The Puffer Forum

Ya thats what I heard but I would really like to learn about brackish fish. The internet has a lot of information about them but from what I read here most of it is wrong anyway. Its hard to find information about f/w puffers as well. I was just looking up Monotrete Abei and I couldn't find anything about them except from here.

If you boyfriend bought GSPs' out of the same tank and one of them died then IMO they were not "fine". Chances are the surviving fish just has a stronger immune system.

There could be a number of reasons that the puffers died, from stress to parasite to disease.

Read up on brackish puffers as much as you can before buying another one. If you PM me your email address I can send you some good artices.

I have been reading everything I can find about brackish fish and it all tells me the same info then I came here and they told me that almost everything I had learned was wrong. I think all the puffers were sick because yes out of our 4, 3 have died so I don't think it was anything we did because I follow what advise I get here and theyt still died.

Through all this i can't see reference to any water testing?.. did i miss them?


what are your parameters now?

You need to take this really slow from now on, don't just rush out and buy more puffers, they may well die as well...

Ich will remain in your tank unless you remove ALL the fish, if you leave the fish in there untreated then the ich will attack your new puffers as soon as they are put in the tank.

Platies are not brackish fish, so you cannot keep them and fig 8's/GSP in the same tank...

Take the tank back to freshwater, (using a hydrometer to measure it) at 0.002 a week...

Once it is fresh, keep it like that for 6 weeks after the last white spot is visible...

Then you have to make some serious choices about what fish you want to keep, and take it from there.

t1gerbee wrote:Platies are not brackish fish, so you cannot keep them and fig 8's/GSP in the same tank...

Well, I have to disagree with you on that point T1gs, sorry, my platies did great in light brackish (1.005) and even mated and gave birth rather regularly (much to the delight of my puffer haha) BUT.... I did have to take them back to my LFS when I started to raise the salinity further (now at 1.009), most livebearers do really well in light brackish and most stores keep them in light brackish if they have the facility to do so... Hi by the way

My fish seem to be doing ok and my salt level is 1.004 and I have been treating the ich for over a month and I keep the temp at 80 since I got a new heater that works. I know I should be keep the salt at 1.005 but I haven't raised it yet. I don't have the tests except for the strips and they say that everything is at zero except my nitirtes are a little high( I haven't tested my water lately since I don't have puffers and I have been doing w/cs regularly) I am hopefully going to work today and I will take some water up there to have it tested. I have been adding prime since I couldn't get my ammoina down. I haven't seen any ich around for a while and only my puffer had it that I could see. But the other fish are doing amazing. They have great color and are eating like horses hee hee. Except one of my fish looks like he has algee on his head, kinda like the algee that is on the plants since I don't have it anywhere else. Is there something wrong with him or did he just rub on a plant and get some on his head? Thanks for all the help, no puffers yet I can only get them from where I work and we haven't been getting any because when they arrive they are dead so I am trying to find anyther fish store that has puffers but no luck so far.

hey Jay,

I stand corrected.. thought it was only mollies that like brackish not other live bearers... but hey, happy to learn..... (little tropicals are bit too small for my liking...like my fish big..)

anyway, happy_puffer...

were you struggling to keep the ammonia/nitrites down when your puffers were still alive? That may explain their deaths...

Definitely get a proper test done, those dip tests are notoriously unreliable....

did you say how big your tank was? sorry if i'm going over old ground, just trying to work this out before the same happens again..

Ammonia can only be caused by fish waste, a rotting body somewhere (have you counted all your platies) or over feeding... (or a failing cycle...) if you can't get the ammonia down you need to look at what's causing it...

a small tank will only make these problems happen faster...

you said they were doing better then suddenly both went downhill again, as you didn't have a hydrometer, maybe you added too much, or too little salt and killed your bacteria... causing a re-cycle and killing the fish?....


If one of your platies is unwell, sounds like a fungal thing (?)...you need to stay away from puffers until it is sorted.

I know it's annoying, but waiting a bit until the tank is settled will definitely be worth it..

Keep the water changes up, and wait it out.

I know I hate waiting! I'm no good at it but I will do it for the puffers. I have a 14 gallon tank right now ( I think its a tall but I have never seen another 14 gallon so I don't know). As for the platty it is just changing colors I brought him into the pet store and my boss said that he is just getting some more black, hes one of the orange with black next to his eyes. Yes the ammoina was high when the puffer was in there and I do think that played a part in his death. I don't know why the ammoina was high all my fish are still there, it has always been high, ever since I got the tank I haven't been able to get the levels right (after the cycle that is). My boss, at the lfs, has over 30 years exp. with fish and I keep bringing her water samples and she can't figure out whats going on in my tank. She is the only person I buy from and she still doesn't know whats going on. I think the puffer were just sick when she got them but we got some new ones and I have been watching them and they look healthy and I have already paid for one but I am taking care of the tank so I won't take him home yet. I do weekly water changes and make sure that I don't over feed the fish so I hope I can bring home my new friend soon. I just took the whole tank down and started over (new rocks and plants) and the fish are doing good and I am going to bring a water sample in tuesday when I work and if the water is good then I will bring him home. Oh as for the salt when he died the salt was at 1.004 now its about 1.006.

If you just took down the entire tank and replaced everything then you will need to wait for the tank to completely recycle.

How long was the tank set up for in the first place?

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia? If you're on a well, it's not uncommon to have ammonia in the tap water.

you're right to keep him at the store until your tank is re-cycled. this may take a few weeks...

do not put him in there unless your tank is repeatedly reading 0 on the ammonia....

Ammonia wIll kill a puffer....

The tank has been set up for over 6 months. Yes I am waiting for the cycle but since I have fish in there it won't take long plus the old filter is still in there to help cycle. I am taking water up to work on tuesday and I don't live on a well I live in a city, not a huge one but we do have water problems, its kinda hard but no ammonia. I think the tank is better now then before I don't know what the problem was but I think Iam fixing it, plus I am switching to marine salt as I just found out that I have been using the wrong salt so big water changes and then new salt and I think my new buddy will be ready for his new home! Thanks everyone!

find out what the readings are.. and go from there.

I have a question about the filter. If I get a bigger filter for my tank will that help with the levels? I am doing water changed often because I can't keep the levels at zero. I was think about getting a bigger filter for my tank before adding a puffer because I know that the more fish you have the more waste you have and I want to make my tank as safe as possible for my puffer. I put a scat in there but he is going back because I just found out what size tank he needs but I don't know what wrong with him so I need to take him back asap! He is floating around like his fins don't work then he will fly around the tank like nothing is wrong, thats how all my puffers acted before they died so I am taking him back today. Until I can find a bigger tank I am going to stick with figure 8s and maybe try and find some dps (not in the same tank) I almost found a 75 gallon but it is just too much money and I don't have it right now thanks for all the help and I will post the levels when I get them but we don't have nitrite and nitrate right now so I will have to buy that one.