The Puffer Forum

J-P wrote:I'm going to assume that the new tank isn't cycled as of yet, tank water alone is not enough.

If you swap out the filters between the established tank and the new one that will dramatically speed up the process. Keep up with water changes and use that dechlorinated water.

Having 2 fish die in 8 hrous from ammonia is possible depending on the size of the tank 30L tank = 8 US gallons ... far too small for even one fish

Gotta go with J-P on this one. Tank isnt cycled and is way too small.

So, let me recap in case I have something wrong here. You started 3 SAP's off in a community tank of unknown size (you didn't tell us) and then moved them to their own 30L (7 US gallon) tank with other fish that was, at best, questionably cycled (a full fishless cycle tanks roughly 10 days, a fish in cycle can take longer, and the product you used to cycle is known to be nothing but dead bacteria and a useless cycling agent).

I don't think this has anything to do with what is coming from your tap. The simple fact is that the tank is massively overstocked. Even if a tank that size was cycled under the best conditions it would have crashed and the puffers would still have died. Sorry to be cold, I'm not usually that way but I need to get that point across (well, I am old and I do like to shake my cane at kids and yell at them to get off my lawn..)

I'm going to explain this like you have never kept fish in your life and have no idea about the nitrogen cycle so, please bear with me if I'm speaking beneath your expertise level:

All fish produce wastes ie,: poop, urine, respiratory wastes, uneaten food, etc break down. As they break down one of the end products is a toxic ammonia. When you cycle a tank you are actually growing bacteria, primarily Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter and other nitrifying bacteria, that oxidize ammonia to less harmful nitrite and nitrate to even less harmful (but still toxic) nitrate. As you cycle your tank it produces a certain amount of bacteria in the filter, on the decor, and sand that is dependent on the the amount of ammonia that is produced in the tank or, in a fishless cycle, the amount that is fed to the tank.

What's my point? The point is that even if that small tank was cycled properly, the puffers alone would have overwhelmed any biologic filter you created in that tank, crashed the tank and they would have died. Puffers are scaleless fish without gill plates to protect them against the slightest increase in toxic chemical byproducts in the aquarium. SAP's require 15 gallons of water for the first fish and 10 gallons for every fish thereafter because of this.

To avoid this in the future you need to make sure you have the proper size aquarium (research before you buy) and make sure it's completely cycled for a bioload that is over what your fish can produce. Currently, for the surviving SAP, you need to do huge daily water changes (75% -80%) to get the toxins down in the tank. Make sure your treating your water with a reputable chlorine/chloramine treatment like AmQuel or Prime (what most people swear by here). Get your remaining SAP in to a well cycled tank that is appropriate size as a singleton or get a tank that can house a school (SAP's do best in groups of 3 or more) and cycle it appropriately.

There are ways to instant cycle a tank BTW. If you ave a friend that has a healthy tank you can borrow some used filter media from that tank (make sure it stays wet) and either add it to your filter or squeeze the media in to the intake side of the filter (my favorite way to do it). You could borrow some decor from a friend with a healthy established tank. You can use a scoop of gravel from an established healthy tank and place it in a nylon stocking or cheese cloth and add it to your tank (or filter depending on the style). Or you could go buy some Dr. Tims for FW and add it directly to the intake side of your filter. With all these methods, remember that you need to add your fish a little before you add the new media/grave/decor/Dr. Tims. I usually add the fish about 4 hours prior to adding the new bacteria source so there is some ammonia existing in the tank.

+1

any update as to how the little guy is doing?