The Puffer Forum

Well, my buddy had a 10 gallon he's letting me borrow for the time being... got some 'instant ocean' and some freeze dried bloodworms(?)..
Thanks again everyone for the advice, I'll update more later, otherwise I think I've got enough to go on I think, so now to work!

The 10g will be GREAT for now! Does your friend also have an established freshwater tank you can get some filter media or gravel from? Don't forget, no marine salt till the cycle is stable! Until then, only aquarium salt!

Freeze-dried foods are fairly low in nutrition, and they can cause constipation because they swell up in the stomach. To prevent this from happening, pre-soak them until they're soggy.

Welcome to the forum! And good luck with your GSP!


Words cannot express the dislike I have for Wal-Mart. LGP..Never go to the Wal-mart in Hamburg, you'll get fighting mad like I did yesterday. Just horrible.

I don't know how true is this, but I've read that Wal-Fart will discontinue their live fish section

They completely redid the Walmart by my parent's house. Stopped in there today to check if they put a fish dept in there yet... so far, so good! That means I'll still shop there.

PolishPuff wrote:I don't know how true is this, but I've read that Wal-Fart will discontinue their live fish section

if it is true, it just may be the best bit of news we'll hear all year!

i used to love going through the fish section, now i just find it sad... though some do seem well taken care of.... its just the puffers and the cichlids at my walmart... too cramped for such agressive fish... but on the other hand, if they flush the returned ones, i guess thats not well taken care of... and how do you guys know they get flushed??? i cant imagine employees offering that info up willingly... PETA would get involved, and many other animal rights orginizations like SPCA probably... are you SURE?

well, hm, okay... just got my answer... i just called them... and pretended to have a sick fish... i said "hi, i was wondering, i bought a fish there the other day and it doesnt seem too healthy, if i return it, what will you do with it" she didnt want to answer but she said "well, we cant put it back in the tank, i mean if someone wants to take it for free, they can... but other wise we flush it" then i said "well what if it does appear to be healthy?" she said "well we usually dont get healthy fish returned, but if we did, we try to see if someone wants to take it for free... we, we usually wont flush them"

MMMMM HHHHHMMMMMM..... you could tell she didnt want to tell me what they really do with the healthy fish... ok, well.... note to self, never buy or return a fish to walmart.... OOORRRRR you could buy a bunch of fish from walmart, then return them, and get your money back, then say you know what, since youre just going to kill them anyway, why dont i go ahead and take them off your hands lol... no im just kidding i wouldnt do that...

GOD, what a terrible place. ok i believe it now.

kilofey wrote:i used to love going through the fish section, now i just find it sad... though some do seem well taken care of.... its just the puffers and the cichlids at my walmart... too cramped for such agressive fish... but on the other hand, if they flush the returned ones, i guess thats not well taken care of... and how do you guys know they get flushed??? i cant imagine employees offering that info up willingly... PETA would get involved, and many other animal rights orginizations like SPCA probably... are you SURE?

PETA is too concerned with burning down pet stores and butcher shops. (I wouldn't want anything to do with PETA, ever, anyway.) And there are no laws to protect fish; they are not considered intelligent enough.

Oops, sorry for triggering the derail... Back to topic!

Actually, there are some laws that protect fish... do I have to tell my betta story again???

LilGreenPuffer wrote:And there are no laws to protect fish; they are not considered intelligent enough.

Oops, sorry for triggering the derail... Back to topic!

now you've done it!

i dont mean to hijack the topic, but id like to hear the betta story. cause i just got bored enough to email walmart's cooperate hahaha and id like to have a little ammo in case they email back PP, a PM would be fine if this subject is getting too off topic... i like to learn about different laws out there to educate myself... if its too long to type, or if you dont want to, i understand

Ok, I just had one question, is this part:
-ask your local fish store if they have some used filter media or some spare used gravel you can have or buy. that will put the needed good bacteria in your tank. just keep it wet

necessary after the tank is 'cycled'? or was that meant for during the 86'F etc~

I mean in the sense of, if he lives, and the ich goes away, and then ph/sg etc are good for the 4 days in a row, wouldn't I want to avoid putting anything 'non-quarantined' in the tank to prevent a reinfection of the ich?

But at the same time, I saw somewhere that the gsp's are what 78-80'F preferred, or can you leave the water at the 86'F?

Lol, I'm never going to look at a fish tank the same again... heh

Ha! Yes, please feel free to share the beta story lol

Kungpaoshizi wrote:Ok, I just had one question, is this part:
-ask your local fish store if they have some used filter media or some spare used gravel you can have or buy. that will put the needed good bacteria in your tank. just keep it wet

necessary after the tank is 'cycled'? or was that meant for during the 86'F etc~

I mean in the sense of, if he lives, and the ich goes away, and then ph/sg etc are good for the 4 days in a row, wouldn't I want to avoid putting anything 'non-quarantined' in the tank to prevent a reinfection of the ich?

But at the same time, I saw somewhere that the gsp's are what 78-80'F preferred, or can you leave the water at the 86'F?

Lol, I'm never going to look at a fish tank the same again... heh

the used filter media will help cycle your tank and should be added asap, weather you are treating for ich or not... it will help give you those good readings for 4 consecutive days its a way of cheating when cycling your tank... you take some filter media/gravel from a HEALTHY tank which already has that bacteria on it, and if you leave it in your tank for a few weeks, it transfers that bacteria to your tank... its best to get the used filter media/gravel from a friend who has had no recent disease outbreaks, but if you dont know of anyone, you can always put an ad on craigslist, or just ask your LFS tell them your situation, and they will take you to their healthiest tank to help you out... and after you are done treating the fish for ich, the temp should be turned back down but it will be fine to keep it at a higher temp while treating.


okay, well good luck