The Puffer Forum

GSP's are wild caught, so may likely have parasites. I treated mine as a routine, just in case. I bought Prazipro on line (amazon) and was happy with it. Very safe for treating parasites. I wouldn't worry about that now however. Parasites usually are likely when your fish eats but looks very skinny. I'm sure there are other symptoms, but your guys likely suffering from cycling.

gwen

pufferluver wrote:Ok, and I didn't use anything from my old tank except the tank decor. (Not exactly sure what a media is..) I purchased a new filter for my 20 gal because my old filter would not aerate it as well.

*I bought a whole new filter kit, new cartridges, pump, etc.

there's your answer to your problem, welcome to the painful world of cycling tanks with delicate fish (i say delicate i refer to this as they don't tend to tolerate amonnia/ammonium and/or nitrites; even high nitrates for that matter. hope everything works out and water change every other day please

Daily 50%, or multiples of this would be better until your water is stable.

What did my readings suggest?

My puffer no longer sits on the bottom, he is more active and seems hungry. However, he bumps into everything! He acts like he's blind. He does change color a little bit still, and I can tell he wants to eat; he just can't seem to find the food. I am hoping this is just apart of the side effects of cycling... What do you think? I know for sure, that before all of this- he could see, because he would observe me when I was in the room and he knew exactly where to go for the food. So, I'm not sure why this is happening..

Will the SafeStart speed up the cycling as well? I might go get some this weekend.

Bumping into things suggests nitrite poisoning. Safestart would COMPLETE the cycle.

+1 safestart should solve all your problems.

Ok I bought Tetra SafeStart, BUT it says it is "for all fresh water aquariums".. I was told they don't make it for marine tanks, so what I'm thinking I should do is continue water changes until I have no salinity? Then use the SafeStart?

1) Will using SafeStart (once) finish my cycling? Meaning, I won't be doing the daily water changes any more? Or will I still need to..
2) I have temporarily stopped using the Prime, as it says on the TSS bottle to do so..
2) How soon after using TSS will I need to use the Prime, or will Prime be unnecessary after that point?
4) About the salinity: How soon after I have applied TSS, should I start adding salt?
5) I am using a heater (temp=79 F) should I unplug the heater while TSS is in my tank? I don't know if warm water will kill the bacteria..

I know it's a lot of questions, but I really want this to work:) Thank you Puffer Experts!!

I can't see prime affecting safestart. What salinity are you at?

TSS is safe to use up to 1.004. Higher than that, will probably kill off the live bacteria in there.

My salinity is 0.005

You mean, 1.005? One easy WC should do it then.

Yes drop to 1.003-1.004 whack the safestart if your filter and you are sorted. Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery for you. Best of luck!

Are water changes necesssary after applying the SafeStart? If so, how soon after?

When do I begin increasing the salinity?

I would wait a minimum of 24-48 hours as the ammonia and nitrite needs time to be broke down and the bacteria to propagate and establish themselves effectively to sustain the bioload of the water column. If water is changed too soon you will be throwing out much of your benefical bacteria and possibly prolonging the cycle.

You can start raising the SG after a week of parameters being stable.