The Puffer Forum

Hey guys, can we stop with the cut-downs & just get on with telling him what he needs to do to keep his puffers healthy & long-lived? These posts aren't being very helpful. It'll be up to him whether he decides to take our advise or not. I hope he does.

Well yah I'm sorry I over reacted, but in all fairness I WAS helping until I was told I couldn't ask questions.

greenspottedlover wrote:Well yah I'm sorry I over reacted, but in all fairness I WAS helping until I was told I couldn't ask questions.

No one said you couldn't ask questions.

I was answering the best I could.

Well I'm sorry. I have had my own troubles with fish in the past and I do know it is very stressful.

What type of salt are you using? How did you cycle the tank and what are the parameters now?

It's Monday now, have you purchased a hydrometer? Are you using marine salt? Your puffer won't last more than a few months in the 10g. Have you tested the water today? What are your plans to upgrade the tank?

greenspottedlover wrote:Well I'm sorry. I have had my own troubles with fish in the past and I do know it is very stressful.

Thank you. I appreciate your comment and apology. I am sorry as well.

trekenk wrote:What type of salt are you using? How did you cycle the tank and what are the parameters now?

I am using API Salt from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. It was given to me by the store I bought him @. I cycled the tank by putting in 2 teaspoons per gallon. Is this what you are asking? This is what a Petstore told me to do (Petsmart) the night I got him. I called back to the store where I got him today, and they said that was a good amount, and I can slightly increase it as weeks go on if needed- and bring the water in this week to the store to be tested.

Cycling actually has nothing to do with salt. A cycled tank has certain types of beneficial bacteria in it. Fish produce ammonia which is very toxic however there is a type of bacteria that converts it to nitrites. Nitrites are still very toxic so another type of bacteria converts the nitrites to nitrates. Nitrates are still toxic but much less so compared to the others. We have to remove nitrates by doing water changes.

A cycled tank has the appropriate bacteria in it so you'll never see ammonia or nitrites. This is healthy for the fish. Is there any way you can pick up some liquid test kits? From the sounds of it your tank is not cycled and this is very dangerous for your puffer. Please do a water change as soon as you can and pick up those test kits You could also try taking some water to a fish store and have them test it. If you do that then make sure they are using liquid test kits and that you get the numbers and don't just take their word that it's 'fine'. The only problem with this is that you have no guarantee that they're performing the tests correctly and therefore you don't know if you're getting legitimate readings

ETA: Please read these two pages, the should help you out. I can point out more later when you're ready to learn more
library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
library/water-filtration/waterfiltration/

Also should be using marine salt like Instant Ocean or similar....not aquarium salt.

Flutter is correct. Sorry to say, your tank isn't cycled at all & it will be very easy for your puffer to die from being poisoned by it's own wastes. It is obvious from the advice you're getting, that Petsmart knows nothing about keeping healthy fish in a cycled tank. Please stop listening to their terrible advice! Also, don't worry about the salt right now. You're gong to be doing a LOT of water changes in the next few weeks until the tank is cycled (the Emergency Cycling article should help a great deal with this), so just buy a bottle of Prime to dechlorinate your water & help detoxify the ammonia/nitrite. After that is stable, you can start raising the salinity with marine salt, measuring it with a hydrometer.

Pufferpunk wrote: Also, don't worry about the salt right now. You're gong to be doing a LOT of water changes in the next few weeks until the tank is cycled .

PP will this guy still be alright without any marine salt? It did come from a full marine tank.

The origin of the puffer is ambiguous. He's given vague and inconsistent information about it's origin, dodgy answers, and considering this comment,

I cycled the tank by putting in 2 teaspoons per gallon.

it would seem to be best not to assume anything, and give the best advice possible with that in mind.

trekenk wrote:PP will this guy still be alright without any marine salt? It did come from a full marine tank.

With 2 tbsp/g, it's pretty close to FW anyway.

Pufferpunk wrote:

trekenk wrote:PP will this guy still be alright without any marine salt? It did come from a full marine tank.

With 2 tbsp/g, it's pretty close to FW anyway.

When I got my GSP and switched it from fresh water from the store to brackish. I put that much marine salt to begin with and it barely showed up on the hydrometer, so more salt is needed if he was in marine.

As far as type of salt I'm no scientist, but I do know marine salt has other minerals in it to so I think if you have it you it. A good brand would be as mentioned Instant Ocean, I use this and have had good luck. Instant Ocean also makes a great hydrometer, not inaccurate like my last Corralife one.