The Puffer Forum

Ok thank you. And after about a couple of days, would I continue daily water changes or would it become weekly?

And after this week, will a certain high salinity kill the bacteria? Because I know puffers as they age, the salinity has to increase.

I will test the water in about 48 hours too, so you can see the parameters.

After applying the TSS, my fish has been at the top in a corner (very grey on the top of his back from head to tail) he is ALIVE but I have no idea why he seems more stressed han ever? Perhaps he needs to get used to the bacteria?

Did you pour it into the filter? Did you do a large WC beforehand, since the ammonia was up & you won't be able to do one for 48 hours?

Don't worry about raising the SG until the tank has been stable for a few weeks. Then you can raise it very slowly.

Oh goodness:( I didn't pour it into the filter.. The directions said to pour it in the tank.. I assumed it would go through the filter! I did do a large water change right before.

How often and HOW do I clean the filter? I don't want to remove the beneficial bacteria, but I DO want to remove the harmful ones.

I replace the dirty cartridge every month.

Filter media should be regularly rinsed in old tank water, if your filter has a cartridge that needs to be replaced buy a new filter, if you throw out your old media ( cartridge) you are throwing all your beneficial bacteria away

I am not trying to go against what Bertie said or offer bad advice since my methods in this hobby tend to be a bit unorthidox but with those kinds of cartridge filters I had always used, cleaned, and reused the throwaway cartridges until they literally fell apart. With them out of the way I usually stuff the compartments with filter floss or aquaclear sponges cut to fit for the filter in question. In my marine tank ive switched out the cartridges and bio wheels from my emperor 400 and filled the compartments with live rock rubble and macroalgae. Its something I have done to all of my old HOB cartridge filters which I've dubbed as hybrid filters. The key with any filter is to have sufficent water flow in GPH as the fundemental design with all HOB filters are virtually the same. There is nothing wrong with buying a new system but if you have a crafty and innovative spirit and wanna save a few bucks and dont want a lot of misc. aquarium junk lying around feel free to get creative and adapt the filter into something that is right for you. My 2 cents.

I absolutely agree with the above, if you are technically minded enough to use these filters without regularly causing a mini cycle then that's cool. Not everyone would be able to make this work though.

What I usually done was introduce new media once the cartridge starts to break down. When its done I usually shake a portion of the gunk off into the filter or tank and fill the gap where the cartridge was with new media whether it be floss or a sponge to finalize the conversion. I do agree with what you said Bertie and yes all of your benefical bacteria rest within the cartridge or other media. Shaking off a portion of the junk from the cartridge to the new media has helped sustain the tank with little to no cycling issues making the conversion much easier on the owner and the fish.

Is the media also known as the Bio Holster? Because I know not to remove that.. But the filter cartidges I thought were supposed to be removed once a month or so, because a lot of gunk accumulates on mine.. Doesn't leaving the cartridge in hurt the cycle? See, I though the Bio Holster was the object that contained the beneficial bacteria, and the filter cartridge trapped the gunk and held it until removed and replaced..

Or are you telling me the Media is the actual cartridge that every one says to throw away? Because it seems like it has more harmful than beneficial bacteria. Does the beneficial bacteria grow elsewhere in the tank? I guess what I'm trying to say, is wouldn't leaving the filthy cartridge in, with water constantly flowing through it, carry back those Nitrates and Ammonia particles back into the tank (from the decaying matter which is caught in the cartridge) if left in long term?

Good news: My fish is eating a lot! I ordered some more Tetra Safe Start. It's ok to double dose on beneficial bacteria, right?

Although, I have to hand feed him blood worms.. He can't find the food himself. Also, he has never eaten a snail in his life! I put some small ramshorn snails in and no response. Any ideas to trim down his beak?

Yes dirty media means dirty water, but fresh unused media means an uncycled tank.

IMO over time benefical bacteria will also be in places such as on decor and in substrate, but for now don't throw away your filter media, just rinse it in tank water that you take out during a water change. This is why some people don't like/use those cartridges, because they can't be cleaned/rinsed clean as well. You can also put anything you want in the filter (assuming it fits). Get a sponge filter, or filter media that you can buy and cut to the shape you want. Put that in the filter, and as that gets dirty, you can squeeze and clean that out in tank water, and continue to use until it is literally falling apart, which will be a long time.

Than you can periodically toss the cartridge and replace with a new one, because you'll still have other media in the filter. You can also just use a mesh bag and put whatever media you want in the filter. I've done that, for filters that "require" those cartridges and it works fine. You never want to get rid of all your filter media at one time.

Gwen

Yay that saves me money Is there any way at all to get use out of the cartridges I've already purchased without starting cycles? Just curious.

I got the Safe Start; I will go pour it in the filter right now. How long do I wait to do a 50% water change (weekly) again?

Any ideas on getting him to eat snails? I have no idea if his beak is overgrown or not..

sgtmyers88 wrote:What I usually done was introduce new media once the cartridge starts to break down. When its done I usually shake a portion of the gunk off into the filter or tank.

Devil is in the details. The scraped off gunk floating in the filter will immediately get caught by the new media that you already have. The bacteria you need is living in the gunk and will repopulate on the new media to minimize the risk of a cycle. This is also why many people keep multiple filters so in the event they have to set up a new tank or a emergency quarantine tank they already have the method to keep it cycled by moving the secondary filter with an established bio-filter to that tank.

Ok, thank you for the advice. I noticed my filter cartridge is very brown, I am guessing from the bacteria?

I am worried.. My fish's left eye has a cloudy spot on it. He has not really recovered either. He acts blind and changes color rapidly still. I want to get some parameter numbers to you asap. I saw a discussion about this cloudy eye in a puffer and one of the suggestions was using Vitamin C. Should I try it?

VC is always better for their health. Follow my chart in the Marine Forum.