The Puffer Forum

Flutter wrote:While I've only been doing this for about 10 years I have yet to need to change a sponge out. Floss yes, sponges no. To clean the sponges I just rinse them in old tank water and put them back in the filter.

Note taken. Thanks. I have been maintaining a tank now for 4 months so i dont have too much experience under my belt. On top of that ive got a fahaka with "tank mates" that i need to feed, so yea i got a lot of good habits to acquire. .so far ive concluded i need a tank timer. Something to automatically turn on and shut off the light. I should probably feed the fish with the filter off so the flakes dont scurry all over the gravel...maybe i should feed over the plants as well so the food somewhat feeds the plants as well. I think that should reduce my phosphates and prevent them from increasing.

Pufferpunk wrote:

The foam filter needs to be cleaned once a month and changed once every two months per the boxs directions.

LOL, great way for them to sell lots & lots of sponge filters! I have some that are >20 years old...

What's the pH of your tap water?

I will test my tap water ph as soon as i can. I guess i can use that as the partial water changes if i condition it in my 5g water jugs.

Your other fish will eat the fahaka's leftovers. I suggest just doing 50% weekly WC with a Pyton & call it a day. No need to "condition" water in jugs.

Pufferpunk wrote:Your other fish will eat the fahaka's leftovers. I suggest just doing 50% weekly WC with a Pyton & call it a day. No need to "condition" water in jugs.

Thanks. Ill continue to do so. Do old white tank lights cause algae booms?

Yes

Gahhh. That's another problem then. I bought a used lighting system and kept the white light and only changed the blue one.

Pretty much any light will cause algae. Sorry

Flutter wrote:Pretty much any light will cause algae. Sorry

Except the default lights that come with a fluval edge .

Poor fahaka will be in the dark all day...

I had an algae problem once with my 55g puffer tank when it was still brackish. I had bought the whole system used on craigslist and yes it had the old florescent "daylight" bulbs which gave me algae problems. I cut down on the usage of the light by getting a timer and swapped the old bulbs out for the purple shining colormax bulbs. It reduced the algae problem and made everything look nicer too. Make sure the lights run for a maximum of 8-12 hours, the less the better.

sgtmyers88 wrote:I had an algae problem once with my 55g puffer tank when it was still brackish. I had bought the whole system used on craigslist and yes it had the old florescent "daylight" bulbs which gave me algae problems. I cut down on the usage of the light by getting a timer and swapped the old bulbs out for the purple shining colormax bulbs. It reduced the algae problem and made everything look nicer too. Make sure the lights run for a maximum of 8-12 hours, the less the better.

I have one blue and one white..I'm just gonna get two blues i thought it was necessary to have atleast one white...woooo

sgtmyers88 wrote:Make sure the lights run for a maximum of 8-12 hours, the less the better.

With the lights I have, even when I am only using 2 out of the 4 T5s I get quite some algae growth at just 4 hours . Luckily I don't mind removing the algae manually . My tapwater is like AAA grade for algae growth .

defool89 wrote:Okay live progress. I'm about to add the fresh water and s bunch of plants. Its surprisingly entertaining to do this while listening to heavy metal.

What's the poster called?? I can see the Birth of Narcissus and what looks like a Roger Dean design above it..

My puffers like HM too..A bit of school's out makes thier day..

Master of Puffers wrote:

defool89 wrote:Okay live progress. I'm about to add the fresh water and s bunch of plants. Its surprisingly entertaining to do this while listening to heavy metal.

What's the poster called?? I can see the Birth of Narcissus and what looks like a Roger Dean design above it..

My puffers like HM too..A bit of school's out makes thier day..

"geopoliticus child watching the birth of the new man"

defool89 wrote:

Master of Puffers wrote:

defool89 wrote:Okay live progress. I'm about to add the fresh water and s bunch of plants. Its surprisingly entertaining to do this while listening to heavy metal.

What's the poster called?? I can see the Birth of Narcissus and what looks like a Roger Dean design above it..

My puffers like HM too..A bit of school's out makes thier day..

"geopoliticus child watching the birth of the new man"

Thank you... I have that one in a Dali book somewhere..too much Yes can effect the mind..or reading Micheal Moorcock..

Sponges can last well past a decade if they are the right materials. I do have some very old sponge filters still in constant use. I don't use any disposable filter medium any more other than diatom powder (and that is rare).