's just when I get disappointing comments like... "Oh that won't work", or "NO, you'll kill your fish". It just kinda beats me down a bit. Thank you all for understanding, especially you, Pufferpuggirl!

You've just FULLY stocked an uncycled tank? A mini-cycle killed your last fish, and you're going to put these fish through a traditional cycling process? Are you aware that in a traditional cycle, you're not supposed to stock fully - you only add a couple hardy fish at a time? Did you know that dalmation mollies get up to 5"? And what is "some kind of pleco"? And did you not hear that angels dislike being kept alone?

Are you sure that "he really knows his fish"?

I wasn't quite ready to get anymore but just the fact that he was thinking of me, and actually remembered some of what I wanted, makes me feel a lot better!

Sounds like a real nice guy..... I would suggest getting some seachem stability or Dr. tims bio-spira quickly before those fish start to suffer as well. That is if the puffers died from a mini-cycle.... Ask your boyfriend to buy if for you, stability at least can be found at most major pet shops.

The puffers died from a mini-cycle in a brackish tank. If the tank was cleaned out and turned freshwater, then there's no bacteria left, or none that will survive in fresh water. Surely the fish weren't added to a brackish tank.

The merits of Stability are still quite debatable.

The merits of Stability are still quite debatable

debatable yes, but bio-spira cannot be found just anywhere. Stability can, its better than nothin'..... or she can order online and maybe wait two or three days to get it in.... in which case her fish are still suffering. She will need to do massive water changes daily if she waits on the mail order.....

Lilgreenpuffer: How DARE you question my boyfriends knowledge!!!!! For your damn information, they were not put in that tank!!! What is wrong with you huh? There has been another tank running we, always have another tank runing and it is freshwater only (which is why the puffers were not put in there). And no, I'm not stupid enough to put mollies, angelfish, the pleco, and gouarmi in a brackish tank! And it does not matter what pleco it is. It only gets 3" which is why I got it. Dalmation mollies DO NOT get 5". I've never seen them get 5" in my LIFE! I've owned them before and the most I've ever seen them get is 3" maybe 4". Maybe you need to do some more research?

The puffers did die from a mini cycle, yes, but it's not like I threw them into the tank UNCYCLED!! It was due to the fact that we were using and algae killer that killed off everything included the bad bacteria. Oh, and yea, the first time I got a puffer (which I knew nothing about) I put them in an uncylced tank and they lived up till the point the algae killer was put in. They lived a total of about a yr.

Mrs.Puff wrote:Lilgreenpuffer: How DARE you question my boyfriends knowledge!!!!! For your damn information, they were not put in that tank!!! What is wrong with you huh? There has been another tank running we, always have another tank runing and it is freshwater only (which is why the puffers were not put in there). And no, I'm not stupid enough to put mollies, angelfish, the pleco, and gouarmi in a brackish tank! And it does not matter what pleco it is. It only gets 3" which is why I got it. Dalmation mollies DO NOT get 5". I've never seen them get 5" in my LIFE! I've owned them before and the most I've ever seen them get is 3" maybe 4". Maybe you need to do some more research?

Dalmation mollies do indeed get to 5". If your boyfriend had knowledge about fish, he wouldn't have gotten a single angel, or dalmations for a 20g. Also, it would nto be stupid to put the mollies in a brackish tank, or didn't you know that? It does indeed matter what kind of pleco it is. There are pitbull plecos, which are extremely rare and only get to 2", and there are bristlenoses, which get to 4". There are commons, which get to 12". There are dozens of other kinds as well, all of them various sizes. What kind do you have?

However, I'm glad to hear that the tank is cycled. I'm truly sorry to have doubted you on that count. I guess you were adding ~2ppm ammonia every day, then?

Honestly...I'm not sure what kind it is. I'll try googling a lot of pics and see which one fits mine best and let you know. I can say that when he brought him home, he said that the LFS told him that it wouldn't get much bigger than it is now and he's about an inch or so. I know for sure it's not the common pleco because I'm aware that they get so big and he has two in his oscar tank.

BTW: sorry to have gotten so mad like that. I had just woke up from a nap after getting up wayyy too early and I get pretty cranky. And when I saw the post I just kinda got mad. So...I'm sorry to have jumped the gun on you like that.

Hey, it was rude of me to assume that you hadn't cycled the tank. I got what I deserved.

It could be a baby common pleco. They're the kind most commonly sold in stores for "small freshwater community tanks." Just do a double-check on that one.