The Puffer Forum

So i got my topaz puffer today, happy indeed, hes great! i say he, but dont really know what he/she is, lol
He's a bit shy but has already munched up a prawn, i see what u all mean by messy eaters!!
I have dug out a couple of nice rocks which were from my other aquarium. I thought they were upping the PH too much,
but removing them didnt make any difference.
I want to put them in the puffer tank along with another plastic plant, i have put them in a warm dechlorinated bucket of water and my question is will they be ok to put in tank in a little while or should i leave them for a couple of days, as they have been in a bag in the shed for about 2 months.

Also i would like to know how to start off my brackish enviroment, its FW at the moment as LFS is FW. Im aware of starting with too high a salinity can kill my filter bacteria so i would like to know the safe way.

Thanks

Dave

Pic of puffer? How was the tank cycled?

tank was cycled with original gravel in tank from previous stock, fully cycled fluval 2+ filter, I transferred bio rings, media etc from my other tanks 305 and put it into my old fluval 304 along with carbon nand ammonia remover.

Tank was ALWAYS zero for nitrite and ammonia, and had a low nitrate prior to gettin puff. Tank is currently gettin pushed round filters at 1600l/hr the tank is 90lt, (i will be upgrading when needs arise)

As i first mentioned i would like tro know about the brackish setup

Thanks

PS cant upload pics all seem to be too big, fish is tetradon fluvillits, or however its spelt, as far as i can see from your pufferpedia

Get a refractometer or hydrometer to help you measure. A small pump or powerhead and a heater.

Next step is to pre-mix the marine salt with water for a water change. Use the airpump.powerhead to aid in fully dissolving the salt and the heater to keep the temp right for the water change.

The you can add the water in to the tank during a water change and you're on your way.

I do it slightly differently I cant be bothered to leave it overnight so I boil the kettle, use that to dissolve the amount of salt I want then mix it all up in 1 bucket and add a powerhead for about 30 minute so it's fully dissolved. I generally mix up a large amount of salt in 1 bucket and then add that to the tank along with fresh from other buckets. Took a bit of trial and error to get the amount of salt right per amount of water but in the end I got the right balance.

You can then use the hrdrometer/refractometer to measure your new salinity.
Use a hydrometer outside of the tank in a seperate container to get a more accurate reading.

Use this to help you get the right amount of salt you want for your tank. Better to add less than what you were expecting and then see what happens.
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/ ... html#brack