The Puffer Forum

One more thing. What type of snails or shrimp of whatever should i get my puffers to trim down their teeth?

Ramshorn or common pond snails.

Do not use any of the snails with really hard shells, like Malaysian Trumpet Snails ( the ice cream cone shaped ones ) or nerite snails, they can actually break teeth on them. There's an article in the library with some pictures I believe..

What did you use to fix your ammonia?

As for tooth-trimming, you can get any kind of snail. (A couple of people have reported that their puffers cracked their teeth on Malaysian trumpet snails, AKA MTSs, but I have also heard of many puffers doing fine with them, especially larger ones.) Ramshorns are prolific breeders and would do great in a snail jail. Shrimp - ghost shrimp and red cherry shrimp are great. Red cherries are expensive to start with, but they breed very quickly and save you money in the long run.

Whatever you choose, NEVER forget to quarantine live food for at least a week!

Edit - Oops, Myaj beat me to it!

Pufferpunk wrote:A small amount of gravel would only seed the cycle not complete it so quickly. Safestart seems to be hit or mis but is supposed to be the Dr Tim's recipe but since Dr Tim quit Marrineland they changed it up a bit & made it so it doesn't need refrigerating (not sure how that works though). I'm not saying your British stuff doesn't work (seems to) but we won't find it around here.

Hmmm... I've used the newer formula of BioSpira that does not need refrigeration, and it immediately cycled my tank. I monitored the water parameters for about two weeks and nothing ever built up aside from traces of nitrates. Drs. Foster and Smith sent it to me without those little white (heat or cold?) packets they use to ship Dr. Tim's One and Only in. I don't know how they preserve it, but BioSpira seems to of gotten it right.

We used to have a good one over here called 'Bactinettes' made in Germany by Soll, and they were refrigerated. I used them a few times and they would immediately cycle the tank. The LFS that I deal with the most used to carry them but then the supplier (or possibly the manufacturer) wanted to raise the price from £5.99 to £9.99 for one treatment, and that's when the LFS stopped stocking it (unfortunately). I've not seen anything of it since then, but would love to see it come back again.
I've used another product, which happens to also be made in Germany (JBL products), and although it's not refrigerated (but does have a use-by date), it does seem to work, but just how I have no idea.

They've obviously come up with a new formula, none of them seem to need refrigeration any more.

Dr. Tim's still does, and I think (?) Bio-Spira does too.

the FAQ in Dr Tim's website says that it doesn't need refrigeration

Tetra
Bio-Spira
Dr Tim's

Thanks for all your help. I haven't been online in a very long time... but everything is going great with my fish and their tank. No problems at all.

Ammonia-removing products are only a temporary fix. It does not address the initial cause of the ammonia: dead/rotting food or a fish or an uncycled tank.