The Puffer Forum

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:37 pm**

bigfatfish wrote:Hey Jesse - welcome to the forum!

Did you use well rinsed aragonite sand? Personally, when I changed from gravel to sand, I used very fine filter floss in the filters & changed it daily to ensure sparkly water. Stirring to prevent toxic gases is not such an issue with a relatively shallow bed - just vacuum it thoroughly when you do the weekly water change.
With regards to water testing, its far more important that we know the exact figures for ammonia/nitrite & nitrate, than pH & hardness etc. Keep the tanks' bacteria "fed" with ammonia or some source of ammonia to keep it cycled until you get the fish. I would keep it as FW until he is settled in, then start the transition to BW by adding marine salt at each water change - remember, there is no rush to do this (& better it is done slowly, than crashing the whole system). Lots of people mix the water the day before & keep it heated/aerated overnight for use the following day - personally, I don't think that it is so important to do that with a BW tank as it is with Marine. I mix up a big bucket at a time (about 12 gallons) & test with a refractometer (you will need to get one of those!).

Hope that helps a little - although my advice is only from personal experience of what works for me!

I appreciate the kind reply bigfatfish. I should have researched the aragonite sand more but the bag SAID it wasn't necessary...so no I didn't rinse it at all. But I did lay it down slowly using a pvc tube. It was so cloudy I couldnt see the back of the tank but almost 24hrs later it is 90% clear id say. I heard about filter floss I may give that a try.

My Nitrites are at 0 and Nitrates are at about 20 so i'm hoping my tank is still cycled but I have added a shrimp to be safe.

I cant wait to get him in there! Thanks again.

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:48 pm**

I just wanted to add my bit to this conversation -- I don't mix my brackish water the night before, I mix it the same day as I'm going to do my water change. It does sit for about 30-40 minutes before I use it, but it's worked this way all along and I'm not going to change now. I think it probably is different when mixing for a marine tank though. I would just advise to never add salt directly to your tank.

It sounds to me like you've got things well in hand. I wish you well with your new puffer .... and by the way [welcome]

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:48 pm**

pufferpuggirl wrote:I just wanted to add my bit to this conversation -- I don't mix my brackish water the night before, I mix it the same day as I'm going to do my water change. It does sit for about 30-40 minutes before I use it, but it's worked this way all along and I'm not going to change now. I think it probably is different when mixing for a marine tank though. I would just advise to never add salt directly to your tank.

It sounds to me like you've got things well in hand. I wish you well with your new puffer .... and by the way

Thanks for adding! It seems that that is the consensus and is the way I will most likely try first. Do you use a heater and powerhead?

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:07 pm**

It is probably best that you start off with the ways that have been described here, use the large container and mix the salt up accordingly. This will get you used to doing it. After you are used to the amounts of salt you need to use per water change you can start to experiment with the best way that suits your routine. I started off aerating the night before with a powerhead and a heater and then I started using smaller amounts of water aerated and adding that in steps to the tank as I filled it back up with fresh. Then I forgot one day to prep and needed to do it faster so I then used boiling water to dissolve the salt quicker and add that to a container with chilled water. I let it cool until it was the desired temperature and then added it to the tank in steps as I refilled with fresh. This is what I found worked for me.

Once you have gained some experience with doing it, its all about what you are comfortable doing in your water change routines.

Good luck and Welcome.
[welcome]

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:22 pm**

No, I do not use a heater and powerhead. I just mix, let it sit while I siphon out the old water and then add it. Seems to work that way for me.

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:17 pm**

pufferpuggirl wrote:No, I do not use a heater and powerhead. I just mix, let it sit while I siphon out the old water and then add it. Seems to work that way for me.

I'm with you on this one ppg - a mix & go kind of girl! (I do always test the SG tho, even if I am sticking to my recipe).

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:51 pm**

No one at Walmart orders the fish--they are sent what corporate wants them to sell. Believe me, I've gone as high as corporate with my article for them.

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:52 pm**

Thanks bigfatfish - I figure when I finally go to the dark side, I will start doing it the other way, but for brackish water, my way seems to be okay and all the fish are fine. Even the new rosenblatti is doing well, and what an appetite!

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:20 pm**

Ok good. I appreciate everyones help so far! I think I feel comfortable enough proceeding with my puffer adventure! I apologize for all the questions but I really wanted to find out as much as I could and this is the place to do it! Once I'm sure everything is a ok with my water params I will add my new puff!

On another note

Does everyone breed snails for their puffs or just buy 5 million of them over its life?

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:28 pm**

I breed my own as do a number of other members

Not EVERYONE though, but yes many do and many more want to

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:18 pm**

J-P wrote:I breed my own as do a number of other members Not EVERYONE though, but yes many do and many more want to

OK. Any tips. As far as I can tell you just need a small tank (5g ok?) with heater and sponge filter add a bunch of ramshorns and let em go?

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:42 pm**

library/feeding/basic-snail-breeding/

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:55 pm**

I don't have a heater on mine at the moment but will in the winter.

One thing I'd avoid is a substrate. I put sand in mine and it is such a pain to clean without loosing snails. Just a bare tank will do, sponge filter and a spare heater handy when the temps drop quickly.

Depending on how advanced you want to go there are calcium additives and self prepared foods you can make also.

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:56 pm**

A ten gallon would probably be easier to maintain and cheaper to buy

For snails

Posted: **Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:02 pm**

In my breeder sets I have : 5g assassin snails, 2.5g blue ramshorns, 5g red ramshorns, and 5g apple + mystery snails. I also have a bucket with no heater and no filter with some pond snails but they are getting moved eventually to a 5g bowl eventually

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