The Puffer Forum

I have a soft spot for Severums but that should bring the nitrates down as they're not small and they are messy. Well mine was anyway.

True, puffer keepers tend to be owned. You pay for them and they make you pay more and more cash out keeping them.

Mikeyburnsey wrote:

Pufferpunk wrote:Why are you using Amquel? How big is the puffer/tank mates? Generally, "drunk" swimming is a sign of nitrite poisoning. What test kits are you using?

My No2 Nitrite zero so how can it be nitrite poisoning, I am now doing a water change, will answer the other questions later

Didn't say it was... just that it's a classic sign of that.

Ok just when someone mentions that it could be a certain thing, I assumed you was telling me it could be Nitrite, so sorry for not thinking down your lines!!

I usually salt our tanks every other water change.. 5 gallons per tbsp. and i only treat the amount I removed.. for example.. I remove 30 gallons of water, I only treat 30 gallons of water..even though it is a 120gallon. I have found since iIve started doing this all my fish seem to be in better health, and happier. Sometimes I just put in very little.. it all depends.


If you see him slowly coming back to his usual self then yes, that is a great sign... whatever you do DO NOT touch him!! lol
If he gets worse I would suggest leaving the tank lights off, and possibly covering it with a light sheet or something if it is in a high traffic area.. sometimes being stressed can only make things worse. & covering the tank/turning off the light will help to prevent more stress from occuring

Thanks again Lisa, i will. but I positioned my tank well away from flowing traffic, it's just behind me and my PC, on swivel chair so i get the best of both worlds LOl

My No3 stills seems to be high, I will carry out another water change tomorrow, but not as much, dunno what yo think, should I add some Amquel ??? Or just leave it (Nitrate No3 is still about 20mgl ) it's doing my head in

when doing the water changes are you stirring the substrate and siphoning it off?

J-P wrote:when doing the water changes are you stirring the substrate and siphoning it off?

A bit of both if I am honest, but mainly just clearing the mess off the top of the sand.

That might be your problem. Give it a good vacuum. That would explain the high nitrates...and would explain why the nitrates were still high after the water change.

AFAIK when adding the water from a WC disturbs the substrate releasing trapped organics and gases which will throw your numbers off to a certain extent.

I am no pro and do have high nitrates also, but I always try to stir the sand a bit just prior to the siphon and take out as much of that debris as possible. Sometimes I just add an HOB on there, stir it up and let the brown particles get caught in the HOB, then remove the and start my siphon.

If it is really bad I hook up a Diatom filter and get shoulder deep into the tank and stir everything every day (on my heavy bio load tanks only).

AFAIK when adding the water from a WC disturbs the substrate releasing trapped organics and gases which will throw your numbers off to a certain extent.

This is for beds deeper than 1". Either way, all sand beds should be stirred thoroughly, before weekly WC.

thanks for the info, about the sand, I will use your advice, and not the advice I had been given years ago!!!

Midge is still not very active, I am today going to treat the tank with Kusuri

I'd add Melafix too.

Pufferpunk wrote:I'd add Melafix too.

As well as using Kusuri, it would be ok to use Melafix in addition

I cant remember if I used them both at the same time. I think I would wait until at least the day after if you were going down the Melafix route.

Hilly wrote:I cant remember if I used them both at the same time. I think I would wait until at least the day after if you were going down the Melafix route.

Yeah I was going too, but thanks any way


Took tyre off, but could not free up the calliper, so it's going to cost a blxxdy lot of money