Congo puffers

[supersean]

so i cant use this http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... n#prodTab1

[J-P]

that is only 1 part of 3.

look for a "master test kit". It does all 3 plus some stuff you'l need later

[purplecandle]

yes, that is the api test for ammonia, but you also need the tests for nitrates and nitrites..so you will know where you are at right now, and where you are at during the cycling process.

If you are cycled, ammonia is converted into other things, and those other things are also converted..so knowing the levels of all three will tell us how your cycle is going.

[supersean]

http://www.petco.com/product/103685/Aqu ... SiteSearch how bout this

[J-P]

that is the guy you're looking for!

[J-P]

Next:
Do you have a siphon to do water changes?

[supersean]

yes i do have a shipon and now i have to wait to get the money for the test

[Pufferpunk]

i have a 2nd tank that have a goldfish in it so ill move the goldfish in the 2nd tank to our 10 gallon tank

How big is the tank you want to put a puffer into? Eventually, even goldfish need a tank larger than 10g.

[supersean]

there both 65 gallons

[~reefchik~]

The sand was new - some of that soft gold sand that supposedly has nitrate-clearing bacteria (not that I believe that stuff). Perhaps that can go bad? It was mixed half and half with aragonite. Still, no ammonia, no nitrite, used Dr. Tim's to set up the tank and filter....pure RO water and new filtration media (just a sponge), pH 7.5, temp 73.8.

How long did you take to acclimate him? About 30 minutes

If there was dead bacteria in that sand (no such thing as live bacteria in a bag), it could have caused some sort of spike in your parameters. Did you test the water at any time, during the time you had the fish or after the death? I barely had her 24 hrs! I tested the water before I put her in, and after she died. (don't know why the fish just seemed like a she). I honestly think that's what killed her.

Why RO water? Is there something wrong with your tap water? Yes, I generally use RO water for all my tanks when I can. Our tap water typically contains between 15 and 30ppm nitrate right out of the tap and very high dissolved solids. We run a water softener also so I'm not sure how good that might be...so yeah, RO.

oops..lost part of your quote - darn laptop!There was already about a cup of aragonite in the tank because at one point I thought it would end up brackish. So I topped it off with the new sand because I knew the congo would bury in it.

Why such low temp for a tropical fish? That's just the temp the tank was at. I acclimated her for 30 minutes and was planning on slowly raising the temperature over the next day or two.

[~reefchik~]

I thought congos were FW and didn't need "live" sand

It was the only sand they had. Anyway that wet stuff mixes faster and easier with not as much dust. That's the only reason I got it.

[Pufferpunk]

I honestly think that's what killed her.

What killed her?

[~reefchik~]

PP: The new sand. I wouldn't trust that stuff in a brand new tank with a brand new fish ever again.
I just don't know what else it could have been.

He/she didn't show any signs of distress when I let her out of the bag, seemed to be settling in fine, and the next morning, she was buried in the sand peeking out at me normall. A few hours later, I was getting ready to feed her a first meal and there she was...stuck to the filter intake.

[Pufferpunk]

I agree about that sand. Sorry for your loss. I lost one overnight too, due to my stupidity.

[eieio]

PP: The new sand. I wouldn't trust that stuff in a brand new tank with a brand new fish ever again.
I just don't know what else it could have been.

He/she didn't show any signs of distress when I let her out of the bag, seemed to be settling in fine, and the next morning, she was buried in the sand peeking out at me normall. A few hours later, I was getting ready to feed her a first meal and there she was...stuck to the filter intake.

if you didn't measure any ammonia or nitrites (did you check nitrates?), then how can you figure the sand to be responsible?
sometimes fish just die, not necessarily your fault, the sands fault, etc.
that little fish came halfway across the planet under terribly stressful conditions before you got it.
it'd be heartbraking to know how many don't make it
you shouldn't beat yourself up over it...............